Books
Monuments to absence: Gregory Gilbert on a new book about Charles Ray
The artist's excessive emphasis on production eclipses everything else
An unconventional pastoralist: on Samuel Palmer
The charm of Samuel Palmer’s work is its refusal to submit to analysis
A uniquely British phenomenon: how museums sprang up in the UK
From the 1860s, a network of museums were founded nationwide
Short, sharp—and funny: Bernhard Schulz on Adolph Menzel
To mark the 200th anniversary of his birth, a book celebrates Adolph Menzel as the “painter of modern life”
My father and music: how Mark Rothko’s love of Mozart made his paintings sing
In an extract from his new book, Christopher Rothko explains how the master of abstraction absorbed the stylistic principles and emotional contradictions of the 18th-century genius
Charles I’s other portrait painter
The Anglo-Dutch artist Cornelius Johnson emerges from the shadow of Van Dyck
My favourite poems, by the very English Rex Whistler
His biographers have published his commonplace book in facsimile
Brian Sewell's tribute to the Rolls Royce
The art critic, who died earlier this year, loved art, dogs and great cars
A ‘heroic’ era, but for whom? on Brutalist architecture
The voices of owners, occupants and users of British Modernist architecture are unheard in this admiring—and admirable—history
A chicken tikka masala of snakes and crocodiles
The Imperial Roman construction of ancient Egypt
A substantial but overlooked artist
Georg Pencz comes into his own at last. By David Ekserdjian
How and why works change
A book for non-specialists on painting conservation. By Will Shank
Put not your trust in princes
The story of Daniel Nijs, who impoverished himself selling Italian art to King Charles I
Monks’ marriage of poverty and riches
How Italian Renaissance mendicant orders struggled to reconcile their ideals and their wealth. By Christopher Colven
Bluestockings and botany
Horticultural art of the 18th century owes much to the aristocratic female garden-makers who were at the centre of Georgian society
The least studied aspect of a closet liberal: Jonathan Brown on Goya
Set in the context of their times, Goya’s portraits finally get the attention they deserve, says the art historian
The Classical world gets a new paint job
The first comprehensive survey in 80 years of Ancient Greek and Roman painting
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
Famous figures under scrutiny
New thinking about Da Vinci and Michelangelo considers their different approaches and the reception their work received
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
Landscapes, friends, family and photographs
Four books examine John Singer Sargent’s work outside the public eye
