BOB HABERFIELD

                                                                  (1938-2021)

Robert (Bob) Haberfield was born in Australia in 1938 into a musical family.  Those roots were destined to have a lifelong effect on his creative careers in music and art.   As his many published works attest he was uniquely talented, and (amazingly) largely self-taught - although like several of the most successful illustrators working out of the UK  1970s-1980s, his name (as well as his hundreds of illustrations) is virtually unknown to collectors today.  He didn't show his work at conventions, and never sold it.  But thanks to his son, I am able to show and offer some of his amazing artwork to you, now. 

     Haberfield left school at 11 years old (!), and after working as a mechanic for a few years got a job at a graphic design studio. On weekends he had a job as a singer at the local dance hall.  After his National service he was mentored by the Australian artist Clifton Pugh and in 1964 had a one-man show of abstract oil paintings in Melbourne that opened to rave reviews.  At the same time he had also taken up playing the flamenc0 guitar and it wasn’t long before he was playing with the best flamenco guitarists in Australia. He became disillusioned with the fine art world and began his career in illustration by designing record album covers. In 1966 he left Australia to live in Paris where he continued making record covers for Pathé-Marconi company. He was still playing the guitar and was offered the opportunity to join Miguel Valencia, the leader of a well known troop of flamenco guitarists and dancers, on a world tour - which he turned down.  In 1968 he moved to London, and began working with Mayflower Publishing on a series of commissions for Michael Moorcock novels, after the author saw his work and said he wanted Bob to paint the covers for his books.  Those covers have entranced Moorcock fans ever since! Throughout the 1970s he continued to produce dozens of cover illustrations for Panther, Fontana and other well-known UK publishers of science fiction and fantasy.  It was also during this time that Bob discovered and went to live in a Buddhist commune in Wales with his wife and newborn son.  A decision which significantly affected his personal life as well as his professional career.  
     Haberfield's wife and child left the commune soon after the move, but he stayed and started to drink heavily.   There followed a personal downward spiral leading to a short period of homelessness and destitution before he was able to return to Australia with the help of an old friend. There, he threw himself into his work, taking on every commission that came his way, including several covers for the Australian magazine the Nation Review. In 1981 Bob returned to England where he started doing packaging illustration for Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Woolworths, Waitrose and Boots. He became well known in the industry for his fruit and flower illustrations, winning several awards. In 1985 he bought his home in the Conwy Valley, North Wales where he would live out the rest of his days.
     In 1996 Haberfield retired from commercial art, and spent the rest of his days painting in his art studio, listening to classical music, learning the piano, and reading and writing poetry. In 2020 he stopped painting and drawing saying that he had painted everything he wished to express and that he felt that he had come to the end of his creative journey. The last project he worked on was to catalog the paintings and drawings that he considered to be worthy. He died in May 2021 not long after he finished the catalog. 

       Below, a beginning group of published vintage illustrations, all that are available in the horror genre.  More paintings may become available in time, as the estate chooses to sell them.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me, text 703-220-6234 or email to wowart@wow-art.com is the most direct way.

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