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The rue Notre-Dame des Champs, Paris the Entrance to Sargent’s Studio (1907), Walter Sickert. The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Walter Sickert may have tackled some taboos – but that doesn’t make him a serial killer

Modern critics (and conspiracy theorists) have focused on the painter’s decadent side, but his subjects reflect the society of his day

4 Apr 2022
Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles

Is Los Angeles being spoiled for artists?

As the city ‘arrives’ as a global art capital, how do the artists and curators who have been there for decades feel about the hype?

4 Apr 2022
The Laban Dance Centre in Deptford, London, designed by Herzog & de Meuron.

Hands off the best Herzog & de Meuron building in London

The Laban Dance Centre is being encroached upon by unsightly developments and it needs to be protected now

1 Apr 2022
Helmut Berger in drag

How to make a queer museum

The charity Queer Britain is opening the country’s first space dedicated to LGBTQ+ culture, but will its programme entertain as well as educate?

28 Mar 2022
Sir John Mennes

The vivacity of Van Dyck’s portraits

Combining subtlety with swagger, Van Dyck’s portraits of courtiers offer a mischievous rival to the official written histories of his day

22 Mar 2022
Roman mosaic (2nd–3rd century), found at Southwark and photographed in February 2022.

The well-to-do Britons who wanted to keep up with the Romans

The largest mosaic found in London in half a century offers a welcome glimpse into the home-decorating choices of aspirational Britons

11 Mar 2022
The author Shirley Hughes photographed on 17 September 1982.

The deep humanity of Shirley Hughes animates every page of her work

The author of beloved books such as the ‘Alfie’ series and ‘Dogger’ simply knew how children look and act

4 Mar 2022
Clara Collingwood from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and Oliver Knowles of Led By Donkeys at the welcome desk of the Covid memorial wall on the Albert Embankment, London, in April 2021.

‘Stand back and the hearts form constellations of sorrow’ – at the Covid memorial wall in London

The wall is an extraordinary piece of public art and grassroots activism that combines personal remembrance and political statement

28 Feb 2022
Dan Graham photographed by Sebastian Kim in 2017.

Dan Graham regarded himself as a rebel – and the art world could do with more of his attitude

The conceptual artist and writer wasn’t afraid to stir things up, but he was also a great spotter and supporter of other people’s talent

23 Feb 2022
Carmen Herrera in her studio in 2015.

It’s time to judge Carmen Herrera’s extraordinary work purely on its own terms

The artist may have been unsung for many years before critics and the market caught up, but her work was a wonder right from the start

18 Feb 2022
Street smarts: a gas lamp in the City of Westminster.

The City of Westminster should stop gaslighting its own heritage

London’s oldest streetlamps were designed to be beautiful as well as useful – so why is Westminster Council trying to remove them?

28 Jan 2022
The toppled statue of Edward Colston lies on display in M Shed museum on June 7, 2021 in Bristol, England.

The Colston Four should never have been charged with criminal damage

Although the four defendants admitted to toppling the slave trader’s statue, the specifics of the case meant that the law was on their side

14 Jan 2022
The new town centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, opened in 1959

Are New Towns a thing of the past?

The ambitious post-war planning programme was an extraordinary achievement – and one that is ripe for reassessment 

4 Jan 2022
Nan Goldin protesting with P.A.I.N. in the courtyard of the Louvre in July 2019.

Museums must stop turning a blind eye to dodgy donors

US museums have long relied on wealthy individuals, but the sources of some of that wealth makes this increasingly untenable

17 Dec 2021
The M+ Museum in Hong Kong.

Is the M+ Museum still a good idea?

In Hong Kong’s increasingly repressive political climate, can the M+ Museum sustain the cultural optimism it once promised?

22 Nov 2021
A carved-oak falcon that probably adorned Anne Boleyn's apartments at Hampton Court Palace. Photo: Paul Fitzsimmons/Marhamchurch Antiques

The Tudor art lurking behind our wallpaper

A carved-wood falcon linked to Anne Boleyn and wall paintings in Hertfordshire and Yorkshire are exciting discoveries for our understanding of Tudor England

18 Nov 2021
Did Rubens really paint the National Gallery’s Samson and Delilah?

Is AI really ready to solve the problems that have had art historians stumped?

It’s still early days for the authentication of artworks by artificial intelligence – and experts will always be needed to interpret the findings

Participants driving over Westminster Bridge at the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Poetry in motion – a guide to racing antique cars

As the London to Brighton Veteran Car run celebrates its 125th anniversary, Apollo asks what it’s like to take a museum piece out on the road. Poop poop!

2 Nov 2021

Should museums be dabbling in NFTs?

Bernadine Bröcker Wieder and Douglas McCarthy consider what museums are really selling when they mint NFTs – and what serious collectors want

25 Oct 2021

‘He found the extraordinary everywhere’ – a tribute to Atta Kwami (1956–2021)

The Ghanaian artist’s vivid prints, paintings and architectural structures were inspired by inner-city life in Kumasi

21 Oct 2021
Cece Bibby (left) painting the name ‘Friendship 7’ on John Glenn’s Mercury spacecraft in 1962.

Outer space – the final frontier for the art market?

Objects that leave Earth may reach astronomical prices on their return – but there are other reasons for sending art into space

A view of the reader's desk inside the bimah in Bevis Marks Synagogue in 2015.

Britain’s oldest synagogue is safe for now – but developers still threaten its future

Bevis Marks has seen off the latest threat to its existence, but such a significant site deserves much better

15 Oct 2021

Is this a golden age for art galleries?

Georgina Adam and Andrew Russeth wonder if changing circumstances might not suit bricks-and-mortar galleries down to the ground

27 Sep 2021
Maggie Cheng in never-before-seen-footage from Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000).

Wong Kar-Wai gets nostalgic

The director’s sale of unseen footage from ‘In the Mood for Love’ reminds us that the Hong Kong of his films is fast disappearing

21 Sep 2021