Features
Alfred Russel Wallace’s botanical sketches are a natural wonder
The naturalist sketched his discoveries with unmatched dedication, but was unlucky to lose so many of the original specimens at sea
Acquisitions of the Month: February 2023
David Bowie’s archive and the first clutch of NFTs to be acquired by a French museum are among this month’s highlights
What the art world gets wrong about craft
The growing tendency to fold 20th-century makers into the history of modern art often ignores what was truly innovative about their work
How do you solve a problem like Picasso?
While the artist’s life can pose difficulties, the Musée Picasso in Paris is finding ways to open up his work for a new generation
The sensational collections of the Sassoon family
Long after David Sassoon’s descendants had entered the highest echelons of English society, their collecting reflected the family’s ties to the Middle East, India and China
How Barbara Hepworth got into a new groove
The Palais de Danse in St Ives allowed the sculptor’s work to grow in ambition
On its 300th birthday, the Belvedere reflects on a remarkably complicated past
Built as a residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Vienna museum with a tangled history is now a home for Old Masters and modern art
A Netherlandish Saint Luke dressed up to the nines
Stephan Kemperdick of Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie talks Apollo through Hugo van der Goes’s stylish depiction of the saint
The street dog that has found a home among some pedigree chums
A portrait of pooch at the Ashmolean can more than hold its own among more rarefied breeds
The Dutch painters who kept their eyes peeled for citrus fruit
The Low Countries may not grow oranges and lemons, but the artists of the region certainly had a zest for them
The Manchester Museum is put on community service
A £15 million renovation has provided a new gallery and additional exhibition space but the displays are less about the objects than the stories they tell
Between the vines – contemporary art at Spier Wine Farm
One of South Africa’s oldest wine estates has developed strong ties with the country’s leading artists
New wine in old bottles – contemporary art in historical settings
It has become increasingly common for museums to invite artists to respond to their collections, but what kind of connections are we being invited to make?
Are artists who work at museums too easy to exploit as workers?
The desirability of getting a day job in a museum can make it easy for prestigious institutions to take advantage of the artists who work in them
How did the great liberator of Venice end up in Ham House?
A portrait of the 17th-century polymath and intellectual superstar Paolo Sarpi hangs in a corner of a house that once belonged to a wealthy tyrant
Acquisitions of the Month: January 2023
A first for the Frick and a Caillebotte at the Musée d’Orsay are among the most important works to enter museum collections this month
In good company – at the Vintners’ Hall in the City of London
The Worshipful Company of Vintners still provides a very convivial welcome
How Christopher Wren built his reputation
On the 300th anniversary of his death, the architect’s fame remains unassailable – but the character of the man is more contested than ever, writes Matthew Walker
The tale of the magpie that taunted a tiger
Robert Mintz of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco explains how tensions between tigers and magpies in Korean folk tales made their way on to a porcelain vase
Modern myths about ancient Egypt
In Turin, traces of ancient Egypt are never far away, which makes it a welcoming place for contemporary artists with a historical bent
The family that made John Singer Sargent feel at home
The painter’s close friendship with the Wertheimers is quite evident in the many portraits he made of them all
Silicon Valley’s highly developed sense of self
Tech companies have long tried to put a human face on their latest innovations, with varying degrees of success
Knives out – the fine art of carving meat
In the 17th century, tips for carving could often be gleaned at the card table
The unflinching gaze of Gerda Taro
The photographer who bore witness to the Spanish Civil War paid the ultimate price for her fearlessness
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