50 years of the Sunday Times Magazine

Eavesdrop on The Sunday Times Magazine's 50th birthday party

T he exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London to mark 50 Years of the Sunday Times Magazine has attracted so many visitors that it is being extended again to accommodate the unprecedented demand. It will now remain open until Sunday March 18. The gallery at Duke of York's HQ King's Road, London SW3 4RY is open from 10am to 6pm every day.

The exhibition features work published in the Magazine by some of the world's greatest photographers including Don McCullin, Eve Arnold, Terry O'Neill, Snowdon, Richard Avedon, Eugene Richards, Stuart Franklin and Sam Taylor-Wood.

In February 1962, the Sunday Times launched the first colour magazine. “My God, this is going to be a disaster,” groaned Roy Thomson, the then owner of The Sunday Times. Newspapers in those days were dull dogs and the idea of putting a colourful magazine with a paper was seen as barmy.

Mark Boxer, the first editor of the Magazine, later recalled, “A curious truth soon emerged: readers liked it – so much so that about a quarter of a million new readers were attracted to the newspaper.”

Fifty years on, and much emulated, the Magazine is marking its half century with a free exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, showcasing the world class writing and photography which has defined the Magazine for five decades.

The contribution made to the Magazine by renowned writers such as Ian Fleming, Martin Amis, Bruce Chatwin, Zoe Heller, James Fox and Nicholas Tomalin, are also celebrated.

The Sunday Times Magazine 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by Lexus, is at the Saatchi Gallery, London from until Sunday March 18. Entry is free. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 6pm

You can see the Magazine's greatest hits from the past 50 years here