Reviews
George Herriman’s Krazy Kat – revisiting an abstruse but charming comic strip
The story of a simple-minded cat and his animal neighbours was never widely popular – but it counted E.E. Cummings and De Kooning among its fans
A Delft touch – the intricate patterns of Pieter de Hooch
The Dutch painter’s courtyard and interior scenes reveal his fascination with frames, grids and lines
Mane attraction – the star quality of Susan Sontag
For all her flaws – and love of the limelight – Sontag’s commitment to seriousness feels more necessary than ever
From the high life to the Life of Christ – James Tissot’s path to piety
On his 50th birthday the society painter set off for the Holy Land, experiencing something of a conversion
Van Dyck, the artist’s artist
An exhibition in Munich explores the less familiar aspects of the portraitist’s work, including the support he gave to his peers
Disciplinary action – ‘A History of Art History’ by Christopher S. Wood, reviewed
This wide-ranging and original study gives art historians much to think and argue about
Women looking at men looking at them – at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle
Paintings from the museum’s founding collection show the unsettling ways in which men have often represented women
Pattern and Decoration – the movement that made a leitmotif of light motif
Embracing polka dot, patchwork and plenty of colour, P&D artists set out to challenge the norms of good taste
How Rembrandt made great strides in his home town
Child prodigy he was not – but works from the painter’s youth in Leiden show that he soon made up for lost time
Style guide – how Charlotte Perriand designed the modern world
The multi-talented French architect and designer worked at the cutting edge of modernism
Theodore de Bry’s sensational approach to the New World
The engraver’s visions of a continent he never saw were designed to appeal to the European imagination
Fascism and furniture – the dystopian spaces of Henrike Naumann
Naumann’s new installation imagines an alternate past in which the German Reich was re-established after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Friars and bonfires in Renaissance Florence – Botticelli in the Fire, reviewed
What prompted Botticelli to become a follower of Savonarola? Jordan Tannahill’s arresting play casts historical accuracy aside in the quest for answers
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
What happens when an artist wants to be anonymous?