Art and Antiques

Six of the best sculpture parks to visit around Britain

A landscape full of sculpture is always a great experience; Carla Passino picks out some of the most extraordinary sculpture parks in Britain.

My favourite painting: Andrew Graham-Dixon

'Lesson Number One: it’s the pictures that baffle and tantalise you that stay in the mind forever .'

The art and life of Pattie Boyd, the woman in the centre of the love triangle between Eric Clapton and a Beatle, has come up for auction

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.

My favourite painting: Sir Alistair Spalding

The artistic director of Sadler's Wells chooses a painting created 'purely to aid reflection and contemplation'.

Trafalgar Square celebrates 25 years of Fourth Plinth art — but is it time for a permanent piece?

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.

The art heist with a happy ending, 15 years later

In a heist with a happy ending, a stolen Lavery oil made its way back to Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, where it now inspires headmaster John Browne, as Carla Passino discovers.

The heart-stopping work of removing a 150-year-old stained glass masterpiece from one of Britain's greatest cathedrals

One of Salisbury Cathedral's most famous stained glass windows is being restored — and that means it must be removed in a painstaking process.

'The most wonderful painting in existence', once sold for £30 and considered less valuable than its frame, is back in London

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 charts its path.

My Favourite Painting: Norman Foster

The great architect Norman Foster — aka Lord Foster of Thames Bank — chooses a Lowry given to him as a present by his wife.

Bert Hardy: The photographer who chronicled mid-century Britain, from the Blitz to Blackpool

The work of photographer Bert Hardy is celebrated in a new show at The Photographers’ Gallery in London.

My Favourite Painting: Sir Karl Jenkins

The composer Sir Karl Jenkins chooses an Italian painting which came to him in to his life in fascinating circumstances.

The ancient mapmakers who shaped the world as we still see it centuries later

The desire to chart the world around us is an impulse as old as time and some map-makers’ efforts have an astonishing longevity, reveals Matthew Dennison.

My Favourite Painting: Joanna Jensen

The Childs Farm founder on a 'bruiser' bull.

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.

Needlepoint: The craft of kings, queens and countesses

Far more than a fancy of old ladies, unoccupied hands and evenings are never a problem for enthusiasts of needlepoint. Matthew Dennison takes a look.

My Favourite Painting: Ashley Campbell

The actor Ashley Campbell on a work that 'explodes with vivid, almost graffiti-like strokes'.

Churchill's dentures, Bruno's boxing glove and Hurst's boot: The strangest auction in the Cotswolds is imminent

The Cotswold Auction Company's February 6 sale features some surprising lots from the Second World War, the world of sport and many many stamps.

Andy Murray: My favourite painting

A dispatch box, a bottle of whisky and some frogs — estate of Baroness Betty Boothroyd going under the hammer

Items belonging to the first female Speaker of the House of Commons will be auctioned off for charity next week

Winston Churchill had his cakes and ate them

A new exhibition from the National Trust shows how Britain's greatest Prime Minister would celebrate his birthday with some massive cakes