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Christian Bolt won't stop until he can revive the Renaissance sculpture technique of terra secca
At his studio fringed by the mountains of Klosters, Swiss sculptor Christian Bolt is feverishly cooking up recipes to re-create terra secca, a material used in Renaissance Italy, not only to expand his own artistic horizons, but to help save the planet.
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‘Everyone had dodgy magazines hidden under their beds and I had interior design magazines’: James Thurstan Waterworth's consuming passions
Interior designer James Thurstan Waterworth was the European design director at Soho House before he went on to open his own studio, Thurstan. He discusses his love of Tudor history, Andrew Scott and how a portrait of a chicken changed his life.
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101 gold rats, a 'self portrait as a horse' and a tribute to motherhood take home top prizes at this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
The Royal Academy has announced its 2025 prize winners, spanning talented sculptors, painters and print-makers, with works on display in London until August 19.
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The teeny tiny car that you absolutely don’t need, but will absolutely want this summer — and it has an inbuilt shower
The Fiat Topolino has been reimagined by French swimwear brand Vilebrequin just in time for the summer holidays.
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Small engines, big batteries: The quiet revolution of car design
More and more cars on the road are electric, and some unusual shapes and sizes glide past silently. But what does it all mean for design?
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You can’t always rely on the Great British summer — but you can rely on its watches
British watchmakers have excelled themselves in recent months — releasing bright and beautiful timepieces that you'll want on your wrist through summer, and beyond.
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No strings attached: A brief history of swimwear, from heavy skirts of linen linked to women's drownings, to the skimpy two-piece named after a nuclear weapons site
From knee-length numbers to a scandalous suit denounced by the Pope, the colourful history of swimwear has been brought to life by a glamorous London exhibition.
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Downtown Abbey is about to finish forever, and you're about to get a chance to see — and to buy — the costumes from the show
Downton Abbey's exquisite costumes and props are going on show at a free exhibition ahead of a sale being held by Bonhams later this summer.
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‘They remain, really, the property of all of those who love them, know them, and tell them. They are our stories, the inheritance of the people of Scotland’: The Anthology of Scottish Folk Tales
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Canine muses: Lucian Freud's etchings of Pluto the whippet are among his most popular and expensive work
In the third edition of our limited series, we meet the dogs who've inspired some of our greatest artists.
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Maybach SL680: A modern motoring marvel from the marque that once catered for Maharajas and movie stars
The Maybach name has been attached to many of Germany's most luxurious cars over the last century — so does the latest iteration live up to the reputation? Simon de Burton got behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 — but only after a quick pronunciation lesson.
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‘What a shame when a dinosaur disappears into the mansion of an oligarch rather than being displayed for all to enjoy’: The ethics of the dinosaur auction
Fancy a stegosaurus in your living room? You can buy one at auction. But the latest luxury good is a paleontologist's worst nightmare.
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‘There is probably no sport in the world which is so misunderstood’: 75 years of Formula 1 according to the Country Life archive
On the 75th anniversary of the first ever Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix, held at Silverstone Circuit, Rosie Paterson delves into the Country Life archives to look at how the magazine once spoke about motorsport.
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‘Reactions to the French in the 1870s varied from outrage to curious interest’: Impressionism's painstaking ten year journey to be taken seriously by the Brits
Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro spent time in London, but it took James McNeill Whistler to act as artistic bridge with Britain and the ‘sweetened’ Impressionism of Jules Bastien-Lepage to inspire most homegrown painters.
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What do 19th century rowers, Queen Victoria and Giorgio Armani all have in common? They helped to popularise the world's most versatile jacket — the blazer
Everyone from royalty to rappers seems to have one in their wardrobe. Harry Pearson lists the merits of the blazer, a true sartorial team player.
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'"This things is a beast," he said. "When I say brake, brake." He didn't need to tell me twice': What happened when we sent a Country Life writer to tear round Goodwood in a 200mph Ferrari
James Fisher Goodwood’s ProDriver Experience is a chance for you to pull on a race suit and live out your childhood fantasies — no matter how tall you are.
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‘I get all twitchy when I see people wearing something that really doesn’t belong’: A watch for every summer occasion
There’s a watch for every social summer occasion, from the Mediterranean to muddy festivals. Chris Hall selects some of his favourites.
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Canine muses: The English bull terrier who helped transform her owner from 'a photographer into an artist'
In the first edition of our new, limited series, we meet the dogs who've inspired some of our greatest artists.
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The successor to the 'most beautiful car of the 20th century' is smooth, comfortable... and ends up highlighting everything that's wrong in car design today
The DS No. 4 traces its lineage back to the Citroën DS, a car so extraordinary that people described it as looking 'as if it had dropped from the sky'. And while the modern version is more friendly to the earth, says Toby Keel, it's also worryingly earthbound.
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Richard Rogers: 'Talking Buildings' is a fitting testament to the elegance of utility
A new exhibition at Sir John Soane's museum dissects the seminal works of Richard Rogers, one of Britain's greatest architects.
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‘The perfect hostess, he called her’: A five minute guide to Virgina Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’
To mark its centenary, Lotte Brundle delves into the lauded writer’s strange and poignant classic, set across a single summer’s day in 1920’s London.
