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Jan Bohuslav Sobota (1 March 1939 – 2 May 2012) was aCzech-Swiss finebookbinder. He is known for his often playful sculptural bindings that transform the book into a three-dimensional work of art.
Sobota was born on 1 March inHromnice, Czechoslovakia.[1] He is known for books of all sizes, including a significant output ofminiature books. The son of a book collector,[2] Sobota trained in Czechoslovakia as an apprentice in thePlzeň workshop of Karel Šilinger and graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts, Prague, in 1957.[3] He completed his master's degree at the same institution in 1969, and in 1979, was declared "Meister der Einbandkunst" in Germany.[2] The same year, he submitted the first ever sculptural book to the Czech triennale. Sobota organized the first international exhibition ofbook sculpture in 1982, "The Book as Artistic Object in an Interior," staged inFrantiškovy Lázně.[3]
In 1982, Sobota and his familydefected to Switzerland, where he worked privately and demonstrated bookbinding inBasler Papier Muhle. In 1984 the Sobota family moved to the US, sponsored by the Rowfant Club of Cleveland, a prestigious book collectors' club in Cleveland. Members of the international book community also sought to assist him.[4] Extensive Czech training inbook conservation prepared him for positions as a book conservator atCase Western Reserve University and at theBridwell Library atSouthern Methodist University.[5] With his wife Jarmila Sobota he established the Saturday's Book Arts Gallery, which moved with the couple.[5] In 1997, the Sobotas moved back to the nowCzech Republic, where they opened a gallery inLoket. Sobota died on 2 May 2012 in Loket, at the age of 73.[1]
Between 1969 and 2012, Sobota's work was displayed in thirty-five individual shows and 160 group exhibitions.[6] He was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by theGuild of Bookworkers in 2012.[2]