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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The Legacy: Hans Sloane and the creation of the British MuseumA curious child who grew into a man of voracious intellectual curiosity, his life of collecting gave birth to one of the nation's great institutions.
By Carla Passino Published
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Lost and then found: A missing painting by Lord Leighton returns to LondonSomeone, somewhere, knows something about where it went.
By Carla Passino Published
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The First World War, as seen through the unique Country Life Picture ArchiveCountry Life looks back at the First World War through the lens of the Country Life Archive. View images, read a selection of wartime articles, and also download war artist Muirhead Bone’s first catalogue of drawings, originally published in 1917.
By Agnes Stamp Published
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'Wrecking balls swung from the ceiling, pillars were shown toppling, cornices crumbled... it was sensational': The groundbreaking museum exhibition that helped save the country houseAfter years of neglect and countless demolitions, 1974 witnessed a revolution in attitudes towards country houses. It proved a turning point in Britain’s treatment of its old buildings generally and the saviour of places such as Covent Garden, as Simon Jenkins explains.
By Simon Jenkins Published
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Who was the real St Crispin, and what did he have to do with the Battle of Agincourt?You have questions about Shakespeare's most famous speech. We have answers.
By Ian Morton Published
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A few of my favourite things: Matthew GoodeThe British actor tells Hetty Lintell about three objects he can't live without.
By Hetty Lintell Published
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Horsepower and hot air balloons: All of the action from the Chantilly Arts et Elegance Richard MilleEurope's most beautiful concours returned to Chantilly, France, last week and it didn't disappoint. Rosie Paterson was there to record all of the action.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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The story of how 007 creator Ian Fleming came to write Chitty-Chitty-Bang-BangChitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, our fine four-fendered friend, turns 60 on October 22nd. Mary Miers relives the adventures of the magical flying car and reveals the little-known story of its creation by Ian Fleming, as the writer turned his attention from the world of 007 to a children's tale.
By Mary Miers Published
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'As a child I wanted to snuggle up with the dogs and be part of it': Alexia Robinson chooses her favourite paintingAlexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food, chooses an Edwin Landseer classic.
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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One year after being cut down, Sycamore Gap tree lives on with new legacySaplings from the iconic tree will be planted across the country and a new exhibition in Northumberland will ask the public to make promises to nature.
By James Fisher Published
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My Favourite Painting: Geraldine CollingeGeraldine Collinge, the director of Compton Verney art gallery in Warwickshire, selects Pierre-Jacques Volaire's An Eruption of Vesuvius by Moonlight.
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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My Favourite Painting: Rachel PodgerRachel Podger, one of the world's leading violinists who specialises in Baroque music, chooses one of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'.
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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The Legacy: Sir Henry Tate and art for allAfter making his fortune in the sugar business, Sir Henry felt he deserved to give something back to the nation. And so, the Tate gallery was born.
By Carla Passino Published
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The timeless appeal of Vaughan and the secrets of good lighting to be unpacked by four of Britain's top designersFor more than four decades, Vaughan has combined inspiration from past and present to create beautifully crafted lighting, furniture and textiles that will stand the test of time.
By Vaughan Published
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The rest is photographsAn afternoon spent going through dusty old albums puts our columnist Jonathan Self in contemplative mood.
By Jonathan Self Published
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70 mesmerising pictures of Nature and man going on display at Charlie Waite's latest exhibition in LondonAdmission is free to Charlie Waite's Light & Land exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
By Toby Keel Published
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The Pre-Raphaelite painter who swapped 'willowy, nubile women' for stained glass — and created some of the best examples in BritainThe painter Edward Burne-Jones turned from paint to glass for much of his career. James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, chooses a glass masterpiece by Burne-Jones as his favourite 'painting'.
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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The Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece that never was, thanks to an assassination, a war, an abduction and an invasionThe great master Leonardo da Vinci was on course to create an equine statue that could have rivalled his greatest pieces — until fate intervened. Carla Passino tells the tale of the da Vinci sculpture that never was.
By Carla Passino Published
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Leading landscape photographers share their secrets in latest Light & Land exhibitionCharlie Waite, Bill Ward, Astrid McGechan, Ed Rumble and Charlotte Bellamy are some of the many famous names who will be exhibiting at the Mall Galleries from September 3.
By James Fisher Published
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The Spice Girls, The Stage and the state of the Arts, with Alistair SmithThe Stage editor Alistair Smith joins James Fisher on the Country Life podcast this week to talk about the performing arts.
By James Fisher Published
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A manor house built for the British Empire Exhibition in London that was transported to Salcombe brick-by-brickFalconers sits in seven acres of pristine hillside above one of Britain's most famous seaside towns. The only thing more interesting than the house is how it got there.
By James Fisher Published


