Archive

He admits he’s no oil painting, but our critic knows there’s beauty in modern art. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Roger Scruton

Do you know the one about the Englishman, the French man and the New York Jew of Polish extraction who lived in Britain and who was involved in a couple of the noisiest art scandals of the early 20th century? Me neither – until the Royal Academy decided to yoke Eric Gill, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and […]

So unlike the home life of our own dear Queen… Waldemar Januszczak on royal attempts at ‘informal’ portraits

I doubt that any artist has ever been misunderstood as fiercely as Caravaggio (1571-1610). Certainly among the Old Masters his case is unique. Since the shocking rediscovery of his career at the start of the 20th century, the image we have of him has slalomed at an extraordinary lick from the misty to the unlikely […]

The Sacred Made Real is a gorefest of Spanish delights. They deserve to be wondered at

Sam Taylor-Wood keeps on rising in the art world, but now she’s flying into feature films

Damien Hirst’s impudent paintings of skulls at the Wallace Collection and a vast unenlightening container in Tate Modern

Grayson Perry’s latest masterpiece is a giant tapestry take on modern life, with a headscarfed woman at its heart. So, is his cross-dressing for real, or is he just acting up a storm? Waldemar Januszczak peers into his psyche and is startled by what he finds

After years of dreary line-ups, 2009’s prize is, in an unusually subtle way, a cracker

Trying to make sense of the rich Indian princes only reveals the depths of their avarice