Features
Artists on the books keeping them company in isolation
From Nikolai Gogol to Susan Sontag, Joan Didion to Olga Tokarczuk: the authors inspiring artists during a time of lockdown
Lads and lobsters – John Minton’s food illustrations
The artist’s designs for Elizabeth David’s cookery books evoke a happy world of fine living and dining
Fashion forward – the dashing designs of Antoine Watteau
The artist’s fashion etchings hint at the delight in transient pleasures that is so evident in his paintings
Behind the screens – how museums and galleries are going virtual
What exactly does it take to create an online exhibition? And will such platforms still be of use after lockdown?
Acquisitions of the Month: March 2020
A transformative gift for Cleveland Museum of Art and some metal detectorists’ finds are among this month’s highlights
The inward eye – painting, poetry and the world of William Wordsworth
The 250th anniversary of the poet’s birth prompts a reflection on his complicated relationship with the visual arts
Schoolchildren, science and smartphones shine new light on a Florentine masterpiece
An interdisciplinary project at the Fitzwilliam Museum has revealed tantalising possibilities about Jacopo del Sellaio’s Cupid and Psyche
Mischief-making mistresses at the court of Charles II
How the women at the heart of the Restoration court ‘weaponised’ portraits that flaunted their influence over the king
Keeping up with Artemisia
The National Gallery’s Artemisia exhibition may be postponed, writes its curator, but there are plenty of ways to explore her work in the meantime
Priming up the walls – on colour and confinement
Some choose their wallpaper, some have paint schemes thrust upon them… a decorative dérive through the history of colour and interiors
‘Here is a man who could do whatever interested him in paint’ – on the paintings of Beauford Delaney
After a period of critical neglect the artist is at last in the ascendant, as his great friend James Baldwin always thought he would be
Light fantastic – a short history of neon
From Raymond Chandler to Tracey Emin, writers and artists alike have long been seduced by the melancholy brilliance of neon
Feat of Klee – how the Swiss-born artist saw comic potential in dark times
The final years of Paul Klee’s life coincided with the rise of Nazism – but the painter deployed his taste for humour and satire to the last
Grand union – how canals have captivated British artists for centuries
Painters from Constable to the present day have been inspired by urban waterways as a place for both lovers and labourers
The Algerians battling to save the Casbah from crumbling
It may be on Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites, but the houses of the famous district have suffered years of neglect
The Albertina Modern’s opening has been delayed – so what are we missing out on?
The contemporary art satellite of the Albertina was set to open last week. Visitors will find solace there, says its director, when the lockdown is over
Rigged results – the artistic licence of Turner’s Fighting Temeraire
In depicting the final journey of a fêted battleship, Turner tweaked the facts to inflate the pathos of the scene
Acquisitions of the Month: February 2020
One of Landseer’s earliest masterpieces and a 16th-century drug jar are among this month’s highlights
Kasper (1926–2020)
The fashion designer, who has died at the age of 93, filled his Upper East Side apartment with art – from Old Master drawings to Anselm Kiefer. In this republished interview from 2017, he discussed the evolution of his collection
British aisles – the Met’s new galleries don’t shy away from addressing a complicated past
The collection is now displayed with a greater sense of social history – without sacrificing aesthetic delight
Beyond TEFAF – more to see in and around Maastricht this year
As the art world makes for Maastricht, it’s worth casting an eye further abroad to the full range of events and shows across the region
Why is the Egyptian government moving ancient monuments around the country?
The transfer of obelixes and sphinxes to Cairo is the latest episode in a long history of rulers using the ancient past for their own ends
The triumphant – but temporary – return of Raphael’s tapestries to the Sistine Chapel
For just one week the full set of surviving tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X could be seen in their original setting
‘The arrival of a large cultural centre in Landerneau was a real coup’
The presence of the Fonds Hélène & Édouard Leclerc has raised the cultural profile of the small town in Brittany
What happens when an artist wants to be anonymous?