Reviews
Paper work – the British Museum shows off its collection of contemporary drawings
A selection of studies and sketches shows how the definition of drawing has happily ballooned in recent decades
Club scenes – the art of the cabaret at the Barbican
In cities across the world, the cultural avant-garde has often hunkered down – and expressed itself – in nightclubs and bars
The visionary art of Victor Willing deserves to be better known
A substantial survey at Hastings Contemporary is a rare chance to encounter the British painter’s concise, enigmatic images
In praise of Mary Beale – one of Britain’s first women artists
A biography of one of the country’s earliest professional woman painters is a fitting if belated tribute
Nicolaes Maes – the Dutch painter who made a virtue of versatility
This pupil of Rembrandt has often been mistaken for other artists, but is there an unity to be found in his many styles?
The Turner Prize has more of a purpose than it has had in years
Tai Shani, Oscar Murillo, Helen Cammock and Lawrence Abu Hamdan can be found in playful, reflective or forensic mode in Margate
Art that speaks for itself? – ‘Gothic Sculpture’ by Paul Binski, reviewed
A thought-provoking study considers what makes medieval European sculpture so memorable
Peasant company – Jean-François Millet among the moderns
How the Barbizon painter’s subversive rural scenes inspired artists from Van Gogh to Salvador Dalí
‘Frustrate the Feminine Fanatics’ – how women overcame their critics at Cambridge University
It is 150 years since women first arrived at Cambridge – and the fight for equality has taken almost as long
Trevor Paglen trains his sights on the rise of machine vision
What are the implications of using object recognition technology to classify human faces and emotions?
Venus enlargement? Marlene Dumas takes on Shakespeare’s erotic verse
The artist is one of few to have attempted to illustrate Venus and Adonis
Mark Bradford descends into the hell of modern America
A new series of sprawling canvases by the Los Angeles-based artist takes inspiration from Cerberus, the mythical hound of Hades
Public relations – solidarity posters from Castro’s Cuba
The 1960s and ’70s were a golden age for Cuban artists who designed striking graphics for liberation movements across the world
From schools to cigar shops – the eclectic vision of Henry van de Velde
The Belgian painter-turned-designer was a prominent figure in the early history of modernism – although his precise role is not so easy to pin down
Benedict Drew’s new film gives form to the anxiety of modern life
Currently on view at the Science Gallery London, The Bad Feel Loops is a nervous, nerve-wracking piece of work
Cairene conversions – the adopted identities of John Frederick Lewis
The Victorian painter certainly had a penchant for play-acting, but his depictions of Egypt remain something of an enigma
A filched finch that never really takes flight – The Goldfinch, reviewed
The film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s novel is visually enticing but unwieldy
The Danish artists who struck gold in the depths of disaster
Denmark was beset by catastrophes in the early 19th century – but its painters flourished
The East Asian and Nordic artists who found common ground
The West’s borrowings from Japanese modernism are well known – but an exhibition in Helsinki shows that the traffic moved both ways
Battle lines – the tortured genius of Antoine-Jean Gros
An exhibition of drawings at the Louvre reflects the artist’s struggle between his warring inclinations
A forgotten Portuguese modernist finally has her moment
Although she struggled to forge a career, Sarah Affonso never gave up making art, as two overlapping exhibitions in Lisbon reveal
Tureen dreams – an extraordinary collection of delftware comes to light
A collection of Dutch delftware on long-term loan to the Gemeentemuseum den Haag is a feast for the eyes
Matchstick men at the pictures – Mrs Lowry and Son, reviewed
Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave co-star as the artist and his mother in this claustrophobic portrait of domestic dysfunction
Roger Fry, Renaissance man
The polymath’s taste-making had much to do with his intensive study of Italian artists such as Giotto and Piero della Francesca
Seeing London through Frank Auerbach’s eyes