Apollo's wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories. Got a story for Rakewell? Email rakewell@apollomag.com. Follow @Rakewelltweets.

Travels with Thomas Cook – in 1855

The first overseas tour organised by Thomas Cook took in the International Exhibition in Paris

26 Sep 2019

The quiz wizards of the Courtauld

At last – a Courtauld University Challenge team to be reckoned with

18 Sep 2019

Make your own Smithsonian at home

The all-American interior, of sorts, courtesy of the Smithsonian and a 3D printer

13 Sep 2019

Baby Graysons are taking over Britain (sort of)

For the first time, Grayson is one of the 100 most popular names for baby boys in England and Wales…

2 Sep 2019

A portrait of the artist as Ben Stokes

The Ashes hero bears an uncanny resemblance to Vincent van Gogh – long live the art of cricket!

27 Aug 2019

Donald Trump, the statesman as artist?

Trump-trumpeting painter Jon McNaughton has unveiled his latest masterpiece, and Twitter hasn’t held back

21 Aug 2019

Succession – TV tyranny with a few choice paintings

The Roy family have filched some top pictures from French museums. Or perhaps HBO just gave them some high-quality reproductions

21 Aug 2019
Mushroom installation at V&A

Fungal culture – from Borough Market to ancient Egypt

Museum-grown mushrooms come to market in London – while in Boston, Egyptian artefacts have been harvested for ancient yeast

12 Aug 2019
The Dust That Turns in Sunbeams (2019), John Squire.

Second coming – a Stone Roses guitarist turns to painting

John Squire has had a second coming, of sorts – his oil paintings will go on show next month at Newport Street Gallery

9 Aug 2019

The titanic Tina Turner that’s heading for Margate

A vast inflatable sculpture of Tina Turner’s head is about to be installed in Margate. Want to know why?

2 Aug 2019

Mick Jagger heads up an art heist

The Rolling Stones frontman is returning to cinema screens as a crooked collector – and he has the art-world credentials for the role

25 Jul 2019

Bart Simpson in the museum

The Simpsons has often embraced the visual arts – and now a museum in Washington State is repaying the favour

25 Jul 2019
Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), by Edward Lear, from 'The Birds of Europe', by John Gould.

In praise of pelicans

From Renaissance sundials to Edward Lear’s nonsense verse, the pelican can hold its own in art

20 Jul 2019
The Mona Lisa in its temporary home in the Galerie Médicis (Room 801).

The Mona Lisa takes a summer holiday – and puts Rubens in the shade

The Leonardo has a new temporary home in the Louvre – and now has its tanks on Rubens’ lawn

19 Jul 2019

A new pedigree of curators hits London

A dog show with a difference has opened in London – this one is curated by the dogs

12 Jul 2019

Sell me more, sell me more… Olivia Newton-John memorabilia heads to auction

The lots that she’s supplying… are electrifying!

5 Jul 2019
Footage of a man claiming to be Banksy from a news report in 2003; © ITN

A long-lost Banksy statement?

Is the man in a short TV report from 2003 the graffiti artist? You have 35 seconds to help you decide

5 Jul 2019

Number 9 dream – Boris and the art of buses

Boris Johnson makes model buses in his spare time, apparently

26 Jun 2019

Leonardo among the fashionistas

Call yourself a handbag designer, Jeff Koons? Leonardo beat you to it by 500 years

21 Jun 2019

Fatboy Slim, curator and critic

The DJ has curated an exhibition in Lisbon dedicated to the smiley logo – an image he has been collecting for decades

21 Jun 2019

Jean-Claude Juncker tries his hand at art criticism (again)

The president of the European Commission has expanded – cryptically, of course – on his description of Angela Merkel as an ‘endearing work of art’

15 Jun 2019

The Museum of London wants to watch over Trump Baby

The big blond blimp is on the wish list at the Museum of London, apparently

7 Jun 2019

Leonardo’s face, reimagined in chicken

The strangest Leonardo anniversary news to date (and it has nothing to do with the Salvator Mundi)

7 Jun 2019

The artful apparel of Lady Gaga

A gaggle of Gaga’s costumes have gone on display in Las Vegas – but her infamous meat dress isn’t quite was it once was

1 Jun 2019