Rakewell

Welcome to Van Gogh World!

Plans to create a climate-themed biennale in the region of the painter’s birth could be a rollercoaster ride for everyone concerned

9 Apr 2023

The villains have all the best addresses in the new John Wick film

Perhaps Keanu Reeve’s restless hitman should stop settling scores and settle down in the Louvre instead?

31 Mar 2023

The mystery of the Jackson Pollock meant for Lauren Bacall

The Hollywood superstar inspired artists of all kinds – and Rakewell sincerely hopes that Jackson Pollock was among them

24 Mar 2023
John Berger, photographed in 2009. Photo: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

John Berger as you’ve never heard him before

The remarkable revelation of John Berger’s cameo in Grand Theft Auto leads Rakewell to cast around for some other surprising turns by eminent critics

17 Mar 2023

Art for cats? Yes purr-lease!

A new Artangel project has sent Rakewell into raptures – though it’s trickier to decipher what the intended feline audience makes of it all

10 Mar 2023

At last – a work of performance art we can all savour

Sarah Merker has just completed a remarkable ten-year quest to sample the scones at every National Trust tearoom in the country

3 Mar 2023
Thérèse Coffey

The truth about turnips

Following Thérèse Coffey’s suggestion that we should all eat more turnips, Rakewell takes a look at the best depictions of the vegetable throughout art history

24 Feb 2023
Jeff Koons balloon dog

The curious incident of the balloon dog at the art fair

The breaking of a Jeff Koons Balloon Dog sculpture at an art fair in Miami may be less shattering news than it seems

20 Feb 2023
Pharrell Williams

Pharrell is frontin’ Louis Vuitton

Rakewell hopes the fashion house’s newest designer will bring everyone much happiness

17 Feb 2023

So many UK culture ministers, so little time in office

As the 12th secretary of state for culture in the UK takes up their post, Rakewell spots at least one thing they all have in common

12 Feb 2023

The world’s richest man makes quite an impression

The luxury conglomerate led by the French tycoon presented a Caillebotte to the Musée d’Orsay this week, but that didn’t stop him being denounced by pension protesters

4 Feb 2023

Schiaparelli gets the lion’s share of the attention at Paris Fashion Week

Kylie Jenner and Naomi Campbell turned heads with their faux-taxidermy-trimmed outfits – and recalled some more legendary setters of style

27 Jan 2023

Who’s in and who’s out in Soho clubland

Rakewell wonders what to make of the news that Quo Vadis’s doors are moving to the Groucho club

20 Jan 2023

Why is the mayor of Amiens desperately seeking Madonna’s help?

The popstar is believed to own an artwork which has been missing from Amiens since the First World War

17 Jan 2023

A short visual history of heirs and spares

A cursory look at some princely portraits might have encouraged Harry to head for the Californian hills even earlier

13 Jan 2023

Slow horses and flying starts – the glittering career of Gary Oldman

There’s no denying the actor’s talents, but Rakewell can’t help wishing he would finally direct that film about Eadweard Muybridge, ‘the father of motion pictures’

6 Jan 2023

Shop until you drop in your favourite museum

The gift shops are full of seasonal offerings for your nearest and dearest – and Rakewell has some recommendations

16 Dec 2022
Still life of roses in an oriental lacquer and canework bowl, on a ledge with a butterfly and dragonfly (17th century), Osias Beert the Elder. Courtesy Sotheby's

Can a modern perfumier hold a candle to the Old Masters?

Sotheby’s has hired Lyn Harris to respond to Dutch Golden Age paintings with her ‘olfactory poetic landscapes’ – but Rakewell smells a rat

9 Dec 2022
ATM Leaderboard (2022), MSCHF. Photo: Pauline Shapiro; courtesy MSCHF and Perrotin

Money really talks at Art Basel Miami Beach

Art-fair visitors who aren’t afraid to declare their worth can take advantage of MSCHF’s very public ATM machine

2 Dec 2022

Paris takes a revolutionary approach to its Olympic mascot

Phrygian cap or pussy hat? The mascot for the 2024 Paris Olympics seems to be making a bid for freedom

25 Nov 2022
The plaque to Howard Carter, restored

The curse of Tutankhamun strikes again – but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with glue

The breaking of a plaque to commemorate Howard Carter in Luxor isn’t a wholly inappropriate way to mark the centenary of his great discovery

18 Nov 2022
Christie’s Paul Allen

The first billion-dollar auction? Plus ça change…

The sale of masterpieces at Christie’s shattered records – but has it really changed the art market?

11 Nov 2022
Jean-Michel Basquiat at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, in 1987. Photo: Karen Petersen/Everett Collection

How does a ‘prank’ Basquiat measure up to the great art-world hoaxes?

Selling a misattributed work was a ‘prank’, according to André Heller – which leads Rakewell to reflect on the real classics of the genre

4 Nov 2022
Courtesy Royal Mint

The King’s new portrait is right on the money

They are symbols of great change, but Rakewell finds pleasing continuities in the new Charles III coins

28 Oct 2022