Art and design
London is the place for me! The capital’s best image makers – in pictures
May 13, 2025Alys Tomlinson – Samuel, Lost Summer To mark the 10th edition of Photo London, London Lives brings together over 30 of the capital’s most celebrated and innovative image-makers. Alys Tomlinson works mostly in black and white, exploring themes of faith, ritual and identity. The Lost Summer portraits were taken in summer 2020. With school proms […]
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‘Tranquillising good taste’: can the National Gallery’s airy new entrance exorcise its demons?
May 6, 2025Few parts of any city have seen so many style wars waged over their future as the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square. Nelson may be safely ensconced on his column, but another Battle of Trafalgar has been rumbling for decades beneath his feet, seeing architectural grenades hurled to and fro at the western end of […]
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The Guardian view on Tate Modern at 25: a monumental success | Editorial
May 2, 2025The novelist Ian McEwan tells a good story about the opening party for Tate Modern on 11 May 2000, when he was introduced to the then prime minister, Tony Blair, by the Tate director, Nicholas Serota. Mr Blair shook the author’s hand and told him that he was a big fan of his work and had some of […]
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Royal Academy could cut 60 jobs amid ‘serious financial challenge’
February 27, 2025The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) could axe 60 roles as part of a cost-cutting exercise, with leaders admitting it is facing a “serious financial challenge” after visitor numbers failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels. The institution blamed “increasing costs and changing visitor behaviours” for the move, which could lead to about 18% of the […]
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Two Van Gogh paintings to be shown in London for first time
January 26, 2025Two Vincent van Gogh paintings created in the months after the Dutch artist mutilated his ear will be exhibited in London for the first time. The works, The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles and The Ward in the Hospital at Arles, would appear at the Courtauld Gallery from next month, the Art Newspaper reported. […]
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Starry nights and magic mushrooms: pulling an all-nighter at London’s Van Gogh exhibition
January 18, 2025Forget Soho bars, Covent Garden eateries, King’s Cross clubs and Mayfair casinos, the place to be in central London at one o’clock on Saturday morning was the National Gallery’s sell-out exhibition Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers. For only the second time in its history, the gallery acted like a frantic student on the eve of finals and […]
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On the buses: glimpses of passing commuters in rainy London – in pictures
January 4, 2025In October 2005, BBC presenter Steve Madden was standing in Shaftesbury Avenue when he saw a woman on the 38 bus, her figure framed by the misted-up window, which reflected the lights from the street. He took a snapshot and, years later, struck by a similar scene, he had the idea for a photography series. […]
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Dame Rosalind Savill obituary
January 2, 2025When, in 1992, Rosalind Savill announced that she was going to apply for the directorship of the Wallace Collection museum in London, reactions divided roughly in two. One group would smile wistfully and say how much they loved the Wallace, because no one ever went there. The second group would point out that Savill, who […]
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Christine O’Sullivan obituary
November 25, 2024My wife, Christine O’Sullivan, who has died aged 72, was a pattern cutter and designer whose creations were sold by many of the top high street stores in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, including Marks & Spencer, Top Shop, Debenhams and John Lewis. Her main speciality was nightwear for women and children, and one of […]
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British Museum receives record £1bn donation of Chinese ceramics
November 13, 2024The British Museum has been given a private collection of Chinese ceramics worth about £1bn, the highest-value object donation in UK museum history. The 1,700 pieces dating from the third to the 20th century have been given permanently by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation. They had been on loan to the London […]
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