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Miniature heroes: The tiny portraits that delight, amuse, and have changed the course of English history
Over the centuries, miniatures sealed marriages, captured stolen glances and — in one unforgettable instance — tipped the balance power in Tudor England. Huon Mallalieu delves into the history of these often small and always perfectly formed portraits.
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My Favourite Painting: Ashley Campbell
The actor Ashley Campbell on a work that 'explodes with vivid, almost graffiti-like strokes'.
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Andy Murray: My favourite painting
Sir Andy Murray, the double Wimbledon champion, Olympic gold medallist and former world number one, chooses his favourite painting for Country Life.
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My favourite painting: Keith Halstead
Keith Halstead of the Royal Countryside Fund chooses a scenic image by Edward Seago.
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The most incredible drinks cabinet you'll ever see: 'Who wouldn't want to have a whisky out of a hippo?'
Not just a bronze sculpture by a modern French master, but a bronze sculpture which opens to reveal a whisky bar. Carla Passino found out more from the art dealer who fell so hopelessly in love with the piece that he was desperate to buy it himself.
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My favourite painting: Melanie Vandenbrouck
Melanie Vandenbrouck, chief curator at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, chooses a Jadé Fadojutimi image.
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The 102-year-old, the armed robbers and the 'blazing' Picasso which helped Sotheby's sell $1 billion of art in a month
November's major auctions witnessed some truly extraordinary sales — not least thanks to the sale of the collection of Emily Fisher Landau. Huon Mallalieu takes a look.
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My favourite painting: John Lewis-Stempel
The award-winning Nature writer and regular Country Life contributor John Lewis-Stempel chooses a bucolic scene with quite probably the longest title of any artwork ever to feature on this page.
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The English country house as seen in the art of Turner, Constable and their modern-day successors
Ever since a craze for house portraits reached Britain in the 17th century, great artists such as J. M. W. Turner have been producing sweeping vistas of stately Edens, observes Michael Prodger.
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My Favourite Painting: Martha Lytton Cobbold
Martha Lytton Cobbold of Historic Houses selects a magnificent depiction of the power of nature.
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My Favourite Painting: Nick Trend
The journalist and art historian Nick Trend chooses a striking Jan van Eyck portrait.
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The art of the storm, from Turner and Rembrandt to Rousseau and Hokusai
Extreme weather has long loomed large in the artist’s imagination. Michael Prodger celebrates the poetic beauty of Nature’s all-consuming fury.
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My Favourite Painting: Jamie Hambro
Jamie Hambro picks Low Life by Edwin Landseer.
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My favourite painting: Felix Francis
The thriller writer Felix Francis chooses a classic image by Munnings that 'perfectly sums up the excitement of horse racing'.
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My favourite painting: Hugo Barclay
Hugo Barclay, director of the Affordable Art Fair, chooses an unusual Picasso.
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My favourite painting: Greg Doran
Theatre director Greg Doran chooses a domestic work by one of the great masters.
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Marianne North: The intrepid Victorian who climbed mountains and paddled up rapids to create unforgettable natural art
Victorian artist Marianne North braved jungle rapids, forests and mountains to capture the blowsy beauty of tropical plants on canvas. Carla Passino paints the life of a woman who defied conventions to forge her own path.
