Reviews
The Impressionists who put pastel to paper
As an exhibition at the Royal Academy shows, the Impressionists were never more immediate or intimate than in their drawings
Josephine Baker, agent provocateur
The American star and sometime spy was more than capable of defining her own image, as an exhibition in Berlin makes clear
States of awareness – experimental art from the Eastern bloc
Artists in the Soviet satellite states often adopted the forms and techniques of mass surveillance to mordant effect
From Africa to Byzantium, and back again
Trade and cultural exchange meant that the iconographical traditions of East Africa and Byzantium had much in common
The artists who made it in London against the odds
Making a living in the capital has always been a challenge for creative types, but British television was once very interested in how they managed
The painter who took a quixotic view of Spain
Ignacio Zuloaga was once as celebrated as Sorolla, but the artist’s searching paintings soon fell out of favour after his death
At the Fondazione Prada, folding screens divide and totally rule
From pieces of furniture to works of conceptual art, an exhibition in Milan reveals that folding screens are functional, adaptable and always divisive
Shore thing – the artists who flourished on the New York waterfront
What did Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly and Lenore Tawney have in common? They all lived cheek by jowl in a wharfside district of Manhattan
Weird Barbies and other unheavenly bodies – Anu Poder at the Muzeum Susch, reviewed
The Estonian artist stretched materials to their limit to create wonderfully distressed and disturbing sculptures
How Harriet Backer worked wonders in Norway
The painter is in no need of rediscovery at home, but her painstaking depictions of everyday life deserve to be better known abroad
Whose imperial majesty? – ‘South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain’ at the MK Gallery, reviewed
When it comes to miniatures, size doesn’t matter, but a show of historic and contemporary works should spark a bigger colonial conversation
What do English country houses tell us about the state of the nation?
Stephanie Barczewski’s book considers how stately homes have evolved according to the needs of their owners and wider changes in society
Rocks of all ages: a guide to collecting marble, reviewed
Jan Christian Sepp’s guide to the visual and geological properties of marble will whet the appetite of the modern readers too
How the Bauhaus exiles shaped a new urban landscape
The westward spread of modernist design between the wars was shaped by the migrant experience
The fearless gaze of Agnès Varda
An exhibition at the Cinémathèque française doesn’t shy away from the film-maker’s political side
Breath of fresh air – Gerhard Richter in the Alps
Three exhibitions in the Engadin Valley explore how the Swiss mountains have inspired some of the painter’s most playful work
The changing face of beauty through the ages
The Wellcome Collection’s sprawling show has a lot in common with a busy department store and proves that the beauty industry can be an exhausting business
The repeat performances of Robert Ryman
The artist painted countless variations of a white square, but repetitive strain was never really an issue
The sacred heart of Notre-Dame
The cathedral’s glittering 19th-century reliquaries are among the treasures that have taken up temporary residence at the Louvre
The Mexican manuscript that reveals the wonders of the Aztec world
Created by a Spanish missionary and Indigenous authors and artists in the 16th century, the Florentine Codex is an intellectual feat – and now available to all
French silver shines at the Getty
An open access publication celebrates glittering works from the 17th and 18th centuries
The Venetian painters who opened up a world of new possibilities
The lessons learned by the city’s painters in the 1500s brought about radical new forms of expression
Stage presence – the theatrical paintings of John Lavery
The artist could be a touch wooden at times, but a survey in Dublin shows that his best work is full of theatrical flair
A continental breakfast worth tucking into twice
Jean-Étienne Liotard depicted the same scene first in pastel, then 23 years later in oils – and both versions can be savoured for a time at the National Gallery in London
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The many faces of Mary Magdalene