By the end of the 1940s, Neurath had had enough of working for someone else. It was time to strike out on his own. And so, in 1949, Walter Neurath and Eva Feuchtwang set up their own publishing house. Their mission was to create a ‘museum without walls’, and to produce illustrated books for the education and delight of everyone. They opted to call the fledgling company after the rivers of London and New York: Thames and Hudson. The new logo would comprise two dolphins, one facing east and the other west, to represent the old world meeting the new in the spirit of friendship. Thames & Hudson was ready for business: its philosophy was in place, and the turbulent history of the past would provide the foundation for its future.

The company’s first list appeared in 1950 with ten titles. Among them, English Cathedrals by Martin Hürlimann, became the most commercially successful. The next season saw the publication of Out of My Later Years by Albert Einstein, signalling the breadth and ambition of the young publishing house.

Rapid growth followed: by 1955 the list had expanded to 144 titles, prompting a move in 1956 to Bloomsbury Street, then the centre of London publishing. The launch of the World of Art series proved transformative, establishing a highly accessible format that became central to the company’s identity and endures to this day. Further prestige came through major series such as Ancient Peoples and Places, edited by Glyn Daniel, and Great Civilizations, which featured contributions from historians including AJP Taylor and John Julius Norwich.

Having built one of the most important publishing houses in Europe in under two decades, Walter Neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63. Both close friends of Walter, Sculptor Henry Moore wrote that ‘his death [was] a loss to our cultural life’, while critic Herbert Read credited him with revolutionizing the art book, praising his rare blend of commercial insight and idealism.

His death marked the end of an era, but not the end of Thames & Hudson, which under Thomas Neurath’s leadership would consolidate its position over the next decades as the leading publisher internationally of books on art, archaeology, architecture, design, fashion, photography and more.

Image: Walter Neurath, at home in Highgate, North London c. 1965-66, Photo Ray Williams. Courtsey the Neurath family.

Following Walter’s death, Eva Neurath assumed the role of Chairman. Thomas Neurath, who had joined the company in 1961 alongside his sister Constance, became managing director. Constance would go on to shape the company’s visual identity for decades as art director.

Over the next few decades, Thames & Hudson strengthened its international partnerships and thousands of new titles were published. New subject areas began to emerge, from fashion to street art, from architecture to design, and myriad manifestations of visual culture and counterculture. Art, however, remained central to its publishing focus, and new relationships were forged with living artists, among them David Hockney, Lucian Freud, Anselm Kiefer and many more.

Image: Thomas Neurath (left) at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1967, Photo Boris Spak. Courtsey the Neurath family.

The late 1970s and 1980s were marked by steady international growth and diversification. The co-edition model matured, enabling the company to sustain high production standards while reaching wider audiences. Its major series continued to expand, and its reputation for authoritative yet accessible illustrated publishing strengthened worldwide.

Throughout the 1980s, the company continued to champion the most respected writers and thinkers on art of the day, among them Robert Hughes, author of The Shock of the New (1980). Cited by the Guardian in 2011 as one of its top 100 non-fiction books of all time, it remains an exhilarating examination of the evolution of modern art since Impressionism.

In 1989, Éditions Thames et Hudson opened in Paris. A launch party was held at the Louvre in July, attended by longtime T&H author Henri Cartier-Bresson and many eminent historians.

Image: A meeting of the board directors c. 1976, with Eva Neurath presiding and (left to right) Thomas Neurath, Constance Kaine (née Neurath), Simon Huntley, company secretary Eric Bates, Werner Guttmann, Trevor Craker, Ian Middleton and finance director Ian Carriline in attendance. Courtesy the Neurath Family.

The closing years of the 20th century were interesting times – for Thames & Hudson and for everyone else – as the internet emerged and took hold, and design evolved for a digital world. When asked what his vision was for the future of the publishing house, Thomas Neurath replied there was no development plan as such; instead, the company would publish topics that commissioning editors were excited about and that readers in turn would embrace.

