Illustration by David Biskup

Is the ‘arm’s-length’ principle under threat in UK museums?

With the government waging its ‘culture war’, the independence of national museums is at stake, write Chris Smith and Margot Finn

26 May 2021
Samson Kambalu at Magdalen College, Oxford.

In the studio with… Samson Kambalu

At Modern Art Oxford, the artist has set the stage for a ceremony initiating visitors into a utopian world of racial justice

25 May 2021
Bedwyr Williams with the Science Museum Group Collection at the National Collections Centre in Wiltshire. The artist is currently working with local audiences to create a film and accompanying book as a response to the collection, which will go in view at the collection centre when it opens to the public in 2024.

In the studio with… Bedwyr Williams

The Welsh artist’s studio looks out on to the mountains of Snowdonia – idyllic were it not for the children screaming in the playground next door, he says

18 May 2021
Holding court: the refurbished Raphael Court at the V&A in 2021.

Museums are finally reopening – and these are the shows we don’t want to miss

Apollo’s editors pick out the museum shows that they’re most looking forward to visiting in coming weeks

15 May 2021
Two of Julian Opie’s self-portraits, both titled ‘Julian’, from 2012 and 2013 (left to right).

In the studio with… Julian Opie

The one tool Julian Opie could least do without? His eyes, he says – although he’d be pretty lost without his computer too

10 May 2021
Heather Phillipson in her (physical) studio.

In the studio with… Heather Phillipson

The artist, poet and musician Heather Phillipson may live and work in London – but her main studio, she says, is in her head

6 May 2021

Can the London art market bounce back?

Are virtual viewings and diminished sales here to stay, or will the city’s galleries and auction houses see high footfall return?

4 May 2021
Hurvin Anderson in his studio.

In the studio with… Hurvin Anderson

The painter is currently commuting to a studio in his garden and has an encyclopaedia of palm trees close at hand

26 Apr 2021
Idris Khan photographed at Victoria Miro, London, in 2021.

In the studio with… Idris Khan

While preparing for his latest show at Victoria Miro, the artist listened to Max Richter’s remix of the Four Seasons on repeat

20 Apr 2021

In the studio with… Caroline Walker

The Scottish painter Caroline Walker offers a glimpse inside her north London studio – where she’s kept company by slugs, spiders and cuddly toys

15 Apr 2021

In the studio with… Rana Begum

The artist recently moved into a new studio overlooking a cemetery in Hackney – the view’s great, but there is a minor mosquito problem

14 Apr 2021
Essential retail: a view of Lucy Sparrow’s Bourdon Street Chemist (2021).

The UK’s commercial galleries are open again – and here are the shows not to miss in London this month

Apollo’s editors pick out the shows they’re most looking forward to visiting in coming weeks

12 Apr 2021

Seven cultural escapes if you’re stuck in the UK all summer

You’re not going abroad this summer – but you can still have a holiday with an artistic twist

25 Mar 2021
Gloomy forecast: at a protest against job cuts in the culture sector in summer 2020.

Has the UK government abandoned the arts?

Former arts minister Ed Vaizey and leading culture writer Charlotte Higgins on whether the government should be doing more for the hard-hit arts sector

26 Feb 2021

Apollo and the Warburg Institute present ‘Cinema and the Museum’

Register now for the next event in our ‘Museums of the Mind’ series – John Akomfrah, Emilie Bickerton and Deborah N. Landis in conversation with Fatema Ahmed about ‘Cinema and the Museum’

26 Feb 2021
Little Girl in a Large Red Hat (c. 1881), Mary Cassatt. Princeton University Art Museum

Acquisitions of the month: January 2021

One of Mary Cassatt’s sensitive portraits of childhood is among this month’s highlights – along with the Trump Baby blimp

13 Feb 2021
The old Royal High School, Edinburgh.

From the Apollo archives – Gavin Stamp on the sorry saga of Edinburgh’s Royal High School

As the future of one of Edinburgh’s greatest buildings hangs in the balance, we republish Gavin Stamp’s call from 2015 to preserve its architectural integrity

11 Feb 2021
Lockdown Lisa: La Gioconda as a jigsaw.

Seven fiendish art jigsaws that will see you through lockdown

Thousands of paintings have been snipped up into jigsaws – but some are infinitely more puzzling than others

5 Feb 2021
Installation view of ‘David Bowie Is’ at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 2013.

Has the blockbuster exhibition had its day?

In our pandemic-stricken world, vast, crowd-pleasing exhibitions are out of the question for museums. But will sell-out shows ever return?

1 Feb 2021

Seven music videos that take a cue from art history

Kara Walker’s fountain at Tate Modern plays a starring role in FKA Twigs’ new video – and it’s not the first artwork to have a brush with the charts

27 Jan 2021
Gothic revival? The vaccine queue at Salisbury Cathedral

Six heritage hotspots dishing out Covid vaccines

It’s nigh-on impossible to get a decent dose of culture right now – unless you’re signed up for a jab at a museum

21 Jan 2021
Zola on trial (1898), Maurice Feuillet.

Acquisitions of the Month: December 2020

Courtroom sketches from the trials of Alfred Dreyfus and of Émile Zola are among this month’s highlights – along with a major collection of arms and armour

7 Jan 2021

Can historic houses tell more stories than they have done?

All the evidence suggests that the real challenge for historic properties is to present a much fuller and more complex account of the past

4 Jan 2021

Arty films and books to look forward to in 2021

From a Netflix flick about the Sutton Hoo dig to a study of women’s self-portraits – the must-see movies and a first reading list for art lovers

4 Jan 2021