Features
Return to the source – the invention of American landscape painting
The painters of the Hudson River School are now firmly recognised as pioneers of American art – and inspiring a new generation of artists
Are Italy’s museum reforms enough to stop the rot?
Red tape, nepotism, funding shortages…The Italian museum system has long been in need of an overhaul
Forum: Does London need the Smithsonian?
Edwin Heathcote and Neale Coleman discuss the Smithsonian’s plans to open an outpost in the ‘Olympicopolis’
Letter: James Turrell in the wilds of Norfolk
Turrell has transformed Houghton Hall with his powerful, mesmerising light installations
Diary: the lure of the Soane Museum
What it’s like to exhibit your own collection in the former home an obsessive acquisitor like Sir John Soane
In praise of the Waddesdon Bequest
This exceptional collection goes back on display at the British Museum in June
Big Apple Blossoms: Spring Masters New York
The small but beautifully formed fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory for its second edition
The family that set the gold standard for art in Japan
For 400 years, the Kano family dominated Japanese painting through its superior training and mastery of precious materials
What to see at the Venice Biennale
Some of the best of the national pavilions, collateral events and satellite shows across the city
Diary: the crisis facing regional museums
Whatever the outcome of the UK’s general election, funding for museums will not increase. How can they adapt?
Making it New: the trend for recreating exhibitions
What’s behind the current appetite for reinstalling, re-exhibiting, and restaging landmark shows?
Letter from the Fondation Custodia, Paris
The Fondation Custodia in Paris steps into the spotlight
A new Whitney for New York
The Whitney Museum of American Art is moving downtown, and its director Adam D. Weinberg has big plans for the new building and the collection
Editor’s Letter: Will any UK politicians speak up about culture?
Politicians seem to be observing a blanket silence on the subject. Why?
Horrible Art Histories
A look at how the genre of the grotesque has unfolded from the Renaissance to the present day
Religious sculpture with a stylish streak
An enlightening display of German rococo sculpture is full of style as well as substance
Forum: Should the Kunstmuseum Bern have accepted the Gurlitt bequest?
Matthias Frehner and David Lewis discuss the problematic bequest
Letter: John Curtis on the cultural desecration of northern Iraq
John Curtis on the loss of Iraq’s unique cultural heritage
Diary: Charlotte Vignon welcomes Don Quixote to the Frick
Two impressive tapestries have been taken out of storage this Spring
Editor’s Letter: The cultural desecration of Iraq
As Iraq and its heritage suffer, we must seek out and celebrate the great Assyrian artefacts in our own museum collections
Blinded by the Sun: The Age of Louis XIV
What is the cultural legacy of Louis XIV’s extravagant reign?
Paper Trails: Salon Du Dessin
We’ve picked a few highlights from the world’s premier marketplace for drawings
Editor’s Letter: Anniversary Years
Clusters of centenary exhibitions and publications may well bring new material to light. But what do they tell us about the way we think now?