CONTEMPORARY ART

Ancient & modernism

Prehistoric art often prompts the remark, ‘it looks so modern’ – but do contemporary artists agree?

ARCHITECTURE

Empire lines

The Eritrean city Asmara is an intact Italian colonial city. Now a source of national pride, it is a reminder of the high quality of italy’s architecture in the fascist years.

To sell - or not to sell?

Museums and galleries in the UK almost never sell works of art from their collections and there is a huge public outcry whenever it is attempted. Yet in the USA such sales are common and usually uncontroversial. However, the surprise results of an apollo survey of 50 leading curators reveal that UK attitudes are shifting fast, as Isabel Andrews reports.

Collected by the chairman

Rolf Fehlbaum, head of the Swiss design company Vitra, talks to Neil Bingham about the passion for modernism that has made him collect furniture – and buildings.

The ultimate act of fantasia

To mark the opening of a major Piranesi exhibition at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, one of its curators, John Wilton-Ely, discusses the masterpiece that Piranesi planned for his own tomb.

Displeasure of Ruins

Piranesi’s depictions of the ruins of ancient Rome had enormous influence, but they have been widely misunderstood. As Lola Kantor-Kazovsky argues, they were not intended to provoke pleasurable reflections on the effects of time: they are instead tragic images of the wheel of fortune.

The first emperor of China

Later this month the British Museum unveils an unprecedented loan exhibition of the terracotta warriors and other discoveries made at the 3rd-century bc tomb complex of Qin Shihuangdi, China’s first emperor. Jane Portal, the exhibition’s curator, explains the importance of the new finds.

Capturing the beautiful face of the country

Ignoring any obstacles posed by the country’s climate, artists working in Ireland in the 1770s may have helped to pioneer the practice of painting out of doors. William Laffan presents new evidence for this innovation.