John Ruskin

The splendour and squalor of Venice

9 December 2023 9:00 am

In his celebration of Venetian art, Martin Gayford is keenly alert to the city’s spectacular contradictions

In praise of chastity

12 June 2021 9:00 am

New York It’s party time in the Bagel, or at least private party time. Yours truly is an extra man…

Plywood at its most curvaceous, acceptable and collectible: Alvar Aalto armchair, 1930 (left), and moulded plywood chair by Grete Jalk, 1963

Grain of truth

8 July 2017 9:00 am

We routinely feel emotional about materials — often subliminally. Which is why new substances and techniques for manufacturing have provoked…

‘May Day’, 1866, by Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron: the Leonardo of photography

21 November 2015 9:00 am

Ruskin dismissed Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs as untrue. But, argues Martin Gayford, the same could be said of any picture

Poor, poor Effie: Dakota Fanning

Effie Gray can effie off

11 October 2014 9:00 am

Effie Gray, which has been written by Emma Thompson and recounts the doomed marriage of Victorian art critic John Ruskin…

Unmissable: ‘The Horse, the Rider and the Clown’, 1943–4, by Matisse will go on show at Tate Modern in April

Art shows you simply mustn't miss in 2014

11 January 2014 9:00 am

Andrew Lambirth reveals the treats on show in 2014