Art and Antiques

My Favourite Painting: Nick Hewer

Countdown presenter Nick Hewer is inspired by a recent trip to Japan to choose this iconic painting.

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.

My Favourite Painting: Jenni Murray

The journalist and broadcaster Jenni Murray talks about a painting that is 'the first illustration of #MeToo'.

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.

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.

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.

My Favourite Painting: Frances Morris

Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, chooses an absorbing abstract.

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.

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.

My Favourite Painting: Tracy Jones

The National Gallery's Tracy Jones chooses a haunting image painted by Paul Delaroche.

In Focus: The magnificent de Morgans, one of art's great husband-and-wife duos

Evelyn and William de Morgan were a husband and wife who were among the most inventive artists of their generation. Caroline Bugler takes a look at their mesmerising work, accompanies by pictures courtesy of the De Morgan Foundation.

My Favourite Painting: Patrick Baty

The paint historian chooses an equine masterpiece from a century ago.

In focus: How galleries and art dealers have shifted to showing and selling online

Galleries and dealers are using the difficulty of the lockdown to showcase their wares in virtual forms, from wartime oils to a cleaning lady and a Turk.

My favourite painting: The Rt Revd Graham Usher

The Bishop of Norwich feels a deep connection with Constable’s Rainstorm over the Sea, which captures 'the sense of God's immanence'.

In Focus: The genius of Léon Spilliaert — 'If a ghost could paint, this is what it might look like'

Laura Gascoigne is enthralled by The Royal Academy's exhibition — available in virtual form on their website — focusing on Léon Spilliaert, a Belgian painter with a unique perspective on the sea.

My favourite painting: Martin Waller

Martin Waller, the co-founder of design boutique Andrew Martin chooses a raw image by one of New York's most powerful and tragic artists.

In Focus: The six ‘poems in paint’ by Titian that are in the same room for the first time in 500 years

Michael Prodger heralds the ‘Titian: Love, Desire, Death’ exhibition at the National Gallery, a once-in-a-lifetime collection of a group of paintings he calls ‘one of the highpoints of Western art’.

My Favourite Painting: Sarah Raven

'Last year (on the back of a tricky calving season), I fell in love with cows. Looking at this painting is the perfect antidote to an anxiety-filled Brexit, coronavirus world.'

In Focus: The Heath Robinson Museum at Pinner, home to decades of gently satirised modern life

Huon Mallalieu tells the story of the small museum in Middlesex, where you'll find the last records of the county before it became overrun by suburbia.

My Favourite Painting: Duncan Wilson

The chief executive of Historic England chooses a strikingly simple, beautiful image from a modern master.