Books

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The Classical world gets a new paint job

The first comprehensive survey in 80 years of Ancient Greek and Roman painting

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Book on Gertrude Stein’s art collecting family wins Frick prize

Editors and contributors share $25,000 biennial award, this year backed by the Broad Foundation

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Famous figures under scrutiny

New thinking about Da Vinci and Michelangelo considers their different approaches and the reception their work received

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When fame trumped political engagement

A significant shift in Gerhard Richter’s work can be seen in the most recent volume of the catalogue raisonné

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Landscapes, friends, family and photographs

Four books examine John Singer Sargent’s work outside the public eye

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Fleur pouvoir

French 19th-century flower painting gets a long overdue accolade

Reviewnews

Another side: Andrew Lambirth on Francis Bacon

A personal view of Francis Bacon by his Boswell, Michael Peppiatt

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Against allegory: on Benjamin Buchloh’s new collection of essays

The art historian’s new book is properly pessimistic

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Writing on the wall: James Lawrence on Jackson Pollock

A fluent analysis by David Anfam of Pollock’s Mural

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Barbie and Ken in the Enlightenment: Joachim Whaley on 18th-century dolls

The extraordinary dolls’ town made by a Thuringian duchess

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A room of mystery and ghoulish things: Dora Thornton on the Cobbe Cabinet of Curiosities

A new book offers a scholarly account of the Cobbe family's collection

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Underneath the arches

What happened when Early Modern rulers came to town

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A swan-like artist: David Ekserdjian on the Renaissance master Andrea del Sarto

Draughtsmanship was one of the artist's finest skills

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Survival strategies under the Nazis: Grey Gowrie on artists under Hitler

What happens to the civilised when civilisation breaks down?

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Walter Benjamin: his life in postcards

On the 75th anniversary of the German writer’s death, we delve into his archive and discover his love for travelling—and writing home about it

Reviewnews

Painting the Reformation: the Cranachs celebrated

Six books reveal the multifaceted output of the elder and younger Cranach in Thuringia

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The fatal force of fashion in French public affairs

Elaborate, luxurious and costly styles, such as those worn by Marie-Antoinette, helped to alienate the court from the people

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Hal Foster in praise of dead art

In an excerpt from his new book, the art historian discusses the return of performance and process in contemporary art

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Pouring over the precious: James Yorke on luxury and sentimental objects

A survey of objects acquired between birth and death in early modern Europe that accompanies a Fitzwilliam exhibition

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Frivolity, hedonism, sensuality and sex—OK!

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

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When scholarship married the imagination: Peter Howell on Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

The French architect is the subject of two excellent new books