Features
‘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
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
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?
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?
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
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
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
Lygia Pape’s fragile threads
Plus: The final painting of Francis West; Yinka Shonibare without his trademark fabric; and Paula Rego’s first tapestry
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
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
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.
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
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
‘It’s only in painting that you can do everything you want’
Hurvin Anderson discusses painting, places, and portraiture without the people
The UK’s most endangered Victorian buildings
These important examples of 19th-century architecture could be lost if action isn’t taken soon
These are difficult times for St Petersburg’s art scene
The city is known for its heritage, but its contemporary cultural scene is struggling
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
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
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
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?
The legend of Canoe Lake
Tom Thomson’s sketching trips in the wilderness changed the course of Canadian art, but also claimed his life
In search of Léon Spilliaert in Ostend
The work of Belgian painter Léon Spilliaert is intimately tied to his home town of Ostend
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
What happens when an artist wants to be anonymous?