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chesterfield house London

The rise and fall of Chesterfield House

Once one of London’s most impressive private palaces, the house successfully melded a mix of architectural styles but this wasn’t enough to save it from its fate

28 Apr 2022
Oba Ewuare II (right), receiving restituted Benin Bronzes from Aberdeen and Cambridge universities in a ceremony in February 2022.

Are frictions in Nigeria jeopardising the return of the Benin Bronzes?

With cracks appearing in the relationships of institutions in Nigeria, Barnaby Phillips wonders where the returned Benin Bronzes are going to end up

28 Apr 2022
Sofonisba Anguissola portrait painting

Why aren’t more women artists gazing at men?

There is no great tradition of male nudes by women artists, but this underlines an asymmetry of power rather than a lack of female desire

28 Apr 2022

Is Tottenham Hotspur still clinging to the past?

Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium has just celebrated its third birthday but despite its shiny facade, the club still projects a message of continuity and tradition

27 Apr 2022

Why was the Aztec god of war so keen on starfish?

The discovery of a ritual offering of 160 starfish and a jaguar skeleton to the Aztec god of war has got archaeologists excited to uncover its meaning

14 Apr 2022
Philip Hewat-Jaboor at home in Jersey

Philip Hewat-Jaboor was a champion of the decorative arts and generous mentor to many

Wolf Burchard pays tribute to the expertise and open-mindedness of the chairman of Masterpiece who was a pillar of the world of decorative arts

8 Apr 2022
Olafur Eliasson ice watch

Is the art world’s talk of going green just a load of hot air?

Museums and galleries are keener than ever to display their environmental credentials – but words and deeds don’t always seem to match up

5 Apr 2022
Lubaina Himid

Has art writing made us forget how to think visually?

Lengthy exhibition texts, catalogues and essays are everywhere nowadays – but do they help us to see the art for what it really is?

5 Apr 2022
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