A Sense of Buddhist Art and Architecture book - Thames and Hudson

The aim of Buddhist Art & Architecture is to equip cultural tourists and art students with the ability to interpret images, buildings, or artifacts in terms of iconography and symbolism of Buddhist religion. Exactly twenty clear illustrated and diverse historical works have been analyzed, enabling readers to identify expressive details that hold great significance for Buddhism enthusiasts.

The layout of the book is both visually impressive and accessible. Each two-page spread features a full-page color photograph or a fragment of a work, or its context, depending on the topic, with a second image chosen to illustrate important aspects of the piece. Next to it is a detailed presentation of the work’s significance in the history and philosophy of Buddhist art, with key historical facts about the piece, including where it can be seen today. By tracing the connections between Buddhist beliefs and artistic intentions, Making Sense of Buddhist Art & Architecture deepens understanding not only of Buddhist art and architecture but also of Buddhism itself.

The Thames & Hudson publishing house was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath. Their greatest passion and mission was to create a “museum without walls” and to make the world of art and leading scholarly research accessible to a broad audience. To reflect international perspectives, the company’s name combined the rivers flowing through London and New York, represented in its logo by two dolphins symbolizing friendship and intelligence, one facing east, the other west, suggesting a connection between the Old World and the New.

Today, still an independent, family-owned publisher, Thames & Hudson is one of the world’s leading publishers of illustrated books, with over 2000 titles printed. It publishes high-quality collectible books across all areas of visual creativity: fine arts, applied arts, decorative arts, performing arts, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and music, as well as archaeology, history, and popular culture. The list of children’s books is also expanding. Headquartered in London with a sister company in New York and branches in Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In Paris, another subsidiary, Interart, distributes English-language books in France.

History of Thames & Hudson

Walter Neurath was born in Vienna in 1903. In 1938, he left his hometown—where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books—for London. Initially, he worked as a production director at Adprint, a brand founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges developed a pioneering concept of what is now called book packaging (or co-publishing), where book ideas are developed, commissioned, produced, and sold to publishers operating in different markets and languages, to create large editions and thus reduce unit production costs. Neurath’s concept was the first of many innovations introduced into the publishing world through Thames & Hudson.

Seeking to continue the packaging of collectible books in a second edition and recognizing the need to amortize the high costs of producing illustrated books, Neurath founded his own publishing company, with offices in London and New York, in autumn 1949. Eva Neurath, who arrived in London from Berlin in 1939, was a co-founder.

Of the ten titles published on Thames & Hudson’s first list in 1950, English Cathedrals, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, was the first and most successful. The company’s strong belief in the longevity of books was evident from the start, with the title remaining in print until 1971. Also in the first year, Out of My Later Years by Albert Einstein was published, an early indicator of the program’s scope. As the list gradually expanded from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in 1955, the company moved its offices from High Holborn and, in 1956, relocated to a Georgian townhouse at 30 Bloomsbury Street, near Bedford Square, becoming the epicenter of book publishing in London. The publisher remained at this address, eventually expanding to five buildings, until 1999, when it returned to High Holborn.

In 1958, Thames and Hudson introduced one of the most renowned series, World of Art, which became the foundation of a highly diverse list. Characterized by pocket-sized format and black spines, the series expanded within just seven years, encompassing 49 titles. Nearly 60 years later, the series boasts over 300 titles, which, according to Christopher Frayling, are “stained with paint copies” in “every art school in the country.”

Other important series that added depth and prestige to the list include Ancient People and Places, edited by Glyn Daniel, who since the 1950s has contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and television. Over 34 titles have been published in the series over 34 years. The large-format series Great Civilizations, published in 1961, included contributions from renowned scholars such as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, and John Julius Norwich.

After building one of the most important publishing houses in Europe in less than two decades, Walter Neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63. Sculptor Henry Moore wrote that “his death was a loss to our cultural life.” Sir Herbert Read noted that Neurath “more than anyone else was responsible for the revolution in publishing art books” and was “one of those rare entrepreneurs who successfully combine business acumen with idealism.” Eva Neurath became chairwoman. Walter’s son, Thomas, who joined the company in 1961 with his sister Constance, became managing director; Constance later served as artistic director for several decades. Both Thomas and Constance remain on the Thames & Hudson board, as do Thomas’s daughters, Johanna and Susanna.

From producing the first commercial edition of The Book of Kells to the triumphant publication of the six-volume Vincent van Gogh - Letters, from technical innovations like “French folds” to the controversial documentation of graffiti art in Subway Art, Thames and Hudson has always been at the forefront, both culturally and in production techniques.

The year 2016 marked an extraordinary new chapter for the company, announcing publishing partnerships with two of the world’s most important museums: the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The world of art and scholarship remains at the heart of Thames & Hudson’s publishing program, which remains true to its core principle: providing a “museum without walls.” Today, Thames & Hudson is a recognizable international brand, a symbol of British publishing. Its catalog includes thousands of interesting book titles, many of which are prestigious collectible editions.

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