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The greatest flowers make the greatest art
A search for still-life subjects led Kate Friend to some of the greatest gardens and gardeners in the country
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Is the British Museum's attempt to save a Tudor-era pendant with links to Henry VIII proof that the institution is on the up?
After years of neglect and controversy, Britain's premier cultural institution seems to be finding its feet again.
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‘Each one is different depending on what mood I’m in, how I'm feeling and how my energy is’ — meet the carver behind Westminster Hall's angel statues
Bespoke woodcarver William Barsley makes unique scale replicas of the angels that gaze over Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the palace of Westminster.
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'Gems of enflamed transparencies, of bottomless blues, of congealed opals': Why glass was perfect for the elemental experimentalism of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau masters such as Louis Comfort Tiffany and Émile Gallé turned the most fragile of materials into iridescent masterpieces that shimmered like seashells or glittered like Byzantine mosaics.
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Who won the rivalry between Turner and Constable? It was us, the public
A forthcoming exhibition at Tate Britain that revives the rivalry between these two 19th century painters sheds new light on their relationship.
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'Love, desire, faith, passion, intimacy, God, spiritual consciousness, curiosity and adventure': The world of Stanley Spencer, a very English visionary
Stanley Spencer’s talent for seeing the spiritual in the everyday, his stirring sense for the wonder of Nature and his love for the landscapes of Berkshire and Suffolk shaped his art, as Matthew Dennison reveals.
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What a report on the spending of female billionaires tells us about the future of museum collections
Between 2015 and 2024, the number of female billionaires grew from 190 to 344. Could this be good news for the art world?
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Items from the collection of Lady Glenconner are going under the hammer, including a nine-carat gold Cartier box gifted to her by Elizabeth II
‘I have had such great pleasure living with these wonderful objects, each telling their own fascinating story.’
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‘So many of us look at the world through our screens and forget to pay attention to the world outside’: Katy Hessel on the world’s great female artists, why free entry to museums matters and her consuming passions
The author of ‘The Story of Art Without Men’ speaks to Lotte Brundle about the dangers of AI, how she fell in love with the art world and why it’s okay that her favourite painting is by a male artist.
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'The King of Hell was fat from gorging on souls and he expelled some more from his bowels': The many guises of the Devil Antiquity to present day
Taking as many guises as his names, the Prince of Lies turned at times into a man-devouring ogre, a mutant medley of claws, horns and wings, or the brooding rebel that lit the imagination of Romantic painters.
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A portrait featuring a string of pearls stolen in one of Britain’s most notorious jewellery heists is going under the hammer
A portrait by Philip de László features a headline-making pearl necklace that was stolen, recovered and stolen again — and it's coming up for auction this week.
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‘In my twenties I was asked by a newspaper to test out an orgasm machine. I said, "Absolutely"’: Elizabeth Day on her early career in journalism and consuming passions
The author and journalist chats to Lotte Brundle.
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The curious case of Cecil Beaton and Madame X
When he noticed an uncanny resemblance between John Singer Sargent’s painting of Virginie Gautreau and a Cecil Beaton portrait of Leslie Caron, Patrick Monahan called on the Hollywood Golden Age actress to investigate.
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Eccentric, awe-inspiring and a home-from-home for literary giants: Why the London Library is an institution like no other
The London Library is celebrating 180 years in St James’s Square.
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A five minute guide to Wayne Thiebaud — the artist who 'reinvented still life as a genre and found fame in the process'
The Courtauld Institute is staging the first-ever exhibition of Wayne Thiebaud's work.
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What is everyone talking about this week: Does Britain need its own Met Gala?
Will Hosie questions what form the British Museum's upcoming fundraising gala should take.
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Five émigré artists who greatly enriched Britain's intellectual and creative scenes
Frieze Masters kicks off this week and several contributing galleries are using it to shine a spotlight on the artistic contribution of émigrés past and present.
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‘One remembers not to give the Queen a thump of joyful friendliness’: Remembering Norman Parkinson — revolutionary fashion photographer and Cecil Beaton’s only homegrown rival
Cecil Beaton might be the toast of London right now, with a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but contemporary Norman Parkinson was always hot on his heels.
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Tim Knox, director of the Royal Collection, charts a century of regal taste
Edward VII swept away the cobwebs of mid-Victorian style, Queen Mary had passion for all things small and the Queen Mother bought rather avant-garde art.
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‘One of the most amazing spaces in London’: Two Hogarth murals, inside an 18th century London hospital, are to go on public display for the first time
St Bartholomew's Hospital’s north wing is to open as a visitor attraction and events space — while the rest of the hospital will continue to operate as normal.
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What to expect when you start collecting
Starting a new collection can be daunting. Art advisor Patrick Monahan shares his top tips on what and how to buy and what to avoid.
