Vale Thomas Neurath

Thomas Neurath, long-time managing director and later chairman of Thames & Hudson (T&H), has died in London at the age of 84.

From a statement from Thames & Hudson Australia:

Born in Highgate in October 1940, Thomas Neurath was the son of publisher Walter Neurath and schoolteacher Marianne Müller. Walter founded T&H in 1949 with his third wife and longstanding publishing colleague Eva Feuchtwang, with offices in London and New York. T&H pioneered the concept of creating a ‘museum without walls’ enabling readers to encounter and engage with great works of art of all disciplines.

Neurath joined the family firm as an editor in 1961, where he developed the ‘World of Art’ series.  Published in paperback at prices students could afford, with texts by major experts, and now containing some 300 titles, it continues to be a flagship series for T&H today.

In 1967, Walter Neurath died, and Thomas became managing director and his sister, Constance, looked after design. Thomas had a focus on export sales – supported over time by the establishment of further offices in Paris, Melbourne and Asia – and co-edition opportunities, developing close and lasting links with publishers overseas, from France, Italy and Germany to Japan and North America.

Neurath stepped down from his role as managing director of T&H in 2005, assuming the role of chairman until 2021. Thomas’s older daughter, Johanna, is chair of Thames & Hudson Publishing Ltd, while his younger daughter, Susanna, is chair of Thames & Hudson Holdings Ltd.

Sophie Thompson, CEO, Thames & Hudson writes:

T&H’s 75th-anniversary celebrations in 2024 put Thomas’s immense contribution to publishing into perspective. He spent more than 50 years at the helm of the company and permeated the house with his intellectual and cultural aura, as well as his unrivalled commercial understanding of the opportunities and perils of illustrated publishing. Working with Thomas was both challenging and deeply rewarding: daunting interrogations were offset by long, happy discussions about the program, publishing and the art world more broadly. His wisdom, experience and passion will be greatly missed by everyone at T&H.

Andrew Franklin, founder director, Profile Books writes:

A generation of mittel-European Jewish publishers shaped the British world of letters and publishing from the post-war period to the twenty-first century. To name some of the greatest: Tom Maschler, Ernest Hecht, André Deutsch, Tom Rosenthal. But perhaps Thomas Neurath achieved more than any of them. He made T&H, started by his parents, into the greatest and most distinguished art and cultural publisher in the English language – one that remains in excellent hands under Sophy Thompson’s skilled leadership. Thomas made T&H a beacon of independent publishing and integrity. I admired him so much. We have lost a remarkable man.

Richard Charkin, director, Bloomsbury Publishing writes:

Thomas Neurath led T&H for nearly sixty years, building on the entrepreneurial legacy of his parents. He was one of the last representatives of that post-war immigration boom from continental Europe that transformed British publishing from a cosy oligopoly to a vibrant, risk-taking, globally orientated and high-quality industry that we enjoy today. We owe the Neurath family, and Thomas in particular, a huge debt of gratitude in the knowledge that today his company reflects his vision and will continue so to do.

Laurence King, founder, Laurence King Publishing writes:

Thomas Neurath was an innovative publisher with a wonderful eye for what was new and exciting and a determination to create great books. He could also be very generous, as he was to me as I was starting out in my career.

Nicholas Serota, chair, Arts Council England, and former director, Tate writes

In the post-war period, art publishing was transformed by Walter and Eva Neurath, the founders of T&H. But it was Walter’s son, Thomas, who developed the groundbreaking ‘World of Art’ series in the early sixties. These books brought together authoritative texts by renowned scholars with colour illustrations in a format and at a price that opened art history to new audiences. Over the next fifty years, Thomas continued to encourage young authors and to build the company’s reputation for affordable high-quality texts and illustrations. His commitment to quality and his urbane style endeared him to authors and artists alike.

Sir Norman Rosenthal, independent curator and former exhibitions secretary, Royal Academy of Arts writes:

T&H stands for making knowledge about art accessible to everyone. Thomas Neurath devoted himself to carrying on this tradition begun by his parents, Walter and Eva Neurath, bringing a central European engagement with culture to this country’s publishing and somehow making it feel very British.

The Neurath family writes: 

We are grateful to everyone at T&H and the wider publishing community, who enriched Thomas’s professional life, his great passion for good books, and filled his years with stimulating conversations, creative collaborations, inspiring challenges and, most importantly of all, many deeply cherished friendships.

Category: Obituaries