Art
Letters: Why a Royal Commission is not the answer to the NHS’s problems
NHS in a mess Sir: Max Pemberton is quite right to say that the NHS is close to collapse, but…
Every Easter, I think of the artist and poet David Jones
Each Easter, I think of David Jones (1895-1974). He was a distinguished painter and, I would (though unqualified) say, a…
The mad, bad crusade against 'cultural appropriation'
It’s usually best to ignore the indignant fury of the 21st-century young. We’re used to them now, these snowflakes, posing…
David Jones – the 20th century’s great neglected genius
When Stravinsky visited David Jones in his cold Harrow bedsit, he came away saying, ‘I have been in the presence…
Why Auguste Rodin preferred to sculpt women who couldn’t sit still
The girl who posed for Auguste Rodin’s figure of Eve on the ‘Gates of Hell’ was, the sculptor said, a…
Nothing happens, but everything changes in Sara Baume’s new novel
This is an extraordinarily compelling novel for one in which nothing really happens but everything changes. Sara Baume’s narrator is…
Siri Hustvedt’s thoughts on art, science and the human condition
This past autumn has felt more uncomfortable than usual to be a woman looking at men looking at women. From…
What makes a great art room in school? It’s all about the mess
School art studios should be all about the creative atmosphere – and the mess, says Laura Freeman
My newest crush is Morgan Lake – the perfect combination of grace, youth and beauty
OK sports fans, the Games are over, Uncle Sam and Britain hit pay dirt, and the prettiest girl of the…
Peggy Guggenheim, collector of genius
She had come a very long way from the shtetl, but Marguerite ‘Peggy’ Guggenheim was still the poor relation of…
Dear Mary: On being an unappreciated patron of the arts
Q. Since my husband began to appear in the Rich List he has become much more popular with ‘artists’ in…
Bologna with Gilbert & George
Sooner or later, no matter where you are travelling on Italian railways, you are likely to pass through Bologna Centrale.…
The lifts are lovely: Tate Modern’s extension reviewed
Tate Modern, badly overcrowded, has built itself a £260 million extension to spread everyone about the place more. This means…
The RA’s new restaurant prioritises its art over its customers
The Keeper’s House sits in the basement of Burlington House, a restaurant in disguise. It is quite different from the…
The 17th century painter who hacked her way through Suriname in search of insects
Maria Sibylla Merian was a game old bird of entrepreneurial bent, with an overwhelming obsession with insects. Born in Frankfurt…
Peter Phillips bids farewell to his music column after 33 years
This, my 479th, is to be my last contribution as a regular columnist to The Spectator. I have written here…
Want your children to love art? Start with Hieronymus Bosch
If you hope to inspire an appreciation of Renaissance art in your children, look to Hieronymus Bosch. Ideally, your children…
Hate tax havens? Try imagining a world without them
However wicked tax evasion is and however distasteful some tax avoidance may be, people should imagine a world without tax…
Pharmacy 2 makes me like Damien Hirst
Pharmacy 2 is the reanimated child of Damien Hirst; it lives inside the Newport Street Gallery in a forsaken patch of…
How to view the view
It’s not all picnics and cowslips. You need sense as well as sensibility to appreciate a landscape, says Mary Keen
At the going down of the sun
One of the epigraphs to Peter Davidson’s nocturne on Europe’s arts of twilight is from Hegel: ‘The owl of Minerva…
Samuel Palmer: from long-haired mystic to High Church Tory
In his youth, Samuel Palmer (1805–1881) painted like a Romantic poet. The moonlit field of ‘The Harvest Moon’ (1831–32) glows…
German refugees transformed British cultural life - but at a price
German-speaking refugees dragged British culture into the 20th century. But that didn’t go down well in Stepney or Stevenage, says William Cook
Hurrah! Demi Moore is Pugs club’s new Mistress of Chamber
If cheating is the cancer of sport, losing has to be its halitosis. I stunk out the joint in Amsterdam…
Why we should embrace being average
Maybe what we love about radio is the way that most of its programming allows us the luxury of staying…
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