Anselm Kiefer Studios book - Thames & Hudson

Access to an artist's studio is a rare privilege. Beyond obvious practical functions, such as production and storage spaces, artists' studios are also physical representations of the artist's mind and memory, where living and working spaces merge. In this beautifully illustrated volume, Danièle Cohn, who has collaborated with Anselm Kiefer for many years, explains the central role that art studios play in his artistic process. She reveals how Kiefer's studios — their layout, organization, and location — are intrinsically linked to his work as a painter and sculptor. The reader is invited to explore Kiefer's ateliers around the world and see the influence they have on his creations.

From the attic of an old school and an unused brickworks in Germany, through rural studios in southern France and the urban setting of Le Marais in Paris, to his current studio in Croissy-Beaubourg on the outskirts of the French capital — we discover how Anselm Kiefer's workspaces have shaped his art.

Thames & Hudson 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, as well as leading scientific 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-run publisher, Thames & Hudson is one of the world's leading publishers of illustrated books, with over 2,000 titles in print. 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 company also develops a list of children's books. 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 the Thames & Hudson brand

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 an innovative concept now known as 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 print runs and reduce unit production costs. Neurath's concept was the first of many innovations introduced by Thames & Hudson into the publishing world.

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 established his own publishing house, with offices in London and New York, in the fall of 1949. Eva Neurath, who arrived in London from Berlin in 1939, was a co-founder.

Of the ten titles published in Thames & Hudson's first list in 1950, *English Cathedrals*, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, was the first and most successful. A testament to the company's strong belief in the longevity of books, it remained in print until 1971. Also in the first year, Albert Einstein's *Out of My Later Years* appeared, an early indicator of the program's breadth. As the list gradually expanded, from ten titles in 1950, to 144 in 1955, the company moved its offices to High Holborn and in 1956 relocated to a Georgian townhouse at Bloomsbury Street 30, 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 launched 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 covers, the series expanded in just seven years to include 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 contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and on television. Over 34 titles have been published in the series over 34 years. The large-format *Great Civilizations* series, published in 1961, featured contributions from esteemed scholars such as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, and John Julius Norwich.
After building one of the most significant 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 art publishing” 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 terms of production techniques.

2016 marked the beginning of an extraordinary new chapter for the company, announcing publishing partnerships with two of the world’s leading 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 stays true to its core principle: providing a “museum without walls.”
Today, Thames & Hudson is a recognized international brand, a symbol of British publishing. They offer thousands of original book titles, many of which are elite collector’s editions.

Manufacturer information