Art and Antiques

My Favourite Painting: Nick Herbert

Lord Herbert of South Downs chooses a classic Velázquez image which paints the Son of God as 'the most beautiful creature that God ever created'.

In Focus: The incomparable photography of Helmut Newton

Photographer Helmut Newton enjoyed a glittering career that blurred the lines between fashion, photography and art; as his centenary approaches he's celebrated in a new exhibition.

My Favourite Painting: Kit Kemp

Designer and author Kit Kemp chooses Lucy Kemp-Welch's The Straw Ride, a study of the horses of the First World War.

In Focus: How Pimlico went from Mozart's playground to a world-famous hub for design and antiques

London’s premier design district is home to some of the world’s leading interior-design and furnishing shops, but its refined façades belie a bohemian past, as Carla Passino discovers.

My Favourite Painting: Simon Gillespie

In Focus: The joy of sketch — or how drawing beats snapping pictures with your smartphone

Artist and designer David Gillett takes photographs, just like the rest of us — but he also never travels without his sketch pad.

My Favourite Painting: Michael Sandle

Sculptor and draughtsman Michael Sandle chooses a haunting Arctic image by Caspar David Friedrich.

In Focus — The Cotswolds silversmith: 'We make beautiful works of art to last for hundreds of years'

Tucked away in an old Cotswolds silk mill, expert craftsmen harness a century of expertise to raise, planish and finish fine gold and silverware. Jeremy Flint visits Hart’s of Chipping Campden.

My Favourite Painting: Deborah Swallow

Professor Deborah Swallow of the Courtauld Institute chooses an image by Oskar Kokoschka.

In Focus: Wood engraving, the peculiarly British artform that's 'the perfect medium for the times we are living through'

Wood engraving commands laborious attention to detail, but the effects can be entrancing and varied. A new exhibition at the Ashmolean celebrates a British phenomenon that continues to fascinate.

My Favourite Painting: Norman Hammond

Norman Hammond, the archaeology correspondent of The Times chooses a work by Michael Ayrton.

In Focus: The Anglo-German pacifist-turned-war artist who famously chronicled Dunkirk — despite not being there

Richard Eurich was a war artist, draughtsman and visionary painter of people, landscape and the sea. In this 80th anniversary year of the retreat from Dunkirk, and with a new book and exhibition celebrating his career, Peyton Skipwith considers his work.

My Favourite Painting: Bryan Ferry

'I now think that it was one of the key influences in my own development as an artist' Brian Ferry says of his choice, Manet's Olympia.

In Focus: The French collection of the extraordinary Wilhelm Hansen, Monet and Manet to 'a wall-full of Pissarros'

Caroline Bugler finds much to enjoy at the Royal Academy’s show of 19th-century French art on loan from Wilhelm Hansen's collection in Copenhagen.

My Favourite Painting: Sarah Fletcher

Sarah Fletcher, the high mistress of St Paul's Girls' School, chooses a picture that hangs in her very own office.

Curious Questions: Why do Scots carry sgian-dubhs with their kilts when donning traditional dress?

Once essential elements of every brave Highlander’s armoury, deadly dirks and sgian-dubhs provided protection against foes, the elfin race and broken oaths. Joe Gibbs traces their history and explains how they came to be part of the traditional Scottish outfit, along with the kilt and sporran.

In Focus: The tiny Rembrandt which soared from £650 to almost £15 million in the space of our expert's career

Huon Mallalieu reports back from a novel Sotheby's online sale where he runs in to an old friend up for sale last seen near the start of his career in the business.

My Favourite Painting: Sir Mark Jones

Sir Mark Jones, head of the National Trust Scotland, chooses a haunting waterside image by his great grandfather, Algernon Newton.

In Focus: Views of Britain's coast ideal for staycation art lovers

An online exhibition of paintings from the coast of Britain is ideal staycation art viewing, says Huon Mallalieu.

My Favourite Painting: Ronnie Wood

Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones picks his favourite painting for Country Life, an El Greco masterpiece that hangs in Toledo.