Medieval Modern Art Out of Time book - Thames and Hudson

The author revisits key issues in art history, from iconoclasm and idolatry to installation art and museums as institutions. He demonstrates how the main assumptions of modernism—mass production, site-specificity, collage, readiness, and questioning the nature of art and authorship—were features of earlier times, now revived by recent generations. The book analyzes, among many other topics, the significance of medieval cathedrals for the Bauhaus movement in the twenties; similarities between Renaissance altarpieces and modern surface and structural treatments; the influence of Byzantine models on minimalist artists; affinities between ancient sacred sites and earthworks; sacred relics and contemporary readiness. In addition to the works of twentieth-century medievalist writers such as Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Leo Steinberg, and Umberto Eco, Nagel considers a wide range of prominent artists, from Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio to Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Smithson, and Damien Hirst.

Today, still an independent family-owned publisher, Thames & Hudson is one of the world’s leading publishers of illustrated books, with over 2,000 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 also includes a growing selection 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. He initially worked as production director at Adprint, a brand founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges developed an innovative 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 by Thames & Hudson.

Seeking to continue the collectible book packaging in a second edition and recognizing the need to amortize high costs of producing illustrated books, Neurath founded 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 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 conviction in the durability of books remained evident, as it remained in print until 1971. Also in the first year of publication was Albert Einstein’s *Out of My Later Years*, an early indicator of the scope of the program. As the list expanded gradually and successfully—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 manufactory 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 famous series, *World of Art*, which became the foundation of a very diverse list. Characterized by pocket-sized format 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 Christopher Frayling notes, “are stained with paint copies in every art school in the country.”

Other important series that have added depth and prestige to the collections 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 on television. Over 34 titles have been published in this series over 34 years. The large-format series *Great Civilizations*, published in 1961, featured 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. Rsculptor 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 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 terms of production techniques.

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 original book titles. Many of these are exclusive collector’s editions. 

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