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'Gems of enflamed transparencies, of bottomless blues, of congealed opals': Why glass was perfect for the elemental experimentalism of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau masters such as Louis Comfort Tiffany and Émile Gallé turned the most fragile of materials into iridescent masterpieces that shimmered like seashells or glittered like Byzantine mosaics.
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Who won the rivalry between Turner and Constable? It was us, the public
A forthcoming exhibition at Tate Britain that revives the rivalry between these two 19th century painters sheds new light on their relationship.
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'Love, desire, faith, passion, intimacy, God, spiritual consciousness, curiosity and adventure': The world of Stanley Spencer, a very English visionary
Stanley Spencer’s talent for seeing the spiritual in the everyday, his stirring sense for the wonder of Nature and his love for the landscapes of Berkshire and Suffolk shaped his art, as Matthew Dennison reveals.
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What a report on the spending of female billionaires tells us about the future of museum collections
Between 2015 and 2024, the number of female billionaires grew from 190 to 344. Could this be good news for the art world?
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Items from the collection of Lady Glenconner are going under the hammer, including a nine-carat gold Cartier box gifted to her by Elizabeth II
‘I have had such great pleasure living with these wonderful objects, each telling their own fascinating story.’
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A painting owned by Edward Guinness is on display next to a near identical version at Kenwood House — but which one is the real Vermeer?
A mini exhibition at Kenwood House allows viewers to ‘to practise their own connoisseurship’.
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‘So many of us look at the world through our screens and forget to pay attention to the world outside’: Katy Hessel on the world’s great female artists, why free entry to museums matters and her consuming passions
The author of ‘The Story of Art Without Men’ speaks to Lotte Brundle about the dangers of AI, how she fell in love with the art world and why it’s okay that her favourite painting is by a male artist.
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'The King of Hell was fat from gorging on souls and he expelled some more from his bowels': The many guises of the Devil Antiquity to present day
Taking as many guises as his names, the Prince of Lies turned at times into a man-devouring ogre, a mutant medley of claws, horns and wings, or the brooding rebel that lit the imagination of Romantic painters.
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‘In my twenties I was asked by a newspaper to test out an orgasm machine. I said, "Absolutely"’: Elizabeth Day on her early career in journalism and consuming passions
The author and journalist chats to Lotte Brundle.
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The curious case of Cecil Beaton and Madame X
When he noticed an uncanny resemblance between John Singer Sargent’s painting of Virginie Gautreau and a Cecil Beaton portrait of Leslie Caron, Patrick Monahan called on the Hollywood Golden Age actress to investigate.
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Eccentric, awe-inspiring and a home-from-home for literary giants: Why the London Library is an institution like no other
The London Library is celebrating 180 years in St James’s Square.
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A five minute guide to Wayne Thiebaud — the artist who 'reinvented still life as a genre and found fame in the process'
The Courtauld Institute is staging the first-ever exhibition of Wayne Thiebaud's work.
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What is everyone talking about this week: Does Britain need its own Met Gala?
Will Hosie questions what form the British Museum's upcoming fundraising gala should take.
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Five émigré artists who greatly enriched Britain's intellectual and creative scenes
Frieze Masters kicks off this week and several contributing galleries are using it to shine a spotlight on the artistic contribution of émigrés past and present.
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Nine of Britain's most beautiful and awe-inspiring painted ceilings from the Country Life archive
Our round-up of some of the Britain's prettiest painted ceilings is a good reminder to always look up.
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‘One remembers not to give the Queen a thump of joyful friendliness’: Remembering Norman Parkinson — revolutionary fashion photographer and Cecil Beaton’s only homegrown rival
Cecil Beaton might be the toast of London right now, with a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, but contemporary Norman Parkinson was always hot on his heels.
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Tim Knox, director of the Royal Collection, charts a century of regal taste
Edward VII swept away the cobwebs of mid-Victorian style, Queen Mary had passion for all things small and the Queen Mother bought rather avant-garde art.
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What to expect when you start collecting
Starting a new collection can be daunting. Art advisor Patrick Monahan shares his top tips on what and how to buy and what to avoid.
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'Each of my active ancestors had the good sense and taste to purchase or commission the outstanding work of their time': Meet the collecting dynasties
Whether it is adding contemporary paintings to a gallery of Old Masters or branching out into territories as diverse as Modernist chairs, Iranian tiles or Churchill memorabilia, the passion for collecting seems to run in some families.
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Diversity in style and diversity in location: London's best art is all around us
London's hotels, pubs and restaurants show the great depth of the capital's artistic tastes.
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Wedgwood's craftspeople produce objects that dignify our lives daily in countless ways — here's hoping that better times lie ahead
Country Life's cultural commentator Athena analyses the concerning developments at Wedgwood.
