Martin Gayford

From the Elgin marbles to Carl Andre’s bricks: the mistakes that have made great art

Some of the most important creative steps forward begin simply as misunderstandings

Gauguin’s Pacific Islanders owe as much to travel literature as to direct observation. [2004 / Sergio Anelli / Electa / Mondadori Portfolio]
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Nigel Inkster

The Xi files: how China spies

From the magazine
Most states spy. In principle there’s nothing to stop them. But China’s demand for intelligence on the rest of the world goes far beyond anything western intelligence agencies would typically gather. It encompasses masses of commercial data and intellectual property and has been described by Keith Alexander, a former head of America’s National Security Agency,

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