The most beautiful boy in the Roman empire
The emperor Hadrian’s favourite, Antinous, was commemorated all over the Roman world. He is a more troubling figure today
‘Joan Mitchell is the real star here’
Pairing the Abstract Expressionist’s work with that of her longtime partner Jean-Paul Riopelle makes it clear she was the greater artist
What not to miss at London Art Fair 2019
This year’s edition of the fair presents modern British works inspired by the Sussex countryside alongside global contemporary art
The freedom Gainsborough found in painting his family
The artist’s portraits of his household are more spontaneous than his commercial work
What can museums do to ensure collectors follow through on promised gifts?
With no contracts or value exchanges, announced gifts can easily be revoked. But there are ways to firm up loose agreements
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January 2019
• The Africa Museum reopens in Belgium
• An interview with Judy Chicago
• The most beautiful swimming pool in France
• Can Venice still be saved?
Plus: The Museum of Fruit in Turin, mummies in Mannheim, the cartoons of Saul Steinberg, a preview of BRAFA, and much more
Acquisitions of the month: December 2018
A Midwestern epic painting and minimalist marvels were among the top works to enter museum collections last month
Beyond the blockbusters – five more shows to catch in 2019
Highlights include a celebration of Cosimo de’ Medici at the Uffizi and ceramics from Africa at the Design Museum in Munich
Poetry and pessimism at the 12th Shanghai Biennale
Grand narratives of progress are undermined in a surprisingly understated edition of the Chinese biennial
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The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast: Erika Balsom
Gabrielle Schwarz talks to the critic and scholar Erika Balsom about her experience working between the worlds of art and cinema
The modern painters who were mad about Frans Hals
Van Gogh, Whistler, Sargent and Manet were just some of the major artists who made pilgrimages to Haarlem to see Hals’s work
Close encounters with the gods in court paintings from north India
Painters at the Pahari courts found new ways to represent the Hindu gods in the 17th and 18th centuries
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Natural history museums have never been more necessary
Natural history collections are uniquely placed to help us make sense of the relationship between humans and catastrophic climate change
The good, the bad and the ugly – neoclassical architecture in modern times
It was the favoured architectural style of Stalin and the Nazis. What forms does classical revivalism take today?
Pots, pans and pondering in Chardin’s domestic scenes
The 18th-century painter’s depictions of servants paused at work raise questions about the nature of attention
‘Now I can steal from myself as much as from other artists’ – an interview with Cecily Brown
The painter discusses her many influences and sources of inspiration, from the Old Masters to the YBAs
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time
Block Museum of Art, Evanston
Art, gold, ideas crossed the Sahara in the Middle Ages, linking Africa with the wider world
26 Jan - 21 Jul 2019
Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
The photographer’s early Polaroids, collages and nudes, plus the notorious S&M pictures
25 Jan - 10 Jul 2019
Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory
Tate Modern, London
Intense landscapes and vivid interior scenes by the Post-Impressionist painter
23 Jan - 6 May 2019
Lucio Fontana: On the Threshold
Met Breuer, New York
The Italian artist changed our ideas of how artworks relate to the space around them
23 Jan - 14 Apr 2019
Warren MacKenzie’s commitment to craft
The renowned American potter believed simplicity, beauty, and affordability were of paramount importance