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Cosmic Cycle (Rising Universe) in the centre of Horsham, West Sussex, commissioned to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley and removed in 2016.

We now know where all the UK’s public sculptures are – but are they any good?

Art UK’s new catalogue allows us to assess the artistic merits of the nation’s monuments – and to mourn a lost memorial to Percy Bysshe Shelley

15 Jul 2022
A Mother’s Duty painting

An everyday luxury – the artists finding beauty in banality

Artists have long found beauty in the mundane, but choosing to represent everyday subject matter is a privilege that requires the luxury of time

27 Jun 2022
Paula Rego studio

‘The meekest person can manipulate’ – a tribute to Paula Rego (1935–2022)

The Portuguese-British painter told stories of parental abandonment, misogyny and exile with a power that put her in a class of her own

10 Jun 2022
Michelangelo in his studio, visited by Pope Julius II

Why did Renaissance artists steal each other’s drawings?

The monetary value of preparatory studies was slight in the Renaissance – but for the ideas they contained, they were worth their weight in gold

8 Jun 2022
Isamu Noguchi sculpture

Child’s play – why artists are looking to childhood for inspiration

Artists have long embraced playful behaviour – not just as a form of creative release, but also as a way of dealing with conflict and taboo

30 May 2022
Shortgrove Hall

The historic estate that’s next on the demolition list

The grounds of the Shortgrove estate in Newport, Essex, have long been lovingly preserved, but a new development now threatens its future

26 May 2022

All photographs are products of their time – and they should be treated that way

Turning black and white photos into colour – and vice versa – can be a harmless piece of fun, but the results can also mess with our sense of the past

13 May 2022

Risky business – why is New York getting rid of auction regulations?

The city claims that its decision to loosen the rules governing art auctions seeks to create a more consumer-friendly environment – but how can it?

12 May 2022
chesterfield house London

The rise and fall of Chesterfield House

Once one of London’s most impressive private palaces, the house successfully melded a mix of architectural styles but this wasn’t enough to save it from its fate

28 Apr 2022
Oba Ewuare II (right), receiving restituted Benin Bronzes from Aberdeen and Cambridge universities in a ceremony in February 2022.

Are frictions in Nigeria jeopardising the return of the Benin Bronzes?

With cracks appearing in the relationships of institutions in Nigeria, Barnaby Phillips wonders where the returned Benin Bronzes are going to end up

28 Apr 2022
Sofonisba Anguissola portrait painting

Why aren’t more women artists gazing at men?

There is no great tradition of male nudes by women artists, but this underlines an asymmetry of power rather than a lack of female desire

28 Apr 2022

Is Tottenham Hotspur still clinging to the past?

Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium has just celebrated its third birthday but despite its shiny facade, the club still projects a message of continuity and tradition

27 Apr 2022

Why was the Aztec god of war so keen on starfish?

The discovery of a ritual offering of 160 starfish and a jaguar skeleton to the Aztec god of war has got archaeologists excited to uncover its meaning

14 Apr 2022
Philip Hewat-Jaboor at home in Jersey

Philip Hewat-Jaboor was a champion of the decorative arts and generous mentor to many

Wolf Burchard pays tribute to the expertise and open-mindedness of the chairman of Masterpiece who was a pillar of the world of decorative arts

8 Apr 2022
Olafur Eliasson ice watch

Is the art world’s talk of going green just a load of hot air?

Museums and galleries are keener than ever to display their environmental credentials – but words and deeds don’t always seem to match up

5 Apr 2022
Lubaina Himid

Has art writing made us forget how to think visually?

Lengthy exhibition texts, catalogues and essays are everywhere nowadays – but do they help us to see the art for what it really is?

5 Apr 2022
The rue Notre-Dame des Champs, Paris the Entrance to Sargent’s Studio (1907), Walter Sickert. The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Walter Sickert may have tackled some taboos – but that doesn’t make him a serial killer

Modern critics (and conspiracy theorists) have focused on the painter’s decadent side, but his subjects reflect the society of his day

4 Apr 2022
Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles

Is Los Angeles being spoiled for artists?

As the city ‘arrives’ as a global art capital, how do the artists and curators who have been there for decades feel about the hype?

4 Apr 2022
The Laban Dance Centre in Deptford, London, designed by Herzog & de Meuron.

Hands off the best Herzog & de Meuron building in London

The Laban Dance Centre is being encroached upon by unsightly developments and it needs to be protected now

1 Apr 2022
Helmut Berger in drag

How to make a queer museum

The charity Queer Britain is opening the country’s first space dedicated to LGBTQ+ culture, but will its programme entertain as well as educate?

28 Mar 2022
Sir John Mennes

The vivacity of Van Dyck’s portraits

Combining subtlety with swagger, Van Dyck’s portraits of courtiers offer a mischievous rival to the official written histories of his day

22 Mar 2022
Roman mosaic (2nd–3rd century), found at Southwark and photographed in February 2022.

The well-to-do Britons who wanted to keep up with the Romans

The largest mosaic found in London in half a century offers a welcome glimpse into the home-decorating choices of aspirational Britons

11 Mar 2022
The author Shirley Hughes photographed on 17 September 1982.

The deep humanity of Shirley Hughes animates every page of her work

The author of beloved books such as the ‘Alfie’ series and ‘Dogger’ simply knew how children look and act

4 Mar 2022
Clara Collingwood from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and Oliver Knowles of Led By Donkeys at the welcome desk of the Covid memorial wall on the Albert Embankment, London, in April 2021.

‘Stand back and the hearts form constellations of sorrow’ – at the Covid memorial wall in London

The wall is an extraordinary piece of public art and grassroots activism that combines personal remembrance and political statement

28 Feb 2022