Goya’s bleak midwinter
How the painter dropped a sliver of ice into his light-hearted tapestry designs for the Spanish royal family
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William Nicholson and the pleasure in the paint
The artist’s refusal to swim with the currents of his times cost him the reputation he deserves
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Joseph Wright of Derby and the mysteries of the Enlightenment
Capturing the age of scientific discovery, the painter also explored its unknowns
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Wayne Thiebaud’s slices of Americana
The painter’s neon-lit patisseries and pies captured the abundance of the US in the postwar decades
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Frida Kahlo’s multi-million dollar moment
A self-portrait by the artist could break records when it goes on sale in November
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Kerry James Marshall’s nuanced vision of black lives
The painter’s retrospective at the Royal Academy presents a sweeping challenge to Western art’s exclusion of African-American figures
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Joining the dots of 20th-century art
“Radical Harmony” at the National Gallery reveals how super-patron Helene Kröller-Müller established pointillism and influenced a generation of painters.
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Jean-François Millet and the drudgery of rural life
In the National Gallery’s new exhibition, the 19th-century French painter’s unadorned pictures capture the dignity of labour.
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Jenny Saville’s human landscapes
The British artist has built a career bringing a new perspective to figures and flesh.
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Edward Burra’s tour of the 20th century
The English painter’s relish for subcultures took him across genres and continents.
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Portrait of an 18th-century It girl
Joshua Reynolds’ beloved painting contains the hidden story of my socialite ancestor, whose life spanned England, France and America.
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The second birth of JMW Turner
This year marks the 250th anniversary of his birth, but it was a midlife encounter with two landscapes that created…
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David Hockney writ large
A huge retrospective gives the authorised version of this prolific artist’s career.
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The problem with landscape paintings
Also this week: my deep dive into the underground worlds of boardgames and vegetarianism.
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Munch the social animal
The painter’s portraits reveal less a tortured loner than a man who thrived in company.
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Siena’s artistic revolution
In the 14th century, Duccio and others developed ways of painting that had never been seen before.
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Mickalene Thomas’s ode to Black joy
The American artist turns 19th-century paintings of women into celebrations of friends, family and lovers – with plenty of rhinestones.
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Visions of an English occult
The British surrealist Ithell Colquhoun combined magic and mythology to create art from buried folklore.
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The Pierre Bonnard renaissance
The enigmatic French painter is seen by many as a league below Matisse. But a new book proves them wrong…
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The best art exhibitions to see in 2025
From 14th-century Siena to female modernists, the year’s most exciting exhibitions chart an evolving Western tradition.
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