Art & Exhibitions
Extensive coverage of exhibitions, artists and the visual and decorative arts, from Old Masters and antiques to contemporary painting, sculpture and crafts.
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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
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The never-before-seen photographs of The House at Pooh Corner that were taken by Country Life when A. A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin called it homeEvery Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
By Melanie Bryan Published
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Christian Bolt won't stop until he can revive the Renaissance sculpture technique of terra seccaAt 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
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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 ExhibitionThe 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
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No strings attached: A brief history of swimwear, from heavy skirts of linen linked to women's drownings, to the skimpy two-piece named after a nuclear weapons siteFrom knee-length numbers to a scandalous suit denounced by the Pope, the colourful history of swimwear has been brought to life by a glamorous London exhibition.
By Deborah Nicholls-Lee Last updated
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Downtown Abbey is about to finish forever, and you're about to get a chance to see — and to buy — the costumes from the showDownton 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
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‘One of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever made’: the Bayeux Tapestry heads to Britain for the first time in almost a millenniumA 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
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‘This isn't just silver — it's a story of a man who fell in love with a woman who society deemed unworthy': The large silver sculpture of rutting stags that scandalised Victorian societyGeorge Harry Grey, the 7th Earl of Stamford, was shunned when he married a circus performer. This sculpture was his way of showing the world that he was a fighter — and it's now been acquired by the National Trust.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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'I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed': Inside Jane Austen's Winchester home where she penned her final words and drew her final breathJane Austen spent the last days of her life in rented lodgings in Winchester, Hampshire. Adam Rattray describes the remarkable recent discoveries made about the house in which she died.
By Adam Rattray Last updated
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‘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 BritsClaude 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
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Richard Mille: The man who went from carving watches out of soap to making timepieces for Rafael Nadal and Lando Norris — and built a £1bn business in the processA new coffee table book by Assouline celebrates one of today’s most daring and innovative watch brands.
By Chris Hall Published
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Simon Armitage: 'I've tried getting AI to write poems — and they've all been reassuringly awful'The poet laureate Simon Armitage joins the Country Life Podcast.
By Toby Keel Last updated
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What was Andy Warhol really like? The Newlands House Gallery exhibition shows the artist like never beforeThe exhibition, in Petworth, West Sussex, shows the many layers behind the artist's public persona.
By Carla Passino Last updated
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Quirky ceramics, Carey Mulligan and Greece: Lucy Williams's consuming passionsThe content creator, and brand ambassador and consultant reveals why she loves stories about 'normal' people and the podcast she listens to on repeat.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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A five minute guide to the new V&A East Storehouse’s treasuresSamurai swords and 350,000 books are just some of the curios in the new Victoria & Albert storehouse in Stratford, London, which is now open to the public.
By Carla Passino Published
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Young at art: Meet the new generation of Young British ArtistsAs British contemporary art beats all odds to remain a cauldron of inventiveness and passion, Carla Passino discovers which artists aged 40 or under are on the radar of forward-looking museum directors and curators
By Carla Passino Published
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What the Dickens! Celebrate 100 years of the Charles Dickens Museum alongside the great novelist's familyTo mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Charles Dickens Museum, a number of the author’s descendants will give talks and readings.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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You're all invited to Cecil Beaton's Garden Party'The space given over to 'Cecil Beaton’s Garden Party' at the Garden Museum is smaller than Beaton’s own drawing room, but its intimacy is its trump card.'
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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Kermit the frog, a silver-horned goat and Charles III’s 69ft-long coronation record star in a groundbreaking exhibition‘Happy & Glorious’, at the The National Archives in Kew, captures the spirit of the King’s coronation with works by eight contemporary artists alongside the official roll of the day — and that of Edward II’s crowning in 1308.
By Carla Passino Published
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The National Gallery rehang: 'It is a remarkable feat to hang more with the feeling of less', but the male gaze is still dominantAlmost everything on display at the National Gallery has been moved — and paintings never previously seen brought out — in one of the the biggest curatorial changes in the Gallery's history.
By James Elwes Published
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VE Day in pictures: 18 powerful and evocative images that capture the joy of May 8, 1945Tomorrow, it will have been 80 years since the Second World War in Europe came to an end, after six long, bloody years. Country Life looks back on a remarkable day in history.
By Country Life Last updated


