Three arguments why Just Stop Oil was right to target Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
Waves of controversy were sparked recently when the Just Stop Oil activists threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London. Although the painting was behind glass so not damaged, politicians were quick to condemn their…
Yevonde: Life and Colour exhibition reopens the National Portrait Gallery in style
A long-overdue exhibition of the work of photographer Yevonde Middleton (1893-1975) has opened at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), London. Yevonde: Life and Colour is the first major exhibition since the gallery reopened its doors, following a three-year refurbishment. Throughout…
‘No woman could paint’: The Story of Art Without Men corrects nearly 600 years of male-focused art criticism
Have you heard of Surrealist photographer Lee Miller? Or the highly political Dada photo-montagist Hannah Höch? 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis achieved fame and recognition in her lifetime, as did 20th-century sculptor Barbara Hepworth, but none of these women artists have…
Belize shows how local engagement is key in repatriating cultural artifacts from abroad
The Smithsonian Museum of African Art recently announced its intent to repatriate Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. Similar news stories of returning “stolen” or “removed” items of historical and cultural value are becoming more common. Read more: Benin bronzes: What is…
Van Gogh Museum at 50: how galleries are challenging the ‘tortured genius’ narrative
At the time that Vincent van Gogh was creating his acclaimed work, The Starry Night, he was hospitalised at Saint-Paul de Mausole asylum. He painted the vivid night sky from his room without the bars of his window, editing out…
#GallerySoWhite: a digital exhibition exposing racism in contemporary art spaces
Art institutions are facing a reckoning over colonial histories and racist legacies. Though the issues aren’t new, calls to unpack the British art museum and heritage sector’s ties to colonialism have increased significantly over the past decade. As a result,…
Jamie Reid: the defiant punk art of the man behind the Sex Pistols’ iconic imagery
The death of graphic designer and activist Jamie Reid earlier this month was a huge loss for both the design community and the political left. Right until his death, Reid made incendiary works that incessantly attacked the political status quo….
How Yorkshire influenced the sculptures of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore
When Barbara Hepworth died in 1975, fellow sculptor Henry Moore wrote an obituary in The Sunday Times with the headline, The Shaping of a Sculptor. Not only did it prominently feature their shared birthplace of Yorkshire, but the paper’s clever…
Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits expose the darker side of the 60s
“If you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t really there”. This famous quip says much about our rose-tinted nostalgia for the decade. The fun-loving hedonism of Woodstock and Beatlemania may be etched into cultural memory, but Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits…
Manipulating light can induce psychedelic experiences – and scientists aren’t quite sure why
For millennia, people have used mind-altering techniques to achieve different states of consciousness, envision spiritual figures, connect with nature, or simply for the fun of it. Psychedelic substances, in particular, have a long and controversial history. But for just as…
