An understanding of theatrical culture in the 18th century is vital for understanding the most important painters of the period
The reinvention of the Museum of Childhood as Young V&A has been a great success. Should more institutions follow its example and become younger at heart?
An old-fashioned way of bringing in cakes and custards is beginning to feel rather modern again
A new breed of business is offering investors shares in blue-chip artworks – and making big claims about their profitability
Finland’s questing version of modernism, as championed by Alvar Aalto, went hand in hand with the development of social democracy
The first garden created by the designer for a house by Edwin Lutyens has been bought by the National Trust – preserving a vital piece of history
Under new owners, this stalwart of the London fair calendar shows that a focus on British art needn’t be parochial
A book by Daniel H. Weiss, outgoing president and CEO of the Met, offers a public-spirited view of how a changing world can benefit from the constancy of large institutions
As a book about mist and fog in European painting shows, artists have often taken a very hazy view of the landscape
The mansion block has often reconciled Londoners who can’t afford actual mansions to the realities of apartment-living
Todd McEwen leafs through a history of the underground pot-culture press
The former Dockyard Church in Sheerness has been sensitively restored and converted into a community hub
The sculptor is deeply connected to a wider network of artists and thinkers who also get their dues in this large-scale survey
The restaurateur and writer won over both the smart set and the middle classes – and was a hero to Elizabeth David
William Burges commissioned a singular piece of furniture with contributions from everyone who was anyone among his wide artistic acquaintance
The ancient Greeks were quick to adopt the decadent drinking culture of their Persian enemies
A wave of emerging galleries is breaking across the capital despite difficult economic conditions
A string of recent exhibitions have done much to raise the profile of so-called outsider artists
The figures brought over in 1771 are the first documented works of Oceanic art – and now on display where they were made
At Casa Balla, Futurism was definitely a family affair for Giacomo Balla and his daughters Lucia and Elice
Linking the painter’s work directly to its source material downplays what makes it really interesting
Provenance is more crucial than ever but the market for masterpieces is now broader than ever
At a time when art fairs around the world are scaling back, the New York mainstay is still thinking big
