Houses of the Holy

The Houses of the Holy limited edition archival inkjet print was produced in an edition of 500 by the Hipgnosis founding team of Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell and Storm Thorgerson. All remaining copies of this print are signed exclusively by Aubrey Powell.

The idea to revisit album cover artwork for publication as original, limited edition prints came from Storm Thorgerson in 2000. He had amassed a huge body of work from forty years of creating iconic covers and wanted it to be seen in fuller glory. Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy was an obvious contender. A number one album back in 1973 when that meant everything.

It was a landmark album long after its release; Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) said in Q Magazine in 2003, “I became totally obsessed with Led Zeppelin, they were the first band I actually listened to. I put on Houses Of The Holy and just sat there.” In the same issue, Toby Manning of Q Magazine wrote:

“Arguably one of the most intriguing pieces of sleeve artwork, Houses Of The Holy was also one of the most difficult to assemble. With Led Zeppelin’s US tour breaking box office records previously held by The Beatles, the music press had to concede that they were now officially the biggest band in the world. In this respect, at least, they no longer had anything to prove.”

Hipgnosis met the challenge of presenting this album with an epic idea inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.

“At the end of the book all of earth’s children gather together to be taken off into space. I suggested we take a family to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and photograph them climbing the octagonal steps there so it looked like they were climbing up to be taken away. I decided to take a black and white photograph and hand tint it in the studio. I shot the children in various positions then cut them out of the photos and made a collage.” Aubrey Powell

The original artwork was re-assembled for this edition and printed in stunning 6 colour pigment inks.