Apollo

Around the galleries – ambitions are high at Asian Art in London

The return of the event shows that the capital remains a global hub for the market

Taking Philip Guston on his own terms

Hettie Judah stops her ears to the endless chatter to find a painter whose work is full of flaws and self-doubt – and all the better for it

True art is nothing to be embarrassed about

There’s more to art than subject matter – and it’s almost impossible to find anything shameful about a style

Man about town – around modern London with Ian Nairn

A reissue of the architectural critic’s guide to new buildings in the capital is just as fresh as it was 60 years ago

The Venetian family that brought glass-making into the modern age

The founders of the firm Nason Moretti revolutionised the making of glass without compromising on its quality

The artists who want to enter the monster zone

Creativity often flouts conventions, so it’s no wonder more women want to become thoroughly monstrous

The Victorians who were drawn to colour

The Ashmolean’s new show vividly demonstrates how strong colours became a mainstay of 19th-century art

‘Ideas about nation, territory and identity are thrown into disarray’

At the Steirischer Herbst festival in Graz, the spectre of nationalism and anxiety about borders haunted this year’s programme

Is Uzbekistan poised to become a major cultural player?

The country is keen to rebrand by promoting its art and architecture – and the modernist buildings of its capital Tashkent are part of the plan

Unscrolling China’s historic urban fabric

A 30m-long painting presents the Kiangxi Emperor touring southern China, says Clarissa von Spee of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Man of the cloth – Karun Thakar on his extraordinary collection of Asian textiles

Among the collector’s many objects is one of the most important holdings of antique textiles in private hands

Berlusconi’s art collection may soon be bunga-bunga’d into the bin

The late Italian prime minister’s 20,000-strong collection of choice artworks – including a topless rendition of the Mona Lisa – has failed to charm his heirs

Thefts were an ‘inside job’, British Museum chair tells Parliament

Plus: The Cleveland Museum of Art is suing the Manhattan DA’s office and bomb threats have led to multiple evacuations of Versailles and the Louvre

Grapes of froth – making the thinking man’s ‘champagne’

A vineyard-meets-sculpture park in Franciacorta makes wine truly a multisensory affair

Four things to see: a history of light

144 years after Thomas Edison’s light bulb changed the world forever, we take look at four illuminating works of art and objects

Money matters – the problem museums have with philanthropy

As museums face rising costs and lower grants, fundraising is more important than ever – but they have to be very careful where the money comes from

Fantasy: Realms of Imagination

The British Library goes on a journey through many centuries of imagined lands

Women Masters

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid brings together pioneering female artists

John Craxton: A Modern Odyssey

How the Neo-Romantic painter found freedom away from British shores

Venezia 500: The Gentle Revolution of Venetian Painting

How the Italian city became a site of stylistic innovation

On a scroll – Chinese classical painting is finding new favour

From the November 2023 issue of Apollo. Preview and subscribe here. The twin brush arts of calligraphy and painting first developed…

Are auction houses starting to run out of steam?

Disappointing results for a series of sales in London suggest the market may not be as healthy as Frieze made it seem

Is Denmark Street really London’s Tin Pan Alley?

Once famous as the home of music publishers and recording studios, Denmark Street has adapted to a changing city but never lost its soul

Crowning glories – a new home for the Spanish royal collection

After 17 years of construction, the Gallery of the Royal Collections in Madrid is open at last – and ready to tell a triumphalist tale