Violette Editions

Established in London in 1995 by Robert Violette – recognized by Wallpaper* magazine in their 15th-anniversary issue as one of 150 international ‘movers, shakers and makers of the last 15 years’ – Violette Editions is an independent publishing imprint for new editorial projects and books on the contemporary visual arts, with an emphasis on first books by artists, collections of artist writings and innovative projects that push the limits of book design and fabrication. Violette Editions has also created, produced and advised on original editorial projects for leading brands, institutions and galleries in the arts and fashion, product design and even gaming.

From the beginning, books published by Violette Editions have been distributed commercially worldwide by Thames and Hudson (an early minority investor) and in North America by Artbook DAP. Violette Editions has also co-published titles with partners including Thames and Hudson, The MIT Press, Rizzoli, Prestel and others.

Averaging two or three titles every year, each book was produced (and usually edited) by Robert himself, overseeing every detail from the initial concept to the choice of materials and final delivery. Violette Editions also established its own digital pre-press operations, enabling a level of fidelity in print reproduction rarely seen in commercial books. Robert has always implemented a fierce and collaborative approach to editorial and design, pressing the artists or subjects, designers, writers and others to shape a unique publication.

On the commercial side of his advisory and packaging business, Violette Editions has also devised, edited, produced and packaged fine illustrated books and magazines for other publishers and for a select range of private and commercial clients including Hotel Il Pellicano, Kvadrat, Swarovski, Tate, White Cube, Bata, HSBC Private Bank, Webber Shandwick Agency, Condé Nast, Rockstar Games, Selfridges, Abbott, Brooks England, Gemfields, Paul Smith and others. (See Books created.) These projects have represented important editorial initiatives, with clients approaching Robert to assess, advise and create histories and content designed to communicate the brand’s values to a wide audience, retelling their stories in innovative ways. The jewellery series, for instance, sponsored by Gemfields and reprinted many times since first publication in 2013, has received in excess of 6.5 billion press views, impacting the way jewellery books are now published and even increasing the market share for and public consciousness of coloured gemstones.

In early 2014, after 25 years of making books and a year in which Violette Editions had published major monographs by Tom Dixon, Juergen Teller and Sarah Jones, as well as three large-scale publications for commercial clients, Robert decided to take a break from publishing new titles under the Violette Editions imprint. His focus shifted to producing several external large-scale book projects, including his series on coloured gemstones and a landmark 50th-anniversary 1152-page book for Lisson Gallery. Robert continues to develop new and exciting publications, conceived specifically to impact the public perceptions of diverse and, sometimes, stigmatised subjects. At the same time, Robert has returned to making his own personal work as a visual artist, which is ongoing, while exploring other large-scale visual arts projects outside of publishing.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Robert began his career in 1988 at the Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London, editing and producing books and exhibition catalogues there until 1995. Working with many leading artists including Francesco Clemente, Gilbert & George, Sir Howard Hodgkin, Richard Hamilton, Ellsworth Kelly, Anselm Kiefer, Richard Long and Gerhard Richter, Robert modernised the publishing operations at the gallery in an unprecedented manner, initiating significant commercial partnerships with trade publishers. In 1992, Robert produced, co-edited and agented Jeff Koons’s first publication, The Jeff Koons Handbook, of which more than 25,000 copies were sold through co-editions with Rizzoli, Thames and Hudson and Schirmer Mosel (German language). In 1995, also for d’Offay, Robert originated and co-published with The MIT Press both Bill Viola’s collected writings, Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House, still in print today, and Gerhard Richter’s collected writings and interviews, The Daily Practice of Painting (edited by Hans-Ulrich Obrist), also reprinted in several editions. After leaving d’Offay and while setting up Violette Editions, Robert was asked by Damien Hirst and Jay Jopling to edit Hirst’s first major book, I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now, which was published in 1997 and also remains in print today.

Away from book publishing, in 2005 Robert was a finalist for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award at Riverside Studios, London. Since 2014, he has been a founding adviser for Block Universe performance art festival. Robert has also led crits and editorial workshops for the BBC, with MA students at University of the Arts, London, Nottingham Trent University, London College of Fashion and Royal College of Art. He is a frequent visitor to Masseria Pernice in Camporeale, Sicily, where he was invited by curator Cornelia Lauf to undertake the Sallier de la Tour family’s annual artist residency.