Raphael, review: superlative tribute to a brilliant painter (and architect, and plumber…)
Can we cut to the chase? There’s a tendency, these days, to badmouth Raphael. “Too perfect,” carp his critics, bemoaning the flawless execution of his paintings, and…
Surprisingly weird: why there is more to Raphael’s portraits than meets the eye
In 1833, when the mania for Raphael was at its height, the Renaissance artist’s tomb was opened on the orders of the pope, to establish if his…
Neil MacGregor interview: ‘Why don’t we have a Museum of England?’
Neil MacGregor studied many cultures of the world while director of the British Museum, but it is the English he finds the most perplexing. “Why is there…
If this endears Old Masters to young people, how bad can it be?
“Step inside the play area,” says a friendly lady brandishing a virtual-reality headset, gesturing towards a big blue diamond outlined on the floor. “Your experience is about…
Dr No gloating, Picasso under surveillance: the astonishing true story behind The Duke
Adam had a personal insight into megalomaniac taste. A Jewish refugee from Germany, he had seen the Nazis make life impossible for his father, the owner of…
Gainsborough’s Blue Boy, National Gallery review: hurry to meet him, before he’s gone again
Whoever he is, he’s back. Exactly a hundred years ago, The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough’s full-length portrait of about 1770, was honoured with a three-week valedictory display…
‘We’ve no intention of removing anything from display’
Yet, for Finaldi, although providing context about the source of its sitter’s wealth is interesting, it is “not necessarily the most important thing to say” about the…
Robot artists, group-think and a £52m JPEG: the year the art world went mad
Of course, the art world’s decadence has long amused outsiders, and, despite the generally sombre mood generated by the pandemic, 2021, in this respect, didn’t disappoint. A…
Is it time to purge the name ‘Sackler’ from the arts?
Much has now been written about Purdue, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2019 after years of settling private lawsuits out of court, but the Sacklers,…