Features
‘The vitality and sheer weirdness is thrilling’ – at the Museum of Cycladic Art
An exhibition of ancient art spanning centuries and islands isn’t afraid to let the objects speak for themselves
‘It’s not Grandma. But it also is’ – Will Wiles on a family portrait of sorts
The subject of a painting by Marie Laurencin was actually a French film star, but it will always have a strong family connection
French winemaking with a South African twist
The Krone winery makes bubbly using French methods, but its steadfast support of artists and chefs is what really makes it sparkle
The Argentinian winery where you can see James Turrell at altitude
The treacherous journey to get to Colomé, home to a private art gallery and one of the world’s highest wineries, is well worth the trek
In Portugal, a world-class ceramics collection now has a home to match
The ceramics collection of Renato de Albuquerque can now be found in a state-of-the-art centre on a mission to educate and entice the public
Acquisitions of the month: February 2025
Eastern icons for the Louvre and French Old Masters for the Art Institute of Chicago are among the most important works to have entered public collections recently
Tracey Emin’s passion for painting
In a powerful painting acquired by the Yale Center for British Art, the artist grapples with universal themes of love and loss, explains the museum’s director, Martina Droth
‘We’ve been living like this for years’ – on the fires in Southern California
Generations of residents have chosen to live in Los Angeles, perilously, but are the hazards now becoming too great?
The rise of performance art in Renaissance Italy
An accomplished musician as well as a painter, Lorenzo Costa was perfectly placed to capture the changing fashions and shifting social etiquette of his day
‘Bandjoun Station is an imposing proposition’
Clad in the symbolic designs of artist and founder Barthélémy Toguo, the arts centre in Cameroon is breaking new ground
Loewe brings Mr and Mrs Albers to the catwalk
The effect of translating Anni’s textiles and Josef’s paintings to fashion is, paradoxically, a heightened appreciation for the original work
Gilty pleasures – Versailles in the 21st century
With new leadership and restored rooms that haven’t looked this good since the Ancien Régime, the palace is entering a new golden era
The rewarding mystery of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
A large painting of three boys in the water does not readily disclose its secrets – but perhaps that is precisely the point
‘The painting ought not to feel measured – something horrible is happening’
Tessa Hadley is unsettled by Giovanni Bellini’s eerily calm depiction of the murder of Saint Peter Martyr
New kid on the bloc – behind the scenes at Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art
This nomadic gallery finally has a permanent home, but can the impressive collection protect it from Poland’s fraught cultural politics?
Layer cakes – the colourful confections of Wayne Thiebaud
In his voluptuous paintings of cakes and other foodstuffs, the American artist captured both pleasure and a sense of surfeit
At home with Charles Dickens
The novelist was a wandering soul, so what can his house in London – now celebrating its centenary as a museum – tell us about the man?
The Chinese artist who brought ink painting to a new audience
A meditative painting by Qi Baishi demonstrates his modern approach to an ancient art form, explains Jeremy Zhang of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
When Rubens was king of the castle
The Flemish castle bought by Rubens in 1635 was intended as a country retreat, and it inspired the artist’s greatest landscapes
The painter who poked fun at 18th-century Paris
Working in the new medium of pastels, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour portrayed the elites of his day in a style to suit the hedonism of the age
Wining and dining in the prints of Pablo Picasso
Picasso was the possessor of a hearty appetite and depictions of alcohol and excess are also central to his work
Can American art museums escape the culture wars?
Recent rehangs at the Met and the Brooklyn Museum suggest that part of the answer lies in respecting the viewer’s own capacity for interpretation
Queen of suspense – the art of Patricia Highsmith
Thirty years after the novelist’s death, Apollo revisits the Ripley creator’s close ties to the visual arts
Inside Edith Wharton’s house, a mirthful ode to classical taste
The home the writer designed for herself in the hills of Massachusetts is a window on to the shifting tastes of Gilded Age America
Suzanne Valadon’s shifting gaze