Art and Antiques
-
A five minute guide to the Loch Ness monster
The legend of the Loch Ness monster has endured for more than a thousand years, inspiring countless works of art along the way.
By Carla Passino Published
-
'You have to work hand in hand with the author — like a dancer has to work with the music': Illustrating Homer's epic poems
Artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins, faced with the colossal challenge of illustrating Homer's 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey', eschewed grandstand views of monumental battles, looking instead for what he calls the little cracks in the paving stones.
By Carla Passino Published
-
Art saved for the nation? Not enough, it would seem
The recent publication of a report on export control of art from the UK makes depressing reading.
By Athena Published
-
Good things come in small packages: The art of an excellent miniature
With so many medals to fit on the tiniest miniature she had ever worked on, limner Elizabeth Meek literally had to hold her breath when painting the portrait of Charles III, but the result is a resounding success.
By Carla Passino Published
-
The perks of being wallpaper: A collection of never-before-seen William Morris designs are to go on sale
The first new Morris & Co. designs in a century were developed using archive materials discovered inside a Californian library.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
Louis Wain: The Edwardian artist who was 'perhaps the best PR cats have ever had'
The artist's fascination with cats is the subject of a show at Chris Beetles Gallery which will feature 25 previously unseen works by Wain.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
'The greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history’: The contents of iconic art collector Pauline Karpidas’s London home are heading to auction
Works by Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso are included in the sale of the items in the collector's apartment which overlooks Hyde Park.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
Princess, patron and purveyor of the arts: The Princess of Wales unveils her own ‘mini display’ at V&A East Storehouse
The Princess of Wales has curated a wide-ranging display of objects, now on display at the newly opened V&A East Storehouse.
By Rosie Paterson Published
-
The 24 best furniture makers in Britain, as chosen by the nation's top designers and architects
Giles Kime asks members of Country Life's Top 100 for their recommendations when it comes to choosing a furniture maker.
By Giles Kime Published
-
‘He’s been here and fired a gun’: How the rivalry between Turner and Constable spiced up Britain’s art scene
Tate Britain will delve into the ‘war’ between the two great landscape artists, much touted by the art critics of their time, with a late-autumn exhibition, ‘Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals’.
By Carla Passino Published
-
The best art dealers in Britain, as chosen by the nation's top designers, architects and creative minds
Who are art dealers used by Britain's top interior designers and creative minds? Giles Kime asks some of the most distinguished members of Country Life's Top 100 for their recommendations.
By Giles Kime Published
-
Hope blooms eternal: Tom Young paints Lebanon's beauty, without shying away from the scars of conflict
'In situations where there is conflict or displacement, or trauma, art can help in some sort of healing process. When there are barriers, it can transcend them'
By Octavia Pollock Published
-
Christian Bolt won't stop until he can revive the Renaissance sculpture technique of terra secca
At his studio fringed by the mountains of Klosters, Swiss sculptor Christian Bolt is feverishly cooking up recipes to re-create terra secca, a material used in Renaissance Italy, not only to expand his own artistic horizons, but to help save the planet.
By Carla Passino Published
-
‘Everyone had dodgy magazines hidden under their beds and I had interior design magazines’: James Thurstan Waterworth's consuming passions
Interior designer James Thurstan Waterworth was the European design director at Soho House before he went on to open his own studio, Thurstan. He discusses his love of Tudor history, Andrew Scott and how a portrait of a chicken changed his life.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
101 gold rats, a 'self portrait as a horse' and a tribute to motherhood take home top prizes at this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
The Royal Academy has announced its 2025 prize winners, spanning talented sculptors, painters and print-makers, with works on display in London until August 19.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
Downtown Abbey is about to finish forever, and you're about to get a chance to see — and to buy — the costumes from the show
Downton Abbey's exquisite costumes and props are going on show at a free exhibition ahead of a sale being held by Bonhams later this summer.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
‘One of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever made’: the Bayeux Tapestry heads to Britain for the first time in almost a millennium
A historic agreement between this country and France sees the 225ft-long tableau — which may have been made in Britain but has been in France since 1077 — arrive at the British Museum in Autumn 2026.
By Carla Passino Published
-
Canine muses: Lucian Freud's etchings of Pluto the whippet are among his most popular and expensive work
In the third edition of our limited series, we meet the dogs who've inspired some of our greatest artists.
By Agnes Stamp Published
-
‘What a shame when a dinosaur disappears into the mansion of an oligarch rather than being displayed for all to enjoy’: The ethics of the dinosaur auction
Fancy a stegosaurus in your living room? You can buy one at auction. But the latest luxury good is a paleontologist's worst nightmare.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
‘Reactions to the French in the 1870s varied from outrage to curious interest’: Impressionism's painstaking ten year journey to be taken seriously by the Brits
Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro spent time in London, but it took James McNeill Whistler to act as artistic bridge with Britain and the ‘sweetened’ Impressionism of Jules Bastien-Lepage to inspire most homegrown painters.
By Caroline Bulger Published
-
Canine muses: The English bull terrier who helped transform her owner from 'a photographer into an artist'
In the first edition of our new, limited series, we meet the dogs who've inspired some of our greatest artists.
By Agnes Stamp Published