Art and Antiques

My Favourite Painting: Jeremy Clarkson

Tanks, tulips and taxidermy: The strange lives of Britain's most eccentric collectors

Five collectors of unusual things, from taxidermy to tanks, tulips to teddies, explain their passions to Country Life. Interviews by Agnes Stamp, Tiffany Daneff, Kate Green and Octavia Pollock. Photographs by Millie Pilkington, Mark Williamson and Richard Cannon.

One of the cleverest pictures ever made, and how it was inspired by one of the cleverest art books ever written

The rules of perspective in art were poorly understood until an 18th century draughtsman made them simple. Carla Passino tells the story of Joshua Kirby.

Six things to know about the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition

The 2024 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is here. Country Life's Arts and Antiques Editor Carla Passino shares some trivia and tips for how to get the most out of it.

Before the palazzo there was Petersfield: The Hampshire cottage where Peggy Guggenheim learned to love the art world

Humble Yew Tree Cottage stands in stark contrast to the excesses of this great art collector, but was a formative period in her life and is the subject of a new exhibition.

Celebrating the act of looking and drawing from life: New English Art Club presents latest annual exhibition

Created to counteract the 'stuffiness' of the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club nurtured and encouraged some of Britain's best artists. The group's latest exhibition begins this week, with plenty of works for sale.

The circus performer who literally gritted her teeth to earn success and fame — and inspired one of the great Impressionist paintings of the 1880s

When Miss La La hoisted herself to the top of the circus tent by a rope clenched in her jaws, she dazzled not only crowds across France and Britain, but also Edgar Degas. Carla Passino tells the story of the artiste — and the artist.

An exclusive chance for Country Life readers to see The George Farrow Collection before it goes under the hammer

Roseberys London and Country Life invite readers to an exclusive preview of The George Farrow Collection, which is the subject of a major sale in June.

The 12 most iconic paintings in The National Gallery, by gallery curator Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper

Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper joins the Country Life Podcast to share how she and the team at the National Gallery picked the 12 most iconic pieces from the collection to celebrate the gallery's 200th anniversary.

Whatever happened to saucy seaside postcards?

Saucy seaside postcards were once a mainstay of British life over the summer, but these days they're rarely seen. Martin Fone asks why, and discovers the history of artists such as Donald McGill who turned wry, naughty humour into a huge industry.

How a 20-year-old Leonora Carrington told off one of Surrealism's leading lights, and embarked on a career which has just seen her masterpiece go for $22 million

A densely-packed masterpiece by the brilliant Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington has just set a record at auction. We take a look at the life and emergence of the feisty young Lancastrian behind the $22 million sale of 'Les Distractions de Dagobert.

The English climate destroyed almost all our medieval church paintings — but not these ones

Winged creatures, robed figures and celestial bodies are under threat in a rural church. Jo Caird speaks to the conservators working to save northern Europe’s most complete Romanesque wall paintings.

Michael Prodger: How Britain’s landscapes have inspired painters across the centuries

Constable thought of his beloved Stour valley as his mistress, Samuel Palmer saw the Darent valley as a soft, pillowy realm where corn is always ripe. Michael Prodger reveals how Britain’s landscapes have inspired painters across the centuries.

A century of Royal Photography is going on show at Buckingham Palace, from Cecil Beaton to Annie Leibovitz

The Royal Collection Trust's summer exhibition at Buckingham Palace brings together some of the most wonderful royal portraits ever taken. Jack Watkins takes a look.

The chair of the National Gallery names his favourite from among the 2,300 masterpieces — and it will come as a bit of a shock

As the National Gallery turns 200, the chair of its board of trustees, John Booth, chooses his favourite painting.

Caravaggio: The brutal life and early death of the sinner who painted saints

Although named after an angel, Caravaggio needed no stronger reason to brawl than having his artichokes dressed with butter instead of olive oil. Maev Kennedy delves into his short and brutal life.

'A wonderful reminder of what the countryside could and should be': The 200-year-old watercolour of a world fast disappearing

Christopher Price of the Rare Breed Survival Trust on the bucolic beauty of The Magic Apple Tree by Samuel Palmer, which he nominates as his favourite painting.

The ancient decorative painting technique enjoying a revival 2,000 years after being the talk of Pompeii

The infinite possibilities of decorative painting brought life to villas in Pompeii, Florentine palaces and Charleston in East Sussex. Today, a revival of interest in the artform is once again precipitating a highly distinctive new look in interiors. By Arabella Youens, with photography by Simon Brown.

150 years of the Impressionists, being celebrated in Paris and London

In 1874, a group of painters rejected by the official Paris Salon staged its own show and changed the course of art. It was France’s convulsed lurch into the modern era that helped spark the Impressionist revolution.

A look inside Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage

A new book by the photographer Gilbert McCarragher will give readers a first-look inside Derek Jarman's famous home on the shingle of Dungeness.