Country Life's top 10 arts stories of 2024
From the artist killed on his first day in the war to a masterpiece once sold for £30, these were our most popular arts stories of 2024.

The tragic tale of the artist whose time at the Front Line lasted less than 24 hours
Rex Whistler's fate touched a chord, somehow saying everything about the senseless waste of life and potential of war.
'The most wonderful painting in existence', once sold for £30 and considered less valuable than its frame
Flaming June by Frederick, Lord Leighton, has seen its reputation rise, fall, and rise again in the 128 years since it first went on public display. Carla Passino charted its path.
My Favourite Painting: Jeremy Clarkson
The motoring writer and TV presenter chose a classic Turner image painted in the early years of steam trains.
A few of my favourite things: Matthew Goode
The Downton Abbey actor shared his guilty pleasures — including his true connoisseur's choice of golf clubs.
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Curious Questions: When — and why — did we stop wearing hats?
Curious Questions: Who created the 'Your Country Needs YOU' poster?
The story behind Lord Kitchener's imposing — and genuinely iconic — image.
150 years of the Impressionists, being celebrated in Paris and London
In 1874, a group of painters rejected by the official Paris Salon staged its own show and changed the course of art.
When Christian Dior came to Scotland: 'I was even more struck by the beauty of the country, the castles, and the moors, than I had expected'
‘I lingered a little in Scotland,’ wrote Christian Dior in his 1956 memoir, Dior by Dior. ‘I had heard so much about its beauty that I had feared to be disappointed — on the contrary, I was even more struck by the beauty of the country, the castles, and the moors, than I had expected.’
The grand master 'paintings' that are actually the most exquisite floral photographs you'll ever see
Exquisite.
Bert Hardy: The photographer who chronicled mid-century Britain, from the Blitz to Blackpool
‘The ideal picture tells something of the essence of life. It sums up emotion, it holds the feeling of movement thereby implying the continuity of life.’ The words — the philosophy, really — of renowned photojournalist Bert Hardy, who catalogued life at home and abroad in a career that spanned four decades.
Credit: Charlie Waite
'If you get 12 great photographs a year, you're doing well': Charlie Waite on the secrets of landscape photography
The world-renowned landscape photographer Charlie Waite joins the Country Life Podcast.
Clive Nichols: Secrets from the king of garden photography
Britain's top garden photographer Clive Nichols joins the Country Life podcast.
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
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Five Cotswold dream homes on the market from £3m to £18m, as seen in Country Life
This week we have a Cotswolds-themed rundown of some of the finest homes to come to the market in this beautiful part of England.
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Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: 'Nature’s ephemeral beauty reminds us of our own finite existence'
A withering rosebud, the brevity of blossom and the one-day wonder of the mayfly: Nature’s ephemeral beauty reminds us of our own finite existence, but melancholy transience also offers moments of magic.
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BMW X7 M60i: A car that can somehow do absolutely everything
BMW's large luxury SUV pushes the very boundaries of the possible
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Kermit the frog, a silver-horned goat and Charles III’s 69ft-long coronation record star in a groundbreaking exhibition
‘Happy & Glorious’, at the The National Archives in Kew, captures the spirit of the King’s coronation with works by eight contemporary artists alongside the official roll of the day — and that of Edward II’s crowning in 1308.
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The National Gallery rehang: 'It is a remarkable feat to hang more with the feeling of less', but the male gaze is still dominant
Almost everything on display at the National Gallery has been moved — and paintings never previously seen brought out — in one of the the biggest curatorial changes in the Gallery's history.
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The last ‘private’ photograph of F1 driver Ayrton Senna taken before his death goes on display in London
In a new exhibition of Jon Nicholson’s work at Connolly, Mayfair, photographs of Earth’s most glamorous — and sometimes tragic — motorsport series are displayed alongside ones of ‘quintessentially British’ banger racing.
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Lotus Emira Turbo SE: If you want to experience the last 'real' Lotus, now is the time
As Lotus goes fully electric, we take out its last petrol offering, the Emira, to see if the spirit of Chapman is still alive.
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The chronograph watch: 'You can use it to time a furlong, a boat race, a lap of a Grand Prix or, for that matter, an egg'
The chronograph watch is quite at home throughout the Season, from clocking the fastest at the finishing line to tottering through Champagne-drenched enclosures.
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Chanel takes a cruise around Lake Como
The last Chanel collection designed entirely by the atelier has been unveiled on the shores of Lake Como, in Italy.
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'Tate Modern has exploded the canon of art history, and transformed the public’s relationship with contemporary art'
Artwork by Louise Bourgeois and Salvador Dali, among others, will be on display for the Tate Modern gallery's 25th Birthday Weekender event.