Saucy seaside postcards were once a mainstay of British life over the summer, but these days they're rarely seen. Martin Fone asks why, and discovers the history of artists such as Donald McGill who turned wry, naughty humour into a huge industry.
A densely-packed masterpiece by the brilliant Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington has just set a record at auction. We take a look at the life and emergence of the feisty young Lancastrian behind the $22 million sale of 'Les Distractions de Dagobert.
Winged creatures, robed figures and celestial bodies are under threat in a rural church. Jo Caird speaks to the conservators working to save northern Europe’s most complete Romanesque wall paintings.
Constable thought of his beloved Stour valley as his mistress, Samuel Palmer saw the Darent valley as a soft, pillowy realm where corn is always ripe. Michael Prodger reveals how Britain’s landscapes have inspired painters across the centuries.
The Royal Collection Trust's summer exhibition at Buckingham Palace brings together some of the most wonderful royal portraits ever taken. Jack Watkins takes a look.
As the National Gallery turns 200, the chair of its board of trustees, John Booth, chooses his favourite painting.
Although named after an angel, Caravaggio needed no stronger reason to brawl than having his artichokes dressed with butter instead of olive oil. Maev Kennedy delves into his short and brutal life.
Christopher Price of the Rare Breed Survival Trust on the bucolic beauty of The Magic Apple Tree by Samuel Palmer, which he nominates as his favourite painting.
The infinite possibilities of decorative painting brought life to villas in Pompeii, Florentine palaces and Charleston in East Sussex. Today, a revival of interest in the artform is once again precipitating a highly distinctive new look in interiors. By Arabella Youens, with photography by Simon Brown.
In 1874, a group of painters rejected by the official Paris Salon staged its own show and changed the course of art. It was France’s convulsed lurch into the modern era that helped spark the Impressionist revolution.
A new book by the photographer Gilbert McCarragher will give readers a first-look inside Derek Jarman's famous home on the shingle of Dungeness.
This 'beautiful, natural, heritage material deserves to be reassessed' and is slowly regaining popularity. Harry Pearson talks to the makers still working with this ancient gemstone.
Each of us has treasured memories of our home, past or present. Catriona Gray meets artist Ele Grafton, who captures these individual stories using vintage books and documents.
A seemingly insignificant painting sold in 2022 turned out to be a lost masterpiece — and it's now on display in Britain. Carla Passino tells the tale.
The contents sale of Tregiffian in Cornwall will give buyers the chance to own the writing desk, and other items, of the late great master of spy fiction.
A landscape full of sculpture is always a great experience; Carla Passino picks out some of the most extraordinary sculpture parks in Britain.
'Lesson Number One: it’s the pictures that baffle and tantalise you that stay in the mind forever .'
Pattie Boyd was the girlfriend of two of the great figures in rock music in the 1960s and 1970s — and Christie's are holding a sale of her memorabilia.
The artistic director of Sadler's Wells chooses a painting created 'purely to aid reflection and contemplation'.
Seven shortlisted ideas for the next stint on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square are currently on display — but some say it is now time for a more permanent fixture.
