Reviews
Mark Bradford keeps on testing the limits of painting
In a show at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the American artist keeps pushing at the boundaries of abstract art
Were the Impressionists really so shocking?
Emily Cox wonders if we can still see what made the works in the first Impressionist Exhibition of 1874 so startling at the time
When London’s sleepy art trade suddenly woke up
An insider account by a former head of Sotheby’s in the UK recounts how London’s post-war art market took off in the 1950s and has kept on reinventing itself
The British artists who formed a dynamic duo
Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines turned their backs on the London art world to create an art school with an outsize legacy
When the Cold War gave Scotland the chills
An exhibition of photographs, posters and protest objects shows the absurd side of the Cold War as well as the terror
How printmaking made a lasting impression
Printing is found throughout art history – and often in the places you least expect it, as Jennifer L. Roberts demonstrates in her highly original new book
How Van Gogh invented the art of the future
The National Gallery has pulled off a seemingly impossible feat – to allow us to experience the intensity of the artist’s vision as if for the first time
This year, the Turner Prize gets personal
The four nominees for the prize in its 40th year all fold forms of biography into their art – with mixed success
Top drawers – a brief history of sketching through the ages
Spanning several continents and 13,000 years of graphic art, Susan Owens’s new book outlines the many reasons why artists have always been drawn to drawing
The society painter who wanted to reshape Irish art
Sarah Purser’s reputation faded after her death, but an exhibition at the Hugh Lane in Dublin is putting her back in the frame
The unconventional wisdom of Eileen Agar
The British Surrealist’s colourful account of a long and eventful career is back in print, and her deep commitment to her work couldn’t be clearer
Lina Iris Viktor strikes gold at the Soane Museum
The artist has made a series of works that stand up to the space – and are attention-grabbing in their own right
Paula Modersohn-Becker’s quest to become her own person
The German painter died tragically young, but in the course of her short life she became the artist she always wanted to be
The intensely felt art of Elisabeth Frink
From her early associations with the ‘Geometry of Fear’ school of sculpture, Frink went on to evoke any number of emotions
The fragile business of French art
In 18th-century France, an emerging consumer society created a new kind of buyer and encouraged artists to look to the short-term
The shape-shifting art of Adam Bruce Thomson
The Scottish painter’s openness to developments in modern art led him to adopt a remarkable number of styles in the course of a long career
When Francis Bacon made furniture
The artist did his best to destroy any traces of his work as a designer, but the little that survives offers new perspectives on his art
How to live life on thin ice
From pastime to political posturing, ice hockey has always brought out the risk-taking spirit of the Czechs
The private press that wrote a new chapter in book design
By combining Gothic typefaces with avant-garde illustrations, the little-known Rampant Lions Press broke new ground for publishing in the 20th century
Julie Rrap reckons with the passage of time
The Australian artist who has questioned the representation of women for decades now takes a playful and pointed look at her younger and older selves
A potted history of English eccentricity
From satirical chamber pots to cat-shaped jugs, Henry Willett’s collection of popular ceramics display wit, horror and anti-French sentiment – sometimes all at once
Statues with limitations – the monumental art of Tavares Strachan
The Bahamian-born artist works in many different media, but his larger-than-life monuments to historic figures can feel oddly one-dimensional at times
The architects who have dreamt of impossible buildings
Aaron Betsky’s account of the wildest visions architecture has to offer is full of buildings that haunt the structures of the real world
Gardening with the Bloomsbury Group
Outdoor activities offered Bloomsbury’s women welcome respite from their indoor pursuits
Crafting value in Venice