Born in Estonia to Jewish parents, aged twenty-one Schotz left home and moved to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering diploma from the Royal Technical College. He then worked in the drawing office of a shipbuilders whilst attending evening classes in sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art.

Here he would go on to eventually become Head of Sculpture once he left his day job to sculpt full-time in 1923. After his first one-man exhibition in 1926, Schotz became Scotland's leading portrait sculptor.

His output was prolific, and he produced not just portraits but figural works, religious sculptures and even semi-abstracts. He was both a committed Zionist and proud to be a Scottish citizen, and was made a Freeman of the City of ...