Gabriel Shamir (; 1909–1992) and Maxim Shamir (; 1910–1990) were

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i graphic designers. They designed Israel's official state emblems, medals, stamps and currency notes.

Biography

Guttel (Gabriel) and Maxim Sheftelowitz (later Shamir) were born in Liepāja (Libau),

. Both brothers studied graphics and design at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

—Gabriel in 1926–30 and Maxim in 1928–33.

Design career

Between 1930 and 1931 Gabriel worked for the Lintas advertising agency in Berlin and between 1931 and 1933 for Gumaelius in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. In 1934, they opened a graphic-design studio in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, but the following year they

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The brothers arrived during the

Fifth Aliyah The Fifth Aliyah () refers to the fifth wave of the Jewish immigration to Palestine from Europe and Asia between the years 1929 and 1939, with the arrival of 225,000 to 300,000 Jews. The Fifth Aliyah, or fifth immigration wave, began after the co ...

. They established the Shamir Brothers Studio on

Rothschild Boulevard Rothschild Boulevard (, ''Sderot Rotshild'') is one of the principal streets in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning in Neve Tzedek at its southwestern edge and running north to Habima Theatre. It is one of the most expensive streets in the ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and began to design posters. In 1935, the Shamirs co-founded the Society of Hebrew Graphic Artists in Eretz Israel. Because there were few

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

typefaces at the time, the Shamirs improvised hand-painted

letters, often into transliterated words from European languages and English. Whereas Franz Kraus, the Austrian graphic designer who arrived in Eretz Israel a year before the Shamirs, adhered to a uniform type style, the brothers sought typography that they felt expressed the subject matter. The Shamir brothers, enthusiastic about the establishment of the Jewish state, undertook to formalize and actualize the visual symbols of Israeli sovereignty and independence. They designed the state's emblems, medals, stamps, and currency notes, including the 1949 Israeli State Coat of Arms (an image of a menorah and olive branches).What Are the Weird Scribbles on the State of Israel's Emblem?

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

In addition, they advertised cigarettes and other consumer goods, as well as designed stamps for countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Their posters, other advertisements, and logos from 1935 to the close of their studio in 1974—rendered for the lottery, marketing fairs, land settlement, support of the army, food rationing, anti-black-market drives, and other nationalistic efforts—express a hyped

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

attitude, but not extreme or dour as in the propaganda of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Exhibitions

* Commercial Art of Palestine 1936 –

Levant Fair The Levant Fair (Hebrew: יריד המזרח; Yarid HaMizrach) was an international trade fair held in Tel Aviv during the 1920s and 1930s. History Early years One of the early precursors to the Levant Fair, an exhibition titled the "Exhibiti ...

, Tel Aviv * Shamir Brothers 1940 – Studio Shamir, Tel Aviv, Curators: Gabriel and Maxim Shamir *To Live with the Dream 1989 – Museum Tel Aviv of Art, Curator: Batia Donner *Product of Palestine (1923–1948) 1997 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curator: Matti Meir *Vision and Propaganda 1998 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curator: Batia Donner *Hebrew Graphics-Shamir Brothers Studio 1999 – Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Curator: Batia Donner *Israeli Posters c.2000 – Zionist Central Archive, Jerusalem, Curator: Lifsha Ben-Shah *Landmarks-Posters from Zionism 2000 Collection 2008 – Zionism 2000, Beit Yehoshua, Curator: Inbal Amit *The Right to Scream – May 1 Posters 2003 – Farkash Gallery, Jaffa, Curator: Aharon Farkash *A Dialogue between Shamir Brother and Contemporary Artists 2004 – WIZO Design College, Haifa, Curators: Anat Gateniu and students *The New Hebrew −100 Years of Israeli Art, 2005 – Martin Gropius House, Berlin, Curators: Doreet LeVitte, Yigal Zalmona *The Histadrut – All the Way with the State of Israel 2006 –amalnet.k12.il, Curators: Alexandra Tomarinson, Matti Kanterovich *Bank Notes and Coins – permanent exhibit 2009 – Bank of Israel, Jerusalem, Curator: Dr. Rachel Barkai *Israel Art – permanent exhibit 2010 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Curators: Amitai Mendelshon,

Yigal Zalmona Yigal Zalmona () is an Israeli curator, art critic and historian. He was the chief interdisciplinary curator of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

*Hebrew Woman, Join the Army! 2010 – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Curator: Batia Donner *90 Years of Vision – Keren HaYesod Posters 2010 – Ben- Gurion Airport, Lod, Curator: David Tartakover *The Emblem of the State in Caricature 2011 – Israel Museum of Cartoons and Comics, Holon, Curators: Daniella Gardosh Santo, Yoram E. Shamir *60 Anniversary of Binyanei HaUma 2011 – International Convention Center, Jerusalem, Curator: Monica Lavi *JNF Posters – from the Beginning to the Present 2011 – eyarok.org.il, Curator: Meir Sadan *Independence in the art of the Shamir Brothers. This 2018 exhibition held in the Latvian National Library, Riga; the Great Amber Hall, Liepaja; the Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, Curator: Yoram E. Shamir *Absorption in Israel – The story of the absorption of Iraqi Jews in Israel at th
Babylonian Jewry Museum
The exhibition includes a number of packagings designed by Shamir Brothers. Curator: Orly Bahar Levy.

Published works

* Shamir, Maxim and Gabriel (1969). ''The Story of Israel in Stamps'', New York: Sabra Books; Funk & Wagnalls. * Shamir, Maxim and Gabriel (1969 and 1972). ''Die Geschichte Israels in Briefmarken'', New York: Sabra Books; Tel Aviv: Hakesher. * Exhibition catalog, Donner, Batia, ''et al.'' (1999). ''Shamir: Hebrew Graphics, Shamir Brothers Studio'', Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

References

External links