Art and Antiques

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

My favourite painting: Keith Halstead

Keith Halstead of the Royal Countryside Fund chooses a scenic image by Edward Seago.

My Favourite Painting: Victoria Vyvyan

CLA President Victoria Vyvyan selects a religious engraving by Albrecht Dürer.

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.

My favourite painting: Melanie Vandenbrouck

Melanie Vandenbrouck, chief curator at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, chooses a Jadé Fadojutimi image.

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.

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.

My favourite painting: Gavin Plumley

Gavin Plumley, author and cultural historian, selects an unusual canvas with two painters credited.

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.

My Favourite Painting: Martha Lytton Cobbold

Martha Lytton Cobbold of Historic Houses selects a magnificent depiction of the power of nature.

My Favourite Painting: Nick Trend

The journalist and art historian Nick Trend chooses a striking Jan van Eyck portrait.

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.

My Favourite Painting: Jamie Hambro

Jamie Hambro picks Low Life by Edwin Landseer.

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'.

My favourite painting: Hugo Barclay

Hugo Barclay, director of the Affordable Art Fair, chooses an unusual Picasso.

My favourite painting: Greg Doran

Theatre director Greg Doran chooses a domestic work by one of the great masters.

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.

My favourite painting: Sholto Kynoch

The musician Sholto Kynoch picks a Caspar David Friedrich landscape.

My favourite painting: Giles Coren

Giles Coren picks 'an oil sketch gone wrong' by his school friend Jonathan Yeo.

My favourite painting: Carmel Allen

Carmel Allen, managing director of Tate, chooses an unforgettable image from one of the Scottish Colourists.