Comment

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

Street smart – how to own a piece of London’s West End

A set of Misha Black’s famous street signs is going under the hammer – and it’s the closest most of us will get to owning some prime London property

10 Sep 2021
Illustration: David Biskup

Does the art world have a sense of humour?

Susan Moore and Niru Ratman wonder if anyone is still enjoying themselves

31 Aug 2021
Big Self-Portrait (detail; 1967–68), Chuck Close.

Boundary issues – the uneasy art of Chuck Close

It was always a mistake to take the painter’s portraits at face value, writes Nancy Princenthal – and we shouldn’t have any illusions about the man either

30 Aug 2021
The building now home to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi, shown in a 19th-century photo.

Georgia’s greatest museum has been saved from demolition, apparently – but for how long?

The fate of the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi remains uncertain, with curators ordered to evacuate its vast collection within six months

11 Aug 2021
Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade in ‘Quills’ (2000).

How the Marquis de Sade became a pillar of the French establishment

The state has just shelled out €4million for the libertine’s most notorious work – how times have changed

10 Aug 2021
Courtesy Thomas Dane Gallery; © Phillip King

‘He transformed how sculpture is made’ – a tribute to Phillip King (1934–2021)

The British artist was a titan of modern sculpture – and following his example, it would never be the same again

6 Aug 2021
Bass instincts: Pennie Smith’s legendary photo of the moment Paul Simonon smashed his guitar on-stage, on the cover of the ‘London Calling’ album.

How a smashed-up bass guitar became the ultimate punk rock relic

The Clash bassist’s pulverised instrument can now be worshipped at the Museum of London

3 Aug 2021
Stained-glass window for the Salon Arabe in the Sursock Museum, in the workshop of Maison Tarazi.

A year after the blast, Beirut is in crisis – but look hard, and there are small signs of hope

With chaos in Lebanon and Beirut in crisis, the resilience of the city’s artists and heritage workers is something of a miracle

30 Jul 2021