Homepage
Sitting witty: Katherine Parkinson reimagines portrait painting for the small screen
For Katherine Parkinson’s TV play about portrait sitters, Roxana Halls ‘ghost-painted’ a series of portraits – a demanding role, as they tell Apollo
In lockdown Paris, the photographs of Eugène Atget suddenly feel eerily familiar
Walking around the city can feel like following in the footsteps of the famous photographer – but today’s empty streets are altogether more depressing
Shutting up shop: an elegy for the department store dream
These vast, bustling buildings were once emblems of city life – but they’ve been in decline for years and the pandemic has only hastened their demise
By royal arrangement: Queen Mary’s compulsive collecting
Many British royals have been keen on acquiring works of art, but few have been as diligent about looking after them as Queen Mary
The week in art news – German culture minister calls for national strategy on Benin Bronzes
The German culture minister, Monika Grütters, has called a meeting next month of museums and states to form ‘a national…
The stonecutter who gave life to letters
Ralph Beyer’s idiosyncratic letter-cutting isn’t to everyone’s taste but there’s no denying its power
Seven cultural escapes if you’re stuck in the UK all summer
You’re not going abroad this summer – but you can still have a holiday with an artistic twist
The court painters who magnified the princely pleasures of a Rajput dynasty
Paintings from the north-west Indian city of Udaipur present life at court as a royal playground
It’s time museum leaders stopped talking to themselves – and started listening instead
They’re eager to express their support for social justice – but without listening more attentively, museum directors will never make good on their rhetoric
Germany moves closer to returning Benin Bronzes
The German government has reportedly been in talks about the return of German-held Benin Bronzes, raising hopes of their imminent restitution
The world’s largest painting – a backbreaking endeavour, basically
Sacha Jafri’s vast canvas may have fetched $62m, but it also landed him in hospital – and he’s not the first artist to have suffered a work-related injury
Is this what Shakespeare really looked like?
A dumpy effigy in a church in Stratford-upon-Avon has been mocked for centuries, but new research claims it’s the most accurate likeness of the playwright there is
Why was Mexico so determined to stop a sale of ancient artefacts in Paris?
Laying claim to its archaeological heritage is central to Mexico’s identity as a modern nation
The tomb of Rome’s first emperor at last reveals its secrets
The restored tomb of Augustus reopened this month – and an extensive new website gives a good sense of what has happened to it over the last two thousand years
Art really does work on the radio – especially if it’s cast as true crime
A new series on BBC Radio 3 delves into the notorious life of Benvenuto Cellini – and it’s a binge-worthy Renaissance thriller, Christina Faraday writes
Surface tension: the glamorous world of Noël Coward
The glittering displays of Noël Coward and chums masked an altogether less divine reality – but anxiety and fear were always part of the act
The week in art news – US museums vote against permanent easing of deaccessioning guidelines
Plus: V&A pauses plans to make National Art Library staff redundant | Lacaton & Vassal win Pritzker Architecture Prize | and David Alan Harvey resigns from Magnum
For the future of scholarship, the National Art Library must be protected
The V&A says it’s protecting the jobs of librarians (for now), but the fate of the greatest art library in the UK remains uncertain
In search of Irma Stern, whose paintings still embody the contradictions of South Africa
Irma Stern’s idylls of African life have too often been read at face value – but they mask a more troubled history
Art is all about human touch – and right now that’s more disturbing than it sounds
With human contact all but banned, an exhibition about touch was always going to provoke mixed feelings
The Grande Odalisque – a graphic novel that flunks its art heists
A new graphic novel offers a fresh take on the museum heist genre – if you can bear its regressive sexual politics, that is
Made You Look – a true crime doc that should terrify art collectors
The knavery and folly of the rarefied art world are writ large in a documentary that picks over the Knoedler forgery scandal
Pinpoint perfection: how the brooch became an experimental art form
Since the 1960s, artists and designers have regarded the brooch as a miniature sculpture – and an opportunity to try out new materials and techniques
Most popular
- Recent
- Recent
Podcast
![Masterpiece [Re]discovery 2022. Photo: Ben Fisher Photography, courtesy of Masterpiece London](https://apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MPL2022_4263.jpg)
MacKenzie Scott has given away billions with no strings attached – and it’s time arts donors followed suit
Too often arts patrons hinder the organisations they set out to help by imposing conditions on their gifts