Why Ronald Blythe is so revered
Ronald Blythe, the celebrated author of Akenfield, is to turn 100 next month, and to mark his centenary a beguiling…
The ‘delishious’ letters of Lucian Freud
Love him or loathe him, Lucian Freud was a maverick genius whose life from the off was as singular as…
The high and low life of John Craxton
Charm is a weasel word; it can evoke the superficial and insincere, and engender suspicion and mistrust. But charm in…
A power for good: the Sharp family were a model of vision and humanitarianism
Who would imagine that Johann Zoffany’s celebrated 1780 depiction of the extensive Sharp family happily making music on their pleasure…
Arthur Jeffress: bright young person of the post-war art scene
The name Arthur Jeffress may not conjure many associations for those not familiar with the London post-war art world, but…
Five bluestockings in one Bloomsbury square
The presiding genius of this original and erudite book is undoubtedly Virginia Woolf, whose essay ‘A Room of One’s Own’…
The Lost Girls of World War II – a tribute
It is to Peter Quennell in his memoir The Wanton Chase that D.J. Taylor owes his concept of wartime London’s…
Unfolding mysteries: the drama of drapery in Italian art
The striking yet subtle jacket image from Donatello’s ‘Madonna of the Clouds’ announces this book’s quality from the outset. Its…
Frank Auerbach: frightened of heights, dogs, driving, swimming — but finding courage through painting
With a career of more than 60 years so far, Frank Auerbach is undoubtedly one of the big beasts of…
'I would find myself forging my own work': Quentin Blake on how he came to found the House of Illustration
Ariane Bankes talks to Quentin Blake about a new project that will bring illustration out of the shadows
Hannah Höch – from Dada firebrand to poet of collage
I suspect I am not alone in finding it surprising to encounter at the close of this exhibition an unexpected…
The Lisson show is so hermetic, sometimes we flounder for meaning
The title of the Lisson Gallery’s new show, Nostalgic for the Future, could sum up the gallery’s whole raison d’être.…
The big tease
Perhaps the greatest irony of many in this first solo London show of Sarah Lucas is that it is sponsored…
