Background
David King was born on April 30, 1943 in Isleworth, London, England, United Kingdom. His father was a bank manager. He has a sister.
David King, photo by Anthony Oliver
London, United Kingdom
David King studied typography at the London School of Printing (now London College of Communication).
David King, photo by Judy Groves
David King in his studio in 2009, photo by David North
(More clearly than any party resolution or government proc...)
More clearly than any party resolution or government proclamation, the graphic art and caricatures from the Russian Revolution of 1905 tell the story of the heroic failure of that rebellion, and chronicle with incredible vividness the moment of transition from tsarist despotism to Bolshevik revolution. For a few brief months before the1905 upheaval was smashed, at least 380 satirical journals flooded the streets of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, speaking with a rage that neither arrest nor exile could suppress. The tsar, his ministers, the government, the church, the army; the journals constantly expanded their territory and their targets, demolishing one victim after another and thriving on the massive censorship intended to silence them.
https://www.amazon.com/Images-revolution-Graphic-1905-Russia/dp/0394534379/?tag=2022091-20
1983
(This book includes statues, posters, architecture, photom...)
This book includes statues, posters, architecture, photomontages, movies, and clothing produced in Russia between 1900 and 1937, and describes the political figures, artists' groups, and social changes of the period.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Worlds-Russian-Society-1900-1937/dp/0500275696/?tag=2022091-20
1986
(This book contains photographs to trace the life and care...)
This book contains photographs to trace the life and career of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary who was exiled and eventually assassinated at Stalin's command.
https://www.amazon.com/Trotsky-Photographic-Biography-David-King/dp/063114689X/?tag=2022091-20
1986
(A disturbing glimpse into the manipulation of photographs...)
A disturbing glimpse into the manipulation of photographs for political advancement by Joseph Stalin includes instances of this happening throughout his reign, illustrated with reproductions of the actual doctored photographs.
https://www.amazon.com/Commissar-Vanishes-Falsification-Photographs-Stalins/dp/0805052941/?tag=2022091-20
1997
(Red Star Over Russia is a breathtaking visual history, us...)
Red Star Over Russia is a breathtaking visual history, using posters, photographs, paintings, magazine covers, advertisements, and ephemera to illustrate the dramatic birth and eventual decline of the Soviet Union. The book plunges the reader into the shattering events that brought hope, chaos, heroism, and horror to the citizens of the world’s first workers’ state. The Russian Revolution produced some of the most important advances in art, photography, and graphic design in the 20th century. More than 550 of these widely influential materials are reproduced here, accompanied by David King’s accessible text. King rescues from obscurity many lost heroes and villains through the work of the most brilliant Soviet artists, many of them anonymous or long forgotten.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-over-Russia-History/dp/1854379356/?tag=2022091-20
2009
(The tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution were matc...)
The tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution were matched by dramatic shifts in graphic art and design that continue to influence our visual landscape. David King, an internationally acclaimed graphic designer, selected the posters reproduced here from his own unparalleled collection. Constructivist posters, socialist advertising, and biting political satire are all represented, as are artists such as Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, and Gustav Klutsis. King sets the posters in context and profiles the art directors whose vision played a vital role in creating these striking works. The tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution were matched by dramatic shifts in graphic art and design that continue to influence our visual landscape. David King, an internationally acclaimed graphic designer, selected the posters reproduced here from his own unparalleled collection. Constructivist posters, socialist advertising, and biting political satire are all represented, as are artists such as Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, and Gustav Klutsis. King sets the posters in context and profiles the art directors whose vision played a vital role in creating these striking works.
https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Revolutionary-Posters-Socialist-Bolshevism/dp/184976347X/?tag=2022091-20
2012
(German artist John Heartfield (1891-1968) is widely consi...)
German artist John Heartfield (1891-1968) is widely considered one of the inventors of photomontage. In the 1930s, he produced some of the most visually arresting and politically hard-hitting artwork of the 20th century, appropriating the widely circulated propaganda of the time to create its total antithesis. In his own words, he used “laughter as a devastating weapon” to target the Nazis, which made him a target for Nazi censorship. In 1933, the Gestapo destroyed much of his work, after which he produced his brilliantly terrifying images in exile. This new book includes an insightful essay and more than 150 full-color reproductions of his works. German artist John Heartfield (1891-1968) is widely considered one of the inventors of photomontage. In the 1930s, he produced some of the most visually arresting and politically hard-hitting artwork of the 20th century, appropriating the widely circulated propaganda of the time to create its total antithesis. In his own words, he used “laughter as a devastating weapon” to target the Nazis, which made him a target for Nazi censorship. In 1933, the Gestapo destroyed much of his work, after which he produced his brilliantly terrifying images in exile. This new book includes an insightful essay and more than 150 full-color reproductions of his works.
https://www.amazon.com/John-Heartfield-Laughter-Devastating-Weapon/dp/1849761841/?tag=2022091-20
2015
artist Photographer author graphic designer
David King was born on April 30, 1943 in Isleworth, London, England, United Kingdom. His father was a bank manager. He has a sister.
David King studied typography at the London School of Printing (now London College of Communication). His tutor was Robin Fior, who introduced him to Soviet Constructivist revolutionary graphics and political art.
David King was the art editor of The Sunday Times from 1965 to 1975. In 1970 he traveled to the Soviet Union to gather material for an article on the centenary of Lenin’s birth. There he became obsessed with ferreting out images of Leon Trotsky, as well as photographs, posters, propaganda art and other ephemera from the Soviet period. He packaged his findings in his book "Leon Trotsky" (1972).
Shortly before leaving The Sunday Times in 1975, King documented Muhammad Ali’s training sessions for his bout with George Foreman in Zaire and published his photographs as "I Am King: A Photographic Biography of Muhammad Ali" (1975). In the 1970s, Mr. King designed posters for several political groups, including Apartheid in Practice and the National Union of Journalists. He came up with the red-and-yellow arrow logo for the Anti-Nazi League and designed the posters for the Rock Against Racism concerts and marches.
In the 1980s, he designed the first covers for City Limits, the new weekly alternative to Time Out, produced several posters for the Crafts Council and was art director of its bi-monthly magazine, Crafts. King’s style suited David Elliott, director of the Museum of Modern Art Oxford (now Modern Art Oxford), who commissioned him to create catalogues and posters for the Soviet art exhibitions Alexander Rodchenko (1979), Vladimir Mayakovsky: Twenty Years of Work (1982) and Art Into Production: Soviet Textiles, Fashion and Ceramics 1917-1935 (1985).
In 2009 King published "Red Star Over Russia: A Visual History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Death of Stalin". The introduction to the book is an anecdotal account of his research into Soviet history.
(More clearly than any party resolution or government proc...)
1983(A disturbing glimpse into the manipulation of photographs...)
1997(This book includes statues, posters, architecture, photom...)
1986(Red Star Over Russia is a breathtaking visual history, us...)
2009(This book contains photographs to trace the life and care...)
1986(The tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution were matc...)
2012(German artist John Heartfield (1891-1968) is widely consi...)
2015(This is a vintage pictorial biography of Muhammad Ali.)
1975(This is a biography of Leon Trotsky.)
1972David King developed a special interest in Leon Trotsky and collected one of the world’s largest collections of Soviet political art and photographs. His collection grew to more than 250,000 items. Part of this collection is housed on the fourth floor of Tate Modern, London.
David King has a partner, Valerie Wade. He has two children, Robin and Josephine from an earlier marriage.