Features
How to make a 21st-century museum in West Africa
The plans for the Museum of West African Art in Nigeria point to a new path for postcolonial institutions
Behind the mask – the meaning of masquerade in West Africa
Kevin Dumouchelle of the National Museum of African Art explains what a fearsome 19th-century ceremonial mask meant to its makers in Côte d’Ivoire
Chardin’s strawberries are ripe for reappraisal this summer
The artist’s ability to stop time is on full display in a painting that was recently acquired by the Louvre and is now touring France
When fashion resists interpretation
Peter Hujar and Paul Thek offer a lesson in the art of appreciation at Loewe’s menswear show in Paris
Birmingham’s Barber Institute is getting more cutting-edge
Midway through a major refurbishment, the Institute is still managing to thrive at a challenging time for UK museums
Model behaviour – how life drawing is making a comeback at the Royal Academy
Drawing models in the flesh has been in and out of fashion over the centuries, but the London institution’s postgrad programme is breathing new life into the practice
The Flemish tapestry that takes us into the heart of a decisive battle
Nancy E. Edwards of the Kimbell Art Museum explains how a magnificent tapestry by Bernard van Orley re-enacts the Battle of Pavia
‘Crazed egomaniacs who want to subjugate us’ – a brief history of architects in film
Hollywood films are full of characters who design buildings for a living, but how well do they reflect the realities of the profession?
The everyday radicalism of Joanne Leonard
A photo taken by the artist in 1979 arranges the documents of a family’s life in humorous – and radical – style
The awesome art of Caspar David Friedrich
The leading exponent of German Romanticism was keenly concerned with the destructive effects of humans on a rapidly industrialising world
Acquisitions of the month: May 2024
An uncanny family portrait by Lavinia Fontana and Sorolla’s striking copy of a Velásquez are among the most important works to have entered public collections last month
In Norway, a converted grain silo contains a bumper crop of Nordic art
A 1930s structure has been repurposed to house the collection of Nicolai Tangen. It’s certainly impressive, but how coherent is the work on show?
The Castilian ruin that is now a haven for contemporary art
Collectors Lorena Pérez-Jácome and Javier Lumbreras are bringing new life to a 16th-century Jesuit school
Picnicking with the Impressionists
Comparing the spreads on offer in scenes by Manet and Monet suggests that eating outdoors offered the artists a very particular kind of freedom
How the masters of Meissen made perfect miniature worlds
The porcelain marvels produced in the 18th century combine opulence with naturalism to heart-stopping effect
When Francis Bacon went al fresco
By exhibiting Two Figures in the Grass the artist succeeded in attracting the controversy he was almost certainly courting
When does food become art?
Paying hundreds of pounds for a dessert may seem excessive, but we wouldn’t think it an unreasonable price for a work of art
Golden Boy goes home – but where is that, exactly?
The Met’s return of a bronze statue to Thailand and the reaction in Cambodia shows the difficulty of recovering the origins of looted objects
Make a date with the Stone of Destiny at the new Perth Museum
The ancient Scottish relic makes for a captivating moment of theatre, but the rest of the displays are just as artfully done
Fossil fuelled – the sticky relationship between art and the oil industry
Cultural institutions are increasingly cutting ties with fossil fuel sponsors, but art and oil have long been intertwined in surprising ways
Acquisitions of the Month: April 2024
A luscious portrait by Johann Richard Seel and a magnificent bronze statue by Giambologna are among the most important works to have entered public collections last month
How national is the National Gallery in London?
The museum is founded on the collection of John Julius Angerstein and, 200 years later, the banker’s taste is still making itself felt
The dealer who got the Parisian avant-garde round to decorate
For his Paris apartment, Léonce Rosenberg commissioned works from the likes of Picabia and de Chirico, fusing modernism and classic French style
Meet France’s self-appointed heritage sheriff
Didier Rykner is the tireless heritage campaigner with a talent for publicity who has become a thorn in the side of the French authorities
Most popular
- Recent
- Recent
Podcast
![Masterpiece [Re]discovery 2022. Photo: Ben Fisher Photography, courtesy of Masterpiece London](http://www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MPL2022_4263.jpg)
Is investing in the past the way of the future?