Reviews
The American who conquered cafe society in Rome
For seven decades, Milton Gendel recorded his charmed existence in delightfully candid photos and diaries
The triumph of the Tudors
Other European dynasties of the period had equally thriving court cultures, but none has had such a hold on the popular imagination
The unfashionable art of Ruskin Spear
Tanya Harrod’s biography of the unfairly neglected painter champions his scenes of London working-class life
The soft resistance of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s woven sculptures
The Polish artist sometimes worked at a monumental scale, but her most impressive works are less about the size than the power of their expression
Mimic men – how artists have spurred each other to new heights
An illuminating exhibition in Vienna explores how artists from the Greeks on have revelled in rivalries
The film-maker exploring Nigeria’s hangover from colonial rule
Ayo Akingbade’s new short film, set in the first Guinness factory to be built outside of the UK and Ireland, reveals a troubling story of labour and power
The British painter who was bullied into obscurity
Denis Wirth-Miller was unfairly dismissed as an imitator of his friend Francis Bacon, but it’s now clear that his detractors were wholly in the wrong
Mobs, murder and manuscripts – why ‘Pentiment’ is a must-play for art historians
In Obsidian’s new video game, you are a 16th-century Bavarian painter – but progress on your masterpiece is interrupted by parochial violence
The really radical work of Nellie Mae Rowe
Having spent most her life serving others, Nellie Mae Rowe came to art in her retirement years and found a joyful defiance in the creation of other-worldly scenes
How Roger Hilton played fast and loose with the human form
The St Ives painter best known for his abstract works also created his own kind of figurative art
The fetishistic side of Henry Fuseli
The artist’s drawings of women are a testament to his private proclivities. It’s no wonder he never put them on public display
On point – the wearing of lace has always been tied up with social status
Lace-making is an exacting craft – and who gets to wear the results is an equally delicate matter
The uncanny resonance of Hannah Starkey’s portraits
The photographer refers to all the women she photographs as icons, but it is in her home town of Belfast where her subjects truly come alive
The Vorticist who was nearly painted out of history
Helen Saunders was briefly at the forefront of British modernism – before she was cancelled by Wyndham Lewis
The Lithuanian painter who thought art could move heaven and earth
A survey of paintings by M.K. Čiurlionis at the Dulwich makes plain why the artist is heralded in his home country as a visionary
Committed to memory – how the Empress Eugénie kept the spirit of the Second Empire alive
Exiled in England, Napoleon III’s widow made sure that for as long she lived there was a corner of Hampshire that was forever France
Wolfgang Tillmans has the time of his life at MoMA
The photographer’s seething retrospective at MoMA captures what it was like to be young and carefree after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Lorenzo Lotto finds a winning streak
Long undervalued in comparison to his peers, the Renaissance painter now has the critical esteem he deserves in the form of a fine catalogue
The forgotten British modernist who hid her paintings under a bed
A new book does justice to the life and work of the little-known artist Suzanne Cooper
The instant appeal of William Kentridge’s slow art
A journey through four decades of the South African artist’s works reveals the steady evolution of his talent
The Turner Prize plays it safe this year
The four nominees for this year’s prize are presenting their biggest, brightest work but not all of it is saying very much
Wilton House may be famous for its sculpture, but its paintings are just as worthwhile
The paintings acquired by the earls of Pembroke over several generations now have the catalogue they deserve
How to be queer in the Arab world
Artists from across North Africa and the Middle East are expressing themselves in a sprawling show at the Institut du Monde Arabe
At Nottingham Contemporary, caves really are the rocks of ages
A show about caves and the artists who have been inspired by them goes deep underground and incredibly far back in time
Are the art market’s problems being blown out of proportion?