Features
Balloon paintings, Baroque altarpieces and opera
Michael Andrews finally gets a showing at Gagosian, the National Gallery prepares for its spring blockbuster, and more
The contemplative power of contemporary stained glass
Recent commissions of stained-glass windows from David Hockney and Bridget Riley tell of a powerful, if suprising contemporary interest in the medium
‘There was always good and bad figurative art’
The figurative artists of the 1920s and ’30s should not be considered secondary to their abstract contemporaries – as numerous recent exhibitions have shown
Sidney Nolan’s heart of darkness
Australia continued to haunt Sidney Nolan’s imagination long after the painter made his home in Britain
Trouble ahead for New York’s museums
After years of expansion, funding is a major issue for the city’s museums. How will they fare if the Trump administration provokes fresh culture wars?
Does Brussels need the Pompidou?
The idea to bring the Pompidou to Brussels has been met with scepticism: will it just be a tourist attraction or will it enhance the city’s cultural scene?
Uncovering Van Gogh’s infamous days in Arles
Was Van Gogh arrested in Arles on the night that he severed his own ear?
Acquisitions of the month: November 2016
The finest new additions to public art collections, from a large group of Cuban art in Miami, to G. F. Watts’ celebrated portrait of Violet Lindsay
Robert Rauschenberg’s escape to Florida
In 1970 Rauschenberg left New York City for an island off the Florida coast. His retreat from the city transformed his art, and his legacy
The first classical building in Britain gets the modern treatment it deserves
The Queen’s House in Greenwich is steeped in so much history that curators have struggled to decide what to highlight. But now the problem seems to have been solved
How photography came of age in Brazil
Pedro II, Brazil’s ‘citizen-emperor’ was a devoted patron of the new technology and a keen photographer himself
The making of one of the greatest Islamic art museums in the world
‘When this collection began, no one thought that Islam would be on everyone’s lips’
Why Austria’s leading museum has cause to celebrate
Sabine Haag, the director-general of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, discusses how one of the world’s grandest museums is preparing for the future
What’s in store at the National Portrait Gallery?
A tour of some of the highlights of the NPG’s hidden collection
Acquisitions of the month: October
MoMA and the Musée d’Orsay are the big winners: they both received landmark gifts from prominent collectors that will transform their holdings
What’s behind jade’s mystical appeal?
Throughout Chinese history, jade has been prized for its beauty and its spiritual associations. Its appeal continues today, but its role is changing
The rise, fall, and rise of Battersea Power Station
For all its fame, Giles Gilbert Scott’s ‘temple of power’ in Battersea has had a chequered and difficult history. Is its future finally secure?
A tribute to Giles Waterfield (1949–2016)
The curator, academic critic, and novelist was an inspirational figure, but also a dear friend to many in the art world
A closer look at the Chinese and Japanese masterpieces in the Royal Collection
More than 2,000 objects of porcelain, lacquer, jade, enamel and ivory have been catalogued, researched, conserved, and photographed
The effort to save Italy’s earthquake-damaged art and architecture
Two months after the devastating quake in central Italy, it’s still not clear how much of the region’s heritage has been destroyed
The revolutionary collector who changed the course of Russian art
How Sergei Shchukin brought paintings by the most trailblazing members of the French avant-garde to Russia
The art that built Martin Luther’s brand
Lucas Cranach’s service to the Reformation went beyond creating iconic images of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther
A fresh look at Philadelphia’s unrivalled collection of South Asian art
A renovation project at the Philadelphia Museum of Art pays tribute to Stella Kramrisch, the woman who made their collection possible
Rethinking Iraq’s past – and its future – at the Basrah Museum
One of Saddam Hussein’s crumbling former palaces has been transformed into a state of the art display space for Iraqi antiquities
What happens when an artist wants to be anonymous?