Features

Toys aren’t just for children, at least if a 250-year-old musical elephant at the grandest house in Buckinghamshire is anything to go by

Archie Brennan was a committed craftsman with a fondness for optical illusions and a strong idealistic streak

As the last rulers of pre-Islamic Iran, the Sasanians crafted a grand courtly culture that would go on to influence kings from the Balkans to Bengal

The painter’s tender portraits of slum life are being celebrated across Scotland in her centenary year 

Heir to a railway fortune and an 8,000-acre estate in West Sussex, Edward James transformed his homes into total works of art – with a little help from Dalí and friends

Tintoretto’s daughter was a highly acclaimed artist in her own right, but there is frustratingly little to go on when it comes to identifying her paintings

With their miniature artistry and enigmatic personal histories, these striking prints are often more enticing than the volumes they’re found in

Most of the fuss about NFTs has focused on what, if anything, buyers are getting – but how do digital artists feel about minting their art?

The pages of US periodicals trumpet a country making it up as it went along, covering everything from prohibition to pulp fiction

The discovery of a 3,000-year old city at the West Bank of Luxor creates a more nuanced picture of ancient Egyptian life

Dia Art Foundation’s support for ambitious experimental artists is as resolute as ever, its director Jessica Morgan tells Apollo

On the bicentenary of the poet’s birth, his art criticism still hums with outrage

Francis Bacon’s work reveals an endless fascination with animals – and the bestial side of human nature

The pandemic has highlighted the need for urban projects such as the Camden Highline – and London has a long history of transforming unloved sites into havens for city dwellers

The painter’s urgent, sympathetic portraits of her fellow New Yorkers are exactly what we need in these troubled times

Robert Walpole was a supreme political operator – but his power and personal wealth made him a splendid butt of satire, too

Walking around the city can feel like following in the footsteps of the famous photographer – but today’s empty streets are altogether more depressing

Many British royals have been keen on acquiring works of art, but few have been as diligent about looking after them as Queen Mary