Thomas Marks is an associate fellow of the Warburg Institute, London.

Uffizi director Eike Schmidt in front of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, at the reopening of the gallery’s room dedicated to the artist in 2016.

How have the Italian museum reforms fared?

In 2015, Dario Franceschini’s modernising project heralded a newly international outlook for the Italian museum system. Is it sustainable?

27 Aug 2019
Enrico David (b. 1966), photographed in his studio in Hackney, London, in January 2019.

‘I think of my sculptures as toys’ – an interview with Enrico David

The London-based artist discusses the darker side of play – and offers insight into his enigmatic sculptures

25 May 2019
Photo: © The Fitzwilliam Museum

In defence of the university museum

Headlines attacking UK universities for spending money on art are deeply misguided

23 Apr 2019
Portraits by Velázquez flanking Las Meninas (1656) in Room 12 of the museum, rehung in 2010

The Prado pulls out the stops for its 200th birthday

With its exceptional collection of Old Masters and rich history, the museum has plenty to celebrate

22 Apr 2019
The Venice Installation: The Last Room , showing texts from several series (detail; 1990), Jenny Holzer.

Adios to the monoglot museum

For all the limitations of translation, it’s good to see artists and museums trying to cross language barriers

2 Apr 2019
Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul (detail; 1661), Rembrandt van Rijn. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Year of Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum

The museum’s director, Taco Dibbits, is making the most of the most comprehensive collection of Rembrandts in the world

25 Feb 2019

Inside Turin’s Museum of Fruit

A 19th-century artist spent decades creating this remarkable pomological collection

6 Feb 2019
Emmanuel Macron in Burkina Faso

Rethinking the restitution of African artefacts

Repatriation is a complex issue, but it is time for a more open-minded approach

2 Jan 2019
Love is in the Bin (2018), Banksy.

The satirical world of contemporary art – from Banksy to broadcasting

Artists and auction houses alike contribute to the comic excesses of their world – but are they in on the joke?

29 Oct 2018

‘I find myself making growling noises while I’m painting’ – an interview with Walton Ford

The artist’s new body of work reimagines the life and times of the Barbary lion

24 Oct 2018
View of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, located in the triforium at Westminster Abbey, London.

‘The space has an otherworldly quality’ – Stuart McKnight on Westminster Abbey

A conversation with Stuart McKnight of MUMA, the architects responsible for the new galleries in the triforium at Westminster Abbey

11 Jul 2018

Learning from the Wallace Collection

The joy of the Wallace Collection is that there’s always more to learn about its holdings – but its new exhibition space is welcome

29 May 2018

‘I don’t call myself a printmaker’ – an interview with Christiane Baumgartner

Christiane Baumgartner uses the very traditional medium of the woodcut to capture the complexity of the modern world

26 Mar 2018
Installation view, ‘Power and Beauty in China's Last Dynasty: Concept and Design by Robert Wilson’ at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2018, Courtesy the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Robert Wilson creates a feast for the senses

The celebrated theatre director and artist explains his approach to creating exhibitions

26 Feb 2018
Hylas and the Nymphs (detail; 1896), J.W. Waterhouse. Manchester Art Gallery

Speaking up about art

Conversation can be a important and enjoyable way of paying attention to artworks

26 Feb 2018

‘Painting has its own identity’ – an interview with Giorgio Griffa

The Italian painter discusses music, poetry and the unfinished nature of his art

29 Jan 2018

A tribute to Gavin Stamp (1948–2017)

The great architecture critic and campaigner has died at the age of 69

4 Jan 2018
Apollo and Marsyas (1637), Jusepe de Ribera

Pain, precision and poetry

Highlights of 2018 include violent visions in Dulwich, Bruegel in Vienna, and T.S. Eliot at Turner Contemporary

27 Dec 2017
Rear Nude with Raised Arms (1930s), Lotte Laserstein.

The shows not to miss during London Art Week Winter

Why it’s time to wrap up warmly in the capital and get gallery hopping

28 Nov 2017
Three soldiers (from the Flagellation of Christ; 1360), Master of Agrafen, or a follower.

It’s time to talk about the ivory trade

Conservationists and connoisseurs needn’t be on opposing sides when discussing ivory

30 Oct 2017
Der beste Arzt (The Best Doctor; 1901), Alfred Kubin

The weird world of Alfred Kubin

Plus: Giorgio de Chirico’s writings, Enrico David’s sculptures, and reflections on W.G. Sebald

1 Oct 2017
The main bedroom at the villa of Francesco Federico Cerruti (1922–2015)

The Cerruti Collection – from closed volume to open book

The private collection of Francesco Federico Cerruti will prove a revelation when it goes on show in Turin

30 Sep 2017
Paintings by De Chirico hang in the mirrored dining room of Francesco Federico Cerruti's villa. Photo: Gabriele Gaidano

The mysteries of collecting

They don’t make collectors like Francesco Federico Cerruti any more. Or do they?

29 Aug 2017
Martin Roth, Apollo magazine, 40 Under 40 Europe

A tribute to Martin Roth (1955–2017)

The former director of the Victoria & Albert Museum has died at the age of 62

7 Aug 2017