Art
The only art is Essex
When I went to visit Edward Bawden he vigorously denied that there were any modern painters in Essex. That may…
The lives of the artists — and other mysteries
Benjamin Wood’s first novel, The Bellwether Revivals, was published in 2012, picked up good reviews, was shortlisted for the Costa…
Dizzying swirls of impasto
With a career of more than 60 years so far, Frank Auerbach is undoubtedly one of the big beasts of…
My part in a masterpiece of political correctness
Damien Hirst, Grayson Perry, James Delingpole: all winners of major art prizes. I was awarded mine last week by Anglia…
‘Paint goes on living’
Maggi Hambling on Rembrandt, Twombly and the power of art
Møn
The sky over the island of Møn, which is at the bottom right of Denmark, was cobalt and the whitewashed…
Diary
So far, what an infuriating election campaign. We have the most extraordinary array of digital, paper and broadcasting media at…
The Vatican
The sun has only just risen in Rome and we are standing bleary-eyed in a short queue outside the Vatican.…
Impressionist Paris
The spectre of the Charlie Hebdo killings still hangs over Paris. Outside the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, opposite the…
A master of plein-airism
‘If I see something I like I wish to tell someone else; this… is why I paint.’ Patrick George is…
Texas: From cowboys to culture
Dallas has reinvented itself as a major arts destination, says Hugh Graham
Daring a fleeting smile
In 1787 critics of the Paris Salon were scandalised by a painting exhibited by Mme Vigée Le Brun. The subject…
It was a wonderful town
I picked up this book with real enthusiasm. Who cannot be entranced by those 20 years after the second world…
The price test
If you wanted to find a middle-aged man in a bright orange suit, matching tie and sneakers, Frieze is a…
Art from another planet
‘Some day we shall no longer need pictures: we shall just be happy.’ — Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter, 1966…
Effie off
Effie Gray, which has been written by Emma Thompson and recounts the doomed marriage of Victorian art critic John Ruskin…
Old master
Juvenilia is the work produced during an artist’s youth. It would seem logical to think, therefore, that an artist’s output…
The new Turner?
What happens to an artist’s reputation when he dies? Traditionally, there was a period of cooling off when the reputation,…
Net effect
In the mid-1990s the art world got excited about internet art (or ‘net.art’, as those involved styled it). This new…
A kind of magic
Talking of Rembrandt’s ‘The Jewish Bride’ to a friend, Vincent van Gogh went — characteristically — over the top. ‘I…
Dance of death
The Imperial War Museum has reopened after a major refit and looks pretty dapper, even though it was overrun by…
The art of protest
Titles can be misleading, and in case you have visions of microwave ovens running amok or washing machines crunching up…
Extreme poetic licence
On Laurie Lee’s centenary, Jeremy Treglown wonders how the writer’s legacy stands up
The secret of Civilisation
No modern critic would dare match Kenneth Clark’s fearless way with sweeping statements
Maths and masterpieces
The Indian inspiration with which Piero della Francesca created ‘the greatest picture in the world’
