‘Real life’s actually more interesting than fiction’ – an interview with Caroline Walker
‘Real life’s actually more interesting than fiction’ – an interview with Caroline WalkerAs her largest museum show to date opens, the Scottish artist talks to Samuel Reilly about her tender paintings of women at work
Koyo Kouoh, curator of next Venice Biennale, has died at 57
Plus: UK government puts export bar on Botticelli painting | Lindokuhle Sobekwa wins Deutsche Börse photography prize
Your next beach read, as recommended by Larry Gagosian
With the beloved Long Island store BookHampton bought up by the super gallerist, will the summer crowd’s reading material take an artier turn?
The avant-gardists who dragged art into the future
Luma Arles celebrates an alliance of artists and engineers who created some of the most thrillingly eccentric artworks of the mid 20th century
A novel look at Mantegna in Mantua
Inger Christensen’s reissued take on the artist’s time at the Gonzaga court is as experimental as his work would have seemed to contemporaries
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How to remember Queen Elizabeth II
The shortlisted designs for a memorial to the late monarch in St James’s Park have been announced – but can any of them be complete without a corgi?
The comic genius of Joe Brainard
The artist made more than 100 drawings of the comic-strip character Nancy, and the results are profound as well as witty
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In the studio with… Florence Houston
When painting her gelatinous desserts, the artist is surrounded by jelly moulds, jellies and even a mummified mouse for company
In the studio with… A.A. Murakami
The married artists live in rural Japan, surrounded by the clacking of bamboo in the forest and the sights of misty hills
May 2025
The National Gallery’s great reveal
An interview with Caroline Walker
When art deco went to the movies
On tour with the Von Trapps
Also: Virginia Woolf’s Sussex retreat, single-owner sales, Suzanne Valadon’s move from model to artist, Duccio’s drink of choice, and previews of Frieze New York and TEFAF New York; in reviews: Anselm Kiefer in Oxford and Amsterdam, chinoiserie at the Met, and high fashion at the Louvre. Plus: Robert Macfarlane is fascinated by a body of water
Are single-owner sales losing their lustre?
The collections of high-profile individuals have long fetched high prices at auction, but their appeal can’t be taken for granted
Storm King Art Center goes for growth
The vast sculpture park in upstate New York is reopening after an ambitious expansion that is planting the seeds of its future success
Korean art scans new horizons in London
Musical displays, immersive experiences and a series of talks celebrate the country’s rich cultural heritage and appetite for innovation
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The effortless unease of Thomas Schütte
The sculptor’s grotesque figures and expressive faces reflect us back to ourselves in uncomfortable and witty ways
Acquisitions of the month: April 2025
Maarten van Heemskerck’s Entombment of Christ and a triptych by Joan Mitchell are among the most significant museum acquisitions of last month
The shows to see in and around New York this month
With hundreds of exhibitions and events vying for attention in the city during Frieze and TEFAF, Apollo’s editors pick out the shows not to miss
The National Gallery’s great reveal
The plan to redesign the Sainsbury Wing for the museum’s bicentenary soon morphed into a comprehensive rehang. How well does it succeed?
Celia Paul faces the ghosts of her past
In recent portraits and seascapes the painter ponders time and memory, and the legacy of Lucian Freud and co.
The rise of performance art in Renaissance Italy
An accomplished musician as well as a painter, Lorenzo Costa was perfectly placed to capture the changing fashions and shifting social etiquette of his day
Gilty pleasures – Versailles in the 21st century
With new leadership and restored rooms that haven’t looked this good since the Ancien Régime, the palace is entering a new golden era
Art & the Book
Artists’ books come in all shapes, sizes and unusual formats, as this exhibition at the Warburg Institute makes clear
Ancient India: living traditions
The British Museum presents artefacts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and explores how all three faiths changed over centuries
The Solomon Collection: Dürer to Degas and Beyond
The biophysicist Arthur Solomon built up a formidable art collection that is now on display in Cambridge
Lygia Clark: Retrospective
Though best known for her moveable sculptures and performance pieces, the Brazilian artist covered a lot of artistic ground
How to give back looted objects
UK museums are hamstrung by outdated laws around restitution. It’s time for politicians to end the impasse and give them greater autonomy over their collections