Graphic design soon joined street art as the newer, cooler kid on the block. In 1988, a monograph on the graphic designer du jour, Neville Brody – who had a considerable fanbase for his work onThe Face and album covers for bands like Cabaret Voltaire and 23 Skidoo – was Thames & Hudson’s first book on graphic design. Process– a book on Tomato, the multi-disciplinary design and film collective founded in 1991 by Steve Baker, Dirk van Dooren, Simon Taylor, John Warwicker and Graham Wood, plus musicians Karl Hyde and Rick Smith of the group Underworld, followed in 1996.

In 1999 Thames & Hudson turned fifty, an event marked by much press, two special publications –Vision: 50 Years of British Creativity and Hypnerotomachia Poliphili - and an anniversary celebration at the National Gallery with David Hockney as the keynote speaker. A new visual identity was commissioned from design and brand strategy firm The Partners, along with a special anniversary logo to replace the original dolphins that had been swimming across the spines of the company’s books since 1949. After more than four decades at Bloomsbury Street – where the company gradually expanded to occupy five adjoining houses – it returned to High Holborn in 1999, signalling both continuity and renewal.

But on 27 December, Eva Neurath died, and so the company headed into the new millennium without either of its two founders. There were uncharted waters ahead.

Image: Thomas Neurath in his office on Bloomsbury Street, 1986. Photo Paul Yule. Courtesy the Neurath Family.

Entering the 21st century, Thames & Hudson continued to adapt to changes in bookselling and international markets while maintaining its founding principles: quality, longevity and global collaboration. Thomas Neurath stepped down as managing director in 2005 and became Chairman, ensuring continued family stewardship.

Thames & Hudson marked its sixtieth anniversary in 2009 with what Andrew Motion described in the Guardian as ‘one of the major publishing achievements of our time’: a six-volume edition of Vincent van Gogh’s complete letters, a collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The 2010s were a period of significant transition at Thames & Hudson. In 2013 the managing director, Jamie Camplin, and Chairman, Thomas Neurath, stepped aside, having been at the helm of the company for decades. Sophy Thompson joined the company as publishing director, eventually becoming CEO in 2019. In 2015 T&H entered into publishing partnerships with two of the UK’s pre-eminent national institutions, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, enabling it to apply creative solutions to their books and engage with new audiences around the globe.

Additional developments included a new way of overcoming the huge initial outlay incurred in the production of illustrated books. The Volume imprint, established in 2017, takes promising titles for specialized audiences and pitches them for crowdfunding to eliminate or reduce the publishing risk.

Image: Thomas Neurath’s daughter Johanna in the old Bloomsbury Street office, before the move to High Holborn

The imprint Skittledog made its appearance in 2022. Devoted to books and gifts centred around practical creativity, lifestyle and fun, it has added to the company’s range and relevance, as has Gift Lab, which takes an exciting new approach to engaging with the subjects we publish.

The company celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2024 with a party at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Guests included authors, agents, artists and booksellers, and speeches were made by Johanna Neurath, Sophy Thompson and Grayson Perry.

Thomas Neurath served as Chairman until 2021 and remained closely connected to the company until his death on 13 June 2025 at the age of 84. Today, the next generation continues the family’s involvement: Johanna Neurath serves as Chair of Thames & Hudson Publishing Ltd, and Susanna Reisz Neurath as Chair of Thames & Hudson Holdings Ltd.

As its history has shown, the company is not only a guardian of the past, but also a dynamic force shaping the future of illustrated book publishing. It is fitting that its new London headquarters in Britannia Street were formerly occupied by the celebrated Gagosian Gallery: the walls echo with the voices of artists and other creative individuals – a constant reminder that, at the heart of all of Thames & Hudson’s endeavours, is a desire to share the very best of human creativity with the wider world.

Image: Original handpainted mosaic floor at Thames & Hudson’s Bloomsbury Street office, now on display in the foyer of Thames & Hudson's offices.