My Favourite Painting: Nick Hewer
Countdown presenter Nick Hewer is inspired by a recent trip to Japan to choose this iconic painting.
The Finer Things
When it comes to treating yourself to a new party dress or a pair of cufflinks, or if you want to buy a brilliant present for a loved one, look no further than our High Life section. From the most inspiring travel trips to the latest news in luxury watches, and beautiful jewellery, let Country Life guide you to the very best in beautiful things.
Plus, read articles from our brilliant Gentleman’s Life magazine, including the 39 steps to being a gentleman.
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In Focus: Francis Wheatley, the Londoner who immortalised everyday Georgian life across the strata of society
Francis Wheatley RA (1747–1801) is best known today for his ‘Cries of London’, but, as Matthew Dennison explains, he was also a painter of delightful and accomplished portraits and landscapes.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Dressing for dinner, lockdown
Let's be honest: we've all let standards slip a bit (well, a lot) since lockdown began. That ends here.
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My Favourite Painting: Jenni Murray
The journalist and broadcaster Jenni Murray talks about a painting that is 'the first illustration of #MeToo'.
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Curious Questions: When did we first start playing cards?
Played with friends, family or in solitude, there are few things as familiar as a pack of cards. Yasha Beresiner takes a look at how we came to enjoy this form of entertainment — and how it's been spun out into everything from art to propaganda tool.
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In Focus: The village and cottage featured in Constable's The Hay Wain, the the ultimate image of English country life
Kate Green takes a look at the village of Flatford, in the Dedham Vale AONB, and in particular the cottage that inspired John Constable's most famous painting: The Hay Wain.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Glorious garden furniture, from perfect parasols to a love seat for a ménage a trois
One of the great frustrations of the 2020 lockdown has been the extraordinary good weather. The answer to making the most of it is, of course, garden furniture.
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My Favourite Painting: George Plumptre
The chief executive of the NGS — and a regular contributor to Country Life — chooses a family portrait which hangs in his family home.
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Curious Questions: How does soap work?
We've been using soap for thousands of years, as Martin Fone finds out. But how does it actually work?
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In Focus: Piranesi, the architect, artist and engraver whose fantasy buildings won him 300 years of fame
In the 300th anniversary year of Piranesi’s birth, Huon Mallalieu considers the architectural fantasies of one of the most widely recognised names in 18th-century Italian art: Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: The finest lounging-around-the house clothes money can buy
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Lalage Beaumont: 'Clothes should be like old friends — you enjoy wearing them, rather than being worn once and put in the back of the cupboard'
The designer Lalage Beaumont talks about her love of classic tailoring and how to master formal dressing.
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Top 10 earrings to bring a little dressing-for-dinner glamour to your life right now
In a world where restaurants have long since been closed — and look likely to remain so for a while — Hetty Lintell has embraced the new vogue for making an effort at home. She picks out 10 beautiful pairs of earrings.
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Where I work: Michael Bryden, Rolls-Royce bespoke designer
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My Favourite Painting: Frances Morris
Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, chooses an absorbing abstract.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Cheese by the wheel-load, ducklings by post and sticky ginger pudding
There's a corner of the internet where the only rule is that things must be lovely — and you just found it. Victoria Marston will be your guide.
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My Favourite Painting: The Countess of Cranbrook
The rural issues campaigner and president of the Aldeburgh Foot and Drink Festival chooses The Red Boy by Goya, one of the great treasures of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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In Focus: A sculptor creating 21st century art from the detritus of 20th century life
You're more likely to find artist James Wild hunting through a scrapyard than to find him among the normal haunts of artists, as he seeks materials and inspiration for his work. Lilias Wigan reports.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Super-luxury board games for the bored and well-heeled
Never again will you be able to look at your charity shop-sourced Scrabble set with the same light in your eyes.
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My Favourite Painting: Tracy Jones
The National Gallery's Tracy Jones chooses a haunting image painted by Paul Delaroche.
