Reviews

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

30 Sep 2024

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

26 Sep 2024

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

25 Sep 2024

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

23 Sep 2024

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

22 Sep 2024

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

15 Sep 2024

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

11 Sep 2024

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

2 Sep 2024

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

30 Aug 2024

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

30 Aug 2024

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

23 Aug 2024

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

21 Aug 2024

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

20 Aug 2024

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

12 Aug 2024

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

8 Aug 2024

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

8 Aug 2024

Gardening with the Bloomsbury Group

Outdoor activities offered Bloomsbury’s women welcome respite from their indoor pursuits

5 Aug 2024

‘Burningly cerebral and slightly mad’ – André Masson at the Pompidou-Metz, reviewed

As a rare exhibition of his work demonstrates, the French Surrealist’s art took a series of very intense twists and turns

1 Aug 2024

How Turner made heavy weather of a changing world

An exhibition of the artist’s depictions of fires, floods and natural disasters draws parallels between the extremities of an earlier age and the current climate crisis

31 Jul 2024

The endless mystique of Franz Kafka

The term ‘Kafkaesque’ is in constant use and misuse, but, a century on from his death, are we any closer to understanding the man himself?

31 Jul 2024

Mohammed Sami turns history inside out at Blenheim

The Baghdad-born artist’s gently subversive installations at Blenheim Palace make keen observations about the nature of war and of privilege, and who gets to be a hero

30 Jul 2024

We’ll almost have Paris – the Olympic opening ceremony, reviewed

The riverine procession of competing nations took the focus off the athletes, but the spectacle of Celine Dion belting out Edith Piaf from the Eiffel Tower was worth the four-hour wait

27 Jul 2024

Rave culture gets the museum treatment

From the flyer designs to the thumping music, a 1980s rave reconstructed in virtual reality feels almost like the real thing – with one crucial missing element

26 Jul 2024

The silversmith who struck gold at Tiffany

Edward C. Moore played a crucial role in the firm’s 19th-century success and his own collecting inspired some of its most impressive creations.

25 Jul 2024