19th century

Booksreview

How to force historians to use their eyes: book urges academics to 'take art more seriously'

Princeton University's Theodore K. Rabb says more visual materials—not only written records—should be explored

Louvre’s Delacroix exhibition uncovers France’s superstar of the Romantic era

His boundless inventiveness as a painter—and not only—shines through in this ambitious survey

How Delacroix went from lycée dropout to establishment favourite

Exhibition at the Musée du Louvre is first major survey of the painter’s work in more than 50 years

Rijksmuseum explores how botany helped give birth to photography

The New Realities of 19th-century photography shows key developments in scientific and artistic endeavour

Why Courbet's The Origin of the World is so popular—and it's not what you think

Our most-read story of 2016 was about Facebook's legal battle over the French master's work. Here's why it still causes a stir, 100 years on

London version of Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l’herbe predates the bigger picture in Paris

Research supports theory that Courtauld’s painting is preparatory sketch for version in the Musée d'Orsay

Reviewnews

Frivolity, hedonism, sensuality and sex—OK!

The 19th-century revision of received perceptions of French Rococo art

Turner’s final flourish: Tate show traces his highly productive late period

150 works produced from 1835 until his death in 1851 will dispel oversimplifications of this later works

Collectorsarchive

The forgotten collectors: Five significant 19th-century collectors

The contributions of tobacco heiresses and banking magnates explored

The big hole in Britain’s National Gallery: Bring back the Victorians

The omission of paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood could be rectified by judicious loans

New Met exhibition explores pre-digital manipulation of photography

Photographers began manipulating their work long before the digital era

Books: The end of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The complete correspondence of the pre-Raphaelite painter and poet has reached the last of its nine volumes

Queen Victoria & Albert: Art and Love

An exhibition catalogue continues the trend of challenging the dour image of Victoria

Booksarchive

Books: What does Pre-Raphaelite mean?

This collection of essays questions how we understand the terms Pre-Raphaelite, Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement

Books: Impressionist women and Impressionists’ women

New works on a quartet of women painters and the wives and models of three of the men

Former fugitive opens decorative arts gallery

Roberto Polo, once the toast of Paris, returns in style

From flea market to Manhattan penthouse: the revival of Christopher Dresser

Gilbert and George and Mickey Wolfson are among the enthusiastic collectors

New exhibition 'The pre-Raphaelite dream' rocks the Art Gallery of Western Australia

The paintings and drawings on show in Perth are on loan from the Tate collection

Booksarchive

A story of politics and class in a new biography of Henry Cole

An exhaustive treatment of the man behind the Great Exhibition, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Prince Albert and much, much more

National Trust buys William Morris’s house

Red House, Bexleyheath, to be preserved for the nation

'For the King’s pleasure': a ground-breaking study of the interiors of Windsor Castle by a director of the Royal Collection under Elizabeth II

A landmark account of George IV’s decorations and furnishings at Windsor Castle, by Hugh Roberts, who was closely involved in the restoration of many of those interiors following the 1992 fire

Jewelleryarchive

Books: Henri Vever's Bible of French jewellery studies

The Vasari of his field, Vever was himself a jeweller—though like Vasari he is better known for his writing

The Hereford Screen, the V&A’s greatest hidden treasure, to be revealed this month

Gilbert Scott’s massive Gothic Revival screen has been restored for £750,000 and goes on public view for the first time in over three decades

Queen Victoria’s Centenary at the Victoria and Albert Museum: Conspicuous by her absence

A weak exhibition that attempts to survey the Victorian legacy is partially redeemed by the accompanying book