What can be done to save England’s neglected parish churches?
The Church of England may be one of the UK’s biggest landowners, but surprisingly little of its wealth is spent on the historic buildings in its care
The Victorian collectors who loved art from ancient Egypt
The reunited fragments of a bowl in Bolton Museum can tell us a lot about the longstanding British enthusiasm for ancient Egypt
What not to miss at BRAFA this year
From Fauvist paintings to fragments of the Berlin Wall – highlights of the 2020 edition of the fair
The siren call of Tamara de Lempicka’s portrait of a cabaret singer
Will this painting of the Jazz Age chanteuse Marjorie Ferry seduce buyers and set a new auction record for the artist?
Television licence – how Nam June Paik turned cathode-ray tubes into art
Tate Modern’s show of the artist’s experiments with technology suggests that TV was his favourite medium
Advert
‘He taught by example’ – a tribute to John Baldessari (1931–2020)
One of the inventors of conceptual art, and a towering figure on the West Coast scene, he was also a dedicated mentor to his students
Society painters – the Indian artists who worked for the East India Company
The Wallace Collection’s exhibition is very welcome, but could tell us more about the two-way traffic between Indian and Western artists
Advert
February 2020
• An interview with Don McCullin
• Collecting Etruscan art in Milan
• Ingres in the south of France
• Is contemporary art too wasteful?
Plus: A visit to the State Silk Museum in Tbilisi, and a preview of Asia Week New York. And reviews of Charlotte Salomon at the Jewish Museum in London and Leonardo at the Louvre, and a new biography of Lucian Freud.
Geneva’s modern art museum displays a refreshingly makeshift spirit
MAMCO’s origins as a collection formed by independent collectors still makes itself felt in interesting ways
‘When you’re an artist, you don’t have to do what you’re told to do’ – an interview with Rose Wylie
Inspired by everything from Tarantino films to chocolate biscuits, the artist’s exuberant, comic-strip canvases are utterly unmistakable
Highlights of London Art Fair – and beyond
Modern British art gets a strong showing this month, while Condo also returns to the capital
Advert
‘He invented modern Glasgow’ – a tribute to Alasdair Gray (1934–2019)
The painter-novelist was one of a kind – but his influence will continue to shape the imagination of Scotland
The Whitworth Art Gallery’s 130-year mission to make itself useful
Founded in memory of the engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth, the museum has always supported the marriage of art and industry
Priam suspect – myths about ancient Troy collide with reality at the British Museum
The myth of the ancient city has fascinated artists through the ages – and invited archaeologists to dig deeper into the legend
Freedom of movement – the lively paintings of Jacqueline de Jong
The artist’s canvases are full of colour and motion and an energetic sense of play
‘Rehearsals were frequently full of laughter’ – remembering Jonathan Miller
The late stage director, filmmaker, comedian, writer and medical man wore his experience lightly – and made an excellent museum guide
Eye of the beholder – how the Prophet Muhammad has been depicted through the centuries
Museums have avoided displaying images of the Prophet in recent years – but might this not do a disservice to the heritage of Islam?
‘Frustrate the Feminine Fanatics’ – how women overcame their critics at Cambridge University
It is 150 years since women first arrived at Cambridge – and the fight for equality has taken almost as long
‘We are on the brink of a different world’ – Caroline Lucas MP turns to curating
The Green Party MP takes her pick of the Towner Art Gallery’s permanent collection – and hopes it will spur others to climate activism
Gods in Color
Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt
The acclaimed touring exhibition of classical polychromy returns to Frankfurt in expanded form
30 Jan - 30 Aug 2020
Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Sculptures, textiles and manuscripts tell the story of civilisation across the vast region in Africa
30 Jan - 10 May 2020
Luminous Figures
Kunstmuseum Basel
Shining new light on the popular genre of stained-glass painting in 16th-century Switzerland
1 Feb - 26 Apr 2020
Wilhelm Leibl – The Art of Seeing
Albertina, Vienna
The German painter’s clear-eyed realism brought him to the attention of Courbet – and had a strong influence on Van Gogh
31 Jan - 10 May 2020
Shakespeare’s First Folio will set you back millions – but its cultural value is immeasurable
A complete version of the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays is up for sale. What is it that makes this book so desirable?