Listeners may remember that, a couple of years ago, I was extremely lucky to be able to chat with the son of the late and legendary artist Bob Haberfield. Ben was a great guest and it was slightly surreal for me to have the opportunity to talk to someone so close to the man whose imagery, quite frankly, blew my fucking mind as a kid.
There are plenty of book and album covers that I pored over as a lad, but a handful of paperbacks published by Mayflower in the late 60s and early 70s struck such a chord with me that I can visualise them in almost their entire detail 40 plus years later. That may be bollocks of course, as I was only yesterday admiring my framed print of the cover art to The Knight of the Swords that hangs on our kitchen and I spotted yet new details that I’d never observed before.
Nevertheless, they are imprinted upon my psyche in the way that very few other pieces of art are.
Imagine my delight then, when a package arrived this week care of John Davey at Jayde Design – a most wonderful delivery. The marvellous two-book slipcase set of Bob Haberfield: The Man and His Art. It only seems yesterday when Dave and I talked to Ben and he trailed this upcoming project – a celebration of Bob’s life, legacy and incredible, unforgettable work.
Here is the press blurb:
“There were few endeavours – as readers will discover in these volumes – to which Bob Haberfield could not turn his creative hand.
An extremely accomplished musician and singer, he rejected the lure of a career on stage in favour of more solitary pursuits as an artist. He went on to make a reasonable living in that field, and remains best known for his often astonishing book-cover artworks, particularly those painted for titles by fantasy and science fiction author Michael Moorcock.
In time, however, he would struggle to reconcile his limitless artistic ambitions with the constraints of work-for-hire, no matter how extraordinary and wide-ranging the results. Other demons, too, would affect both his output and his relationship to it, added to which his strongly held Buddhist beliefs felt at odds with a monetary wealth that he neither sought nor wanted.
So there are two discrete elements to Bob Haberfield: the man, and his art. Even that separation is by no means clear-cut, but it does allow for a logical distinction between these two complementary volumes.
To quote Ben Haberfield, Bob’s son, Volume I: The Man focuses almost exclusively on “a catalogue of his drawings and paintings … These images are an expression of who he truly was. This is his legacy. The catalogue he made is his own selection of those images and this book is that selection”.
Volume II: His Art features painstakingly curated — deemed the best — examples of Bob Haberfield’s many book & magazine covers and record sleeves, as well as other artworks created across a staggering range of subjects and media.
Each volume also includes a number of essays by family, friends, peers and admirers of Bob Haberfield… both the man and his art. “
I’m extraordinarily grateful to John for sending this over, because it really is a beauty. You may have come across Jayde Design’s James Cawthorn books in the past (and if you haven’t, get them), and this is another great example of John’s dedication not only to his subject matter, but to ensuring it is presented in the best way possible. Fortunately, as we heard from Ben, most of the original pieces are in his possession so the scans and the heavy gloss paper stock (is that even the right terminology? I HAVE NO IDEA) make sure that these glorious pieces can be fully appreciated in the two outsized paperbacks.
It’s not just the art that is remarkable here though, it’s also the glimpse of Bob as a bloke, a person for whom talent was no protection from self-doubt and personal demons. Mike’s contribution in volume two is revealing in terms of how Bob was an enigma in many ways to even the people whose work he would elevate and propel forth from book shelves into the hands of a hypnotised and often bewildered readership. I was one of those readers, although in my case the vivid, psychedelic art was projecting itself into my cortex from Pops’s coffee table initially, then much later from the packed shelves of Crystal Books on Spring Bank and still, to this day, second hand book shops up and down the country.
For all fans of Bob, and any fan of genre paperbacks and the people behind them, this is essential. Not only a gorgeous pair of coffee table tomes, but an insight into the life of one of the greatest to ever do it. A wider look at the bewildering scope and range of his massively prodigious output, an examination of the melancholia of choices and change, and a reflection on how we all negotiate pathways, faith, illusion and reconciliation.
For more on Bob follow @bobhaberfield.art on Instagram.
The art included was compiled by Ben, with additions by John Davey and John Guy Collick, and it will be available to buy from 28th July via the Bob Haberfield Web Shop.
Pre-orders are available direct from Jayde Design at jaydedesign.com
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