Book Books that shaped the history of art From Gombrich and Greenberg to Alpers and Krauss - Thames & Hudson

What books shaped the history of art as it developed in the 20th century? This pioneering book provides an invaluable roadmap of the field through a reevaluation of the influence of some of the most significant works in art history. Each of the sixteen distinctive chapters, focusing on a single title, is written by a leading art historian, curator, or one of the promising contemporary scholars. By combining these intergenerational contributions, the book offers a diverse and invaluable overview of art history, narrated through its groundbreaking texts. The sixteen books include: Nikolaus Pevsner’s evangelism of modernism, *Pioneers of the Modern Movement*, Alfred Barr’s legendary monograph on Matisse, E.H. Gombrich’s *Art and Illusion*, Clement Greenberg’s *Art and Culture*, which had a seismic impact upon publication in 1961, and Rosalind Krauss’s *Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths*, which introduced structuralist and post-structuralist thinking into art historical research. Initiated and prepared under the auspices of The Burlington Magazine, each chapter — featuring writers such as John Elderfield, Boris Groys, Susie Nash, and Richard Verdie — analyzes one important book, presenting its premises and arguments, and mapping the intellectual development of its author, discussing their position within art history and examining its significance in both initial reception and legacy.

John-Paul Stonard’s introduction explores how art history has been shaped by these outstanding contributions, as well as by the dialogues and ruptures between them. The supplementary documentation summarizes each art historian’s achievements and provides a detailed history of the publication of their texts, along with suggestions for further reading. Additionally, over 50 illustrations include rare portraits of the authors and covers and fold-outs from the original editions of each publication.

Revitalizing debates and questioning the very status of art history itself, *Books that Shaped Art History* is a concise and brilliant study of the discipline and an invaluable resource for students, teachers, bibliophiles, and anyone interested in visual culture and its histories.

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 and leading scholars’ 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 company, Thames & Hudson is one of the world’s leading publishers of illustrated books, with over 2,000 titles in print. It publishes high-quality 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 is also expanding its 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 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 company founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges developed a pioneering concept now known as book packaging (or co-publishing), where book ideas are developed, commissioned, produced, and sold to publishers operating across different markets and languages to create large editions and thus reduce unit production costs. Neurath’s concept was the first of many innovations introduced to the publishing world through Thames & Hudson.

In order to continue packaging {collector's edition books|books} in the second edition and recognizing the need to amortize the high costs of producing illustrated books, Neurath established his own publishing house, including 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 on Thames & Hudson's first list in 1950, *English Cathedrals*, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, was the first and achieved the greatest success. The firm’s strong conviction from the very beginning regarding the durability of books remained in print until 1971. In the first year of publication, Albert Einstein’s *Out of My Later Years* also appeared, an early indicator of the program’s extensive 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 manufacturing remained at this address, eventually expanding to five houses by 1999, when it returned to High Holborn.

In 1958, Thames & Hudson launched one of its most renowned series, *World of Art*, which became the foundation of a highly diverse list. Characterized by pocket-sized editions and black spines, 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 across the country.

Other important series that added depth and prestige to the list include *Ancient People and Places*, edited by Glyn Daniel, who from the 1950s contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and on television. Over 34 titles have been published in this 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 the chairwoman. Walter’s son, Thomas, who joined the company in 1961 along 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 & 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 extensive catalog includes thousands of original book titles. Many of these are luxury collector’s editions.

Manufacturer information