Struggling for Christmas gifts? Take a look at the publications we enjoyed over the past year—from an exploration of art and motherhood to an interrogation of the culture wars

The British artist gives us an insight into the work behind his latest publication, which brings together more than 200 recent drawings

All you ever wanted to know about Matisse, from a definitive two-volume biography to the writings of the artist himself—selected by the curator Dorthe Aagesen

The curator has brought together the work of 50 artists from across the continent for his new book African Art Now

A photograph taken in the Dutch artist’s studio shortly after his death suggests "New York City I" has been displayed the wrong way round since 1945

The Victoria and Albert Museum show next year will explore the life and legacy of the “driving force behind the Italian Renaissance”

One of just two women to join Britain’s answer to Cubism and Futurism, Saunders opted for isolation after the movement fizzled out

Exhibition of “plant portraits” at London’s Garden Museum includes painting of beloved cyclamen and a rarely seen Zimmerlinde work, which the artist gave to his second wife

From Cezanne's love of Provence at Tate Modern to cracking the Ancient Egyptian code at the British Museum

All you ever wanted to know about King Tut, from CT scans and DNA studies to the perfect book for “any little pharaohs that you might know”—selected by the biographer and journalist Garry Shaw

Shows on view in museums and galleries across New York, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and London, from the Brazilian art biennial at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo to Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca at the New Museum

More than 500 standing stones were catalogued by archaeologists working on the 7,000-year-old site

From artist biographies and essay collections to a dystopian novel, surf culture and a rock’n’roll autobiography

From Cold War Steve and David Shrigley's creative responses to Bob and Roberta Smith's warning that bigger issues are at play

All you ever wanted to know about Raphael, from a page-turner monograph to a tome of his “irresistible” drawings—selected by the art historian David Ekserdjian

The award will apparently be conferred to an empty chair as the artist—whose identity is secret—will not be attending the University for the Creative Arts ceremony

All you ever wanted to know about Mondrian, from a comprehensive biography to a book about his various studios—selected by the curator Ulf Küster

The performance artist’s exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts was announced along with shows on Impressionism, Black artists from the American South, and Hispanic art

From demonstrations to a presidential address, the Biennale city continues to be a creative platform to criticise Russia's war

The exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery will explore the little-known influence of 18th-century English painting, which the artist encountered on her honeymoon

The US photographer has been awarded the £30,000 prize for her “sheer inventiveness and complexity of her approach to image making”

The subjects of great works of art have not always led the romanticised life we imagine, as examples from a new book show

All you ever wanted to know about Bourgeois, from the artist in her own words to an illustrated book for children—selected by the Hayward Gallery’s Ralph Rugoff and Katie Guggenheim

There's a lot to see in Venezia—save precious time and skip these

A police presence awaited the performance, which was only announced yesterday evening

The president and his wife addressed attendees gathered at an exhibition of Ukrainian and international artists co-organised by the PinchukArtCentre and Victor Pinchuk Foundation

Writhing bodies in a deconsecrated church, BDE at the Ducale and an entirely improvised pavilion—what to see beyond the Arsenale and Giardini

From a Gauguin impersonation to fire raining from the sky, here are the best exhibitions in the city's former shipyards

The piece was included in the main exhibition after a museum housing 25 works by Maria Prymachenko was destroyed in February

From America's African facelift to the scents of hope and fear, here are the exhibitions we loved at the heart of the big event