Marina Abramović’s catalogue of self-harm
The stock-in-trade of the 76-year-old’s long career is endurance mixed with pain: something she demands of her audience, too.
ByExhibitions
Frans Hals and the will to life
Where Rembrandt painted introspection, the Haarlem portraitist showed people as social creatures.
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Coco Chanel’s second coming
The V&A’s exhibition focuses on the designer’s clothes – with little attention given to her equally spectacular life.
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The lyrical pastorals of the British neo-romantics
A new exhibition at the Fry Gallery in Saffron Walden shows how the group painted the uncertainties of the mid-century…
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A piece of Freddie Mercury
The singer’s possessions – from draft lyrics to his Tiffany moustache comb – should sell for over £6m at auction.…
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In defence of “what if?”
Why counterfactual history is an essential tool for understanding the present.
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Band on the rise: Paul McCartney’s candid Sixties photographs
The National Portrait Gallery exhibition of “forgotten” pictures will be revelatory for Beatles obsessives.
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The inventions of Norman Foster
From museums and airports to bridges and a pissoir, for 60 years the architect has left his stamp on the…
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Visions of St Francis
For nearly eight centuries, artists have been among the saint’s most avid followers, as a major new exhibition at the…
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Sarah Lucas: “I didn’t want to spend my life angry”
The artist on feminism, the importance of humour, and being a Young British Artist at 60.
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A history of Spain in 150 objects
From El Greco to Goya and Mexican clay to Moorish gold, a new show at the Royal Academy reveals the…
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How the hieroglyphic code was cracked
A new exhibition at the British Museum tells the remarkable story of the deciphering of the Ancient Egyptian script.
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How Sensation turned British art into big business
Twenty-five years ago, the Charles Saatchi-backed exhibition heralded a new era – one in which profit would reign supreme.
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The women who shaped modernism
A new exhibition at the Royal Academy reveals how a formidable group of artists brought new perspectives to 20th-century German…
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Fashion and fetishism: the drawings of Henry Fuseli
The artist’s renderings of women’s hair depict both the chic and the suggestive.
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The best art exhibitions of summer 2022
What to see in the UK this summer: from a famous Picasso portrait to an exploded garden shed.
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Do “great artists” really “steal”?
A new exhibition exploring how Ingres’ Madame Moitessier inspired Picasso raises questions around art and the anxiety of influence
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How Edvard Munch turned his personal fears into universal symbols
In a new exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery the artist’s unsettling work speaks to the pain of the human condition.
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2022: the year in art
The year ahead offers old and new masters alongside a full awkward-squad of painters.
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How the Beano broke the rules
The children’s comic has kept its anarchic spirit alive for more than 80 years, with circulation figures more grown-up publications…
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