Features
Off the grid – the side of Mondrian you’ve never seen before
A completely overlooked painting, left out of the artist’s catalogue raisonné, makes the case for an unexpectedly messier and much more interesting career
Grand designs – how Gio Ponti transformed Palazzo Bo
The University of Padua may be 800 years old, but this ancient institution is also home to masterpieces of 20th-century design
A closer look at William Kent’s gilded ceilings at Houghton Hall
With a new book dedicated to William Kent’s Houghton Hall ceilings, Apollo takes a closer look at the depiction of Venus in the Green Velvet Drawing Room
Gnarled histories – winemaking in Algeria
Though France is now better known for its winemaking industry, the country owes the survival of its connoisseurship to Algeria
How El Greco rocked Picasso’s world
Carmen Giménez, the curator of an upcoming exhibition in Basel, talks to Apollo about the modernist’s lifelong debt to the Old Master
Can an exhibition represent a nation?
Exhibitions can successfully capture a cultural and social moment, but they are as much a glimpse into the mindset of the curators as they are into the art of that time
Fresh flavours at the National Gallery’s new restaurant
The gallery’s gloomy dining room is now a thing of the past. The restaurant has an elegant new look and menu to match
Cosmopolitan oil dealer Calouste Gulbenkian’s rich pickings
The Armenian businessman had a taste for portable items of beauty and cherished his collection as though it were an extension of himself
Acquisitions of the Month: April 2022
A terrifically grumpy portrait of Goya and a mythical landscape by Paul Bril are among this month’s highlights
The art of armour – uncovering the details of a Renaissance shield
Pierre Terjanian of the Metropolitan Museum of Art tells Apollo why a Renaissance pageant shield is such a beguiling work of art
Lines of control – the story of Jackson Pollock’s drips
The American painter may be famed for a chaotic approach, but in reality he had complete command of his materials – and he owed his technique to a printmaker
Mixed emotions – the uneasy art of Philip Guston
The artist’s motivations for painting hooded Ku Klux Klan figures were as complicated and unsettling as our reactions as viewers might be
Cult status – the idiosyncratic portraits of Glyn Philpot
The painter’s contemporaries saw him as a successor to Sargent, but his depictions of Black and queer subjects may stand out more today
An elegant pairing of modern art and Chilean wine
Blending wine, art and hospitality, Viña Vik wine estate invites visitors to indulge in the totality of aesthetic pleasure
Elizabeth David’s taste in Old Masters
Suspicious of photography’s ability to illustrate her colourful accounts of culinary history, food writer Elizabeth David looked to the Old Masters instead
How the Versailles of Yorkshire was saved from ruin
Wentworth Woodhouse, the largest stately home in England, has at last been restored to something of its former glory
Forgotten artist Maeve Gilmore comes into her own
Maeve Gilmore thrived on the demands of domesticity – and her family is now on a mission to make her art much better known
The must-see pavilions at the Venice Biennale
From Simone Leigh’s monumental sculptures to Zineb Sedira’s inventive sets, this year’s Venice Biennale presents a rich and varied portrait of contemporary art across the globe
Full circle – the Procuratie Vecchie in Venice returns to its social roots
Formerly home to the Venetian officials who cared for the city’s poor, the newly restored historic building now serves the local community as well as tourists
How the Jewish aristocracy reinvented the European country house
In the late 19th century, Jewish families across Europe created homes that are monuments to the complexity of cosmopolitanism and integration
The violence and creativity of André Breton’s Surrealism
Underlying the Surrealist leader’s preoccupation with dreams and the unconscious was a very practical desire to change the world. Who’s to say he didn’t succeed?
The Venetian painter whose still lifes look good enough to eat
Cagnaccio di San Pietro grew up in a Venetian fishing village – so it’s no surprise seafood stars in his still lifes
Bastion House – the passing of a London landmark
140 London Wall is an imperious piece of 1970s architecture – so why is it being replaced by a generic office block, at great environmental cost?
The fine art of winemaking
Making wine is an exacting activity that has much in common with the artistic process
What happens when an artist wants to be anonymous?