Wes Anderson: The Archives

Wes Anderson: The Archives accompanies the first retrospective exhibition of Anderson's work, curated by the Design Museum in London in partnership with Wes Anderson.

Sometimes the movie knows you better than you know yourself, and you reveal your point of view about the world without ever even intending to. -- Wes Anderson

An archive is always a time-machine, but the archives of Wes Anderson take us on a journey not just through time, but through layers of stories and the experiences of storytelling – on paper and on film. This book is dedicated to these stories and celebrates Anderson’s over 30 years in cinema.

From the start of his career, Anderson has maintained a rich library of notebooks, drawings, paintings, polaroids, props, puppets, sets, and costumes from his films. The objects shown here are enhanced and illuminated by Anderson’s long-time collaborators: Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton; composer Alexandre Desplat; musician Seu Jorge; and music supervisor Randall Poster.

Also includes an extensive interview with Anderson himself, reflecting on his films and working process.

About the Author

Johanna Agerman Ross is the Conran Foundation Chief Curator at the Design Museum in London where she looks after the museum’s programme of exhibitions. She was previously curator of twentieth century and contemporary furniture and product design at the V&A. In 2011 she founded the international design journal Disegno.

Matthieu Orléan is an artistic collaborator at La Cinémathèque française. He is the curator of exhibitions such as: ¡Almodóvar Exhibition! (2006), Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood (2008), The Enchanted World of Jacques Demy (2013), Gus Van Sant Icons (2016).

Dr Lucia Savi is the Head of Curatorial and Interpretation at the Design Museum. She curated the V&A exhibition "Bags: Inside Out" (2020) and authored its catalogue. Savi has contributed to several exhibitions and publications. Her latest academic monograph, A New History of Made in Italy, Fashion and Textiles in Post War Italy, was published by Bloomsbury in 2023.

Includes contributions from Glenn Adamson, Lanre Bakare, Frédéric Bonnaud, Hadeel Eltayeb, Stéphane Lerouge, Vincent Malausa, Charlene Prempeh, Tim Marlow, Richard Round-Turner, Nicolas Saada, Leanne Shapton, Isabel Stevens.