Features

SOS Library

‘The biggest single bunch of eccentrics in Europe’. Celebrating a century of SOAS

London’s School of Oriental and African Studies has taught scholars, spies and Hollywood stars

Acquisitions of the month: September 2016

September sees multiple new additions to museum collections, including the Getty’s record-breaking purchase of a Roman cabinet once owned by a Pope and a King

5 Oct 2016

Borrowing a baroque masterpiece

Xavier F. Salomon explains why he is so keen to show one of Guido Cagnacci’s most important paintings at the Frick

2 Oct 2016

It’s time to look again at the golden age of sleaze and splendour

Was the French Second Empire as morally and artistically bankrupt as its critics made it out to be?

26 Sep 2016

The Limbach Commission: What is it and will reforms make a difference?

The Limbach Commission mediates Nazi-looted art restitution disputes – but is it effective?

26 Sep 2016
London’s Design Museum at its Kensington site.

What are design museums for?

As London’s Design Museum is set to reopen in its new home, the role of design museums is still surprisingly unclear

26 Sep 2016
Dice Players (c. 1650–51), Georges de La Tour and Studio. © Preston Park Museum and Grounds

Stepping out of Caravaggio’s shadow

Plus: Neo Rauch finally comes to London; John Wesley’s odd eroticism; and Alighiero Boetti’s monumental use of mementoes

24 Sep 2016
From Medina to Jordan Border, Saudi Arabia (2003), Ursula Schulz-Dornburg

Saudi Arabia’s lost railway in Fitzroy Square

Plus: Virginia Chihota’s claustrophobic blast of colour; a surreal spectacle from James Richards at the ICA; and Suzanne Treister’s sinister take on technology

24 Sep 2016
Ttéia 1C (detail; 2001/2016), Lygia Pape. © Projeto Lygia Pape; courtesy Projeto Lygia Pape and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Paula Pape

Lygia Pape’s fragile threads

Plus: The final painting of Francis West; Yinka Shonibare without his trademark fabric; and Paula Rego’s first tapestry

24 Sep 2016
Untitled (2011–12), Marisa Merz

The quiet importance of Marisa Merz

Plus: Abstract expressionism outside the RA; Njideka Akunyili Crosby at Victoria Miro; Helen Marten’s rise to stardom; and Philippe Parreno in the Turbine Hall

24 Sep 2016
Portraits (2016), Tacita Dean

Smoking with Hockney and Tacita Dean

Plus: lining up the evidence at Michael Hoppen Gallery; Fausto Melotti’s ingenious sculptures; and an unsung branch of the Bauhaus

24 Sep 2016

How Switzerland’s world-class museums are getting even better

Swiss museums are full of remarkable art collections of every kind. Many are now looking to the future with outstanding new buildings as well.

22 Sep 2016
Foil by Benjamin Hubert, Layer x Braun, at the V&A for the London Design Festival

Highlights of the London Design Festival

This annual celebration of design gets bigger every year. Here are the key exhibits that you should not miss

21 Sep 2016

A rare chance to see works by Clyfford Still in London

Nine works by the artist have travelled 4,685 miles to be seen in the Royal Academy’s Abstract Expressionism show

19 Sep 2016
Hurvin Anderson photographed in his studio in London in August 2016. Photo by Jooney Woodward

‘It’s only in painting that you can do everything you want’

Hurvin Anderson discusses painting, places, and portraiture without the people

17 Sep 2016
St Joseph's Seminary, Upholland, Lancashire. Photo © Proj3ct M4yh3m

The UK’s most endangered Victorian buildings

These important examples of 19th-century architecture could be lost if action isn’t taken soon

14 Sep 2016
New Holland Island, St Petersburg. Photo by Crystal Bennes

These are difficult times for St Petersburg’s art scene

The city is known for its heritage, but its contemporary cultural scene is struggling

14 Sep 2016
Lucian Freud on BBC's 'Fake or Fortune'

When artists deny, disavow or reject their work

Lucian Freud, Pablo Picasso and Gerhard Richter are among the artists who have ‘edited’ their oeuvres by refusing to acknowledge certain works

5 Sep 2016
Detail of the Great Fire of London by an unknown painter. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artists mark 350 years since the Great Fire of London

On 2 September 1666, a fire took hold on Pudding Lane that would devastate London. As the anniversary approaches, exhibitions and events are being staged across the city

31 Aug 2016
Pietre dure cabinets

Acquisitions of the month: August 2016

Treasures from Castle Howard go to the Fitzwilliam Museum and Tate Britain, while US museums acquire some important modern and contemporary collections

31 Aug 2016

Balancing the books at Yale University Press in London

Yale University Press in London is the world’s leading art publisher. What does its recent restructuring say about the press – and about art publishing in general?

30 Aug 2016
Autumn Foliage (detail; 1916), Tom Thomson. The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

The legend of Canoe Lake

Tom Thomson’s sketching trips in the wilderness changed the course of Canadian art, but also claimed his life

30 Aug 2016

In search of Léon Spilliaert in Ostend

The work of Belgian painter Léon Spilliaert is intimately tied to his home town of Ostend

30 Aug 2016
The exterior of Reading Prison

Artangel’s ambitious new project at Reading Prison is inspired by Oscar Wilde

This is the first time the prison has been opened to the public – and it’s an ambitious feat

29 Aug 2016