The freedom Gainsborough found in painting his family
The artist’s portraits of his household are more spontaneous than his commercial work
The artist’s portraits of his household are more spontaneous than his commercial work
With no contracts or value exchanges, announced gifts can easily be revoked. But there are ways to firm up loose agreements
Highlights include a celebration of Cosimo de’ Medici at the Uffizi and ceramics from Africa at the Design Museum in Munich
Grand narratives of progress are undermined in a surprisingly understated edition of the Chinese biennial
Plus: Salvador Dalí among the drug lords and how Jeremy Deller made his mother proud
Painters at the Pahari courts found new ways to represent the Hindu gods in the 17th and 18th centuries
The British Library demonstrates that Anglo-Saxon culture looked to Europe and beyond
Some seem beguiled by VR technology but others are using it to confront our faith in digital progress
From a Van Gogh biopic to a novel about Lee Miller, the books and films with an art-historical twist coming up in the next few months
Venice, the oldest and biggest biennale of all, returns in 2019, but there’s a plethora of other events to look forward to
The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has a world-class collection and an international outlook to match
Fernand Khnopff was among the most original artists of the fin-de-siècle – but his dreamlike images are unmistakably Belgian
A thrilling survey of the two quattrocento masters highlights their many differences
Plus: Jools Holland and his model railway, and how Monster Chetwynd got her name
Never Look Away is based on the life of the great German artist – but it doesn’t do justice to his work
From Calder to Kusama, modern and contemporary artists have created many different versions of kinetic art
An interview with the Belgian sculptor, who discusses hope, suffering, bodies, and blankets
New research shows that women in the Forbidden City had more influence on the arts than previously thought
Many artists take themes such as migration, climate change, and human rights as their subjects, but what are they actually doing with them?
Art news daily: 5 December