George Him

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George Him (* 1900 in Łódź , Congress Poland ; † 1982 in London , United Kingdom ) was a Polish-British graphic artist and illustrator , poster artist and designer .

life and work

George Him was born as the son of a Russian - Jewish family with Polish roots in Lodz, Poland (at that time in Russia) with the family name "Himmelfarb". Him attended school in Warsaw and studied Roman law at the State University in Moscow from 1917 to 1918 and comparative history of religions from 1920 to 1924 in Berlin and Bonn . From 1925 to 1928 he finally studied at the Academy for Graphic Arts in Leipzig .

From 1928 he worked as a graphic designer. He worked as a freelancer in Germany for a few years, but when work became scarce, he moved to Poland in 1933, where he met Jan Lewitt , with whom he founded the successful Lewitt-Him design partnership in a Warsaw café , which lasted until Existed in 1955. The two went to London in 1937, where they mainly designed posters for the British Department of Information during World War II . Until the end of 1942, Lewitt-Him's work also consisted of illustrations for children's books and murals for large kitchens and canteens in factories. Lewitt-Him in London was dissolved again in 1955 and George Him continued to work as a freelance designer and design consultant and was active well into old age in all areas of graphic design : advertising , exhibitions, corporate identity design and book design. In addition to the poster design, George Him illustrated numerous books, for example Don Quijote and Zuleika Dobson and many children's books such as The Little Red Engine gets a Name (by Diana Ross, with Jan Lewitt) and the Giant Alexander books by Frank Herrmann. He also designed toy and animation films, and painted topographical landscapes. For the Children and Youth Aliyah Committee for Great Britain he designed the brochure "25 Years of Youth Aliyah", in which George Him is also named as editor. In the 1950s and 60s he was best known for his design of the imaginary English county "Schweppshire", an advertising campaign for Schweppes drinks.

After the establishment of the State of Israel , he was active in a number of projects related to Israel and Jewish history.

He designed an exhibition about the Warsaw Ghetto , which was shown twice in London and once in Frankfurt am Main. At documenta III 1964 in Kassel , works by Lewitt-Him from the 1950s were shown in the graphics department . Important exhibitions of his work took place in 1976 at the London College of Printing and in 1980 at the Ben Uri .

Important book illustrations

(Selection)

  • Julian Tuwim: Lokomotywa (with Jan Lewitt, 1934)
  • Jan Lewitt and George Him: The Football's Revolt (1939), Polish Panorama (with Jan Lewitt, 1941)
  • Diana Ross: The Little Red Engine gets a Name (with Jan Lewitt, 1942)
  • Alina Lewitt: Blue Peter (with Jan Lewitt, 1943), Five Silly Cats (with Jan Lewitt, 1945)
  • Israel, the Story of a Nation (1958) 25 Years of the Youth Aliyah. Facts about Israel (1961)
  • Frank Herrmann The Giant Alexander (1964); The Giant Alexander and the Circus (1966)
  • Ann Thwaite: The Day with the Duke (1969)
  • Leila Berg: (Ed.) Folk Tales (1966); Little Nippers (1975)
  • Cervantes: Don Quixote (1980)
  • Jim Rogerson: King Wilbur the Third (1976), King Wilbur the Third and the Bicycle (1976), King Wilbur the Third Rebuilds his Palace (1976), King Wilbur the Third's Birthday Present (1976)

Literature and Sources

  • documenta III. International exhibition ; Catalog: Volume 1: Painting and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand Drawings; Industrial design, graphics; Kassel / Cologne 1964

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 25 years Jugend-Alijah 1934-1959 / 5694-5719, imprint, German-language edition
personal data
SURNAME Him, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sky color, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-British graphic artist and book illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Lodz , Poland
DATE OF DEATH 1982
Place of death London