Portraits

The world of fine art often moves at a stately pace, yet the annual opening of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ exhibition offers a vibrant snapshot of contemporary culture, capturing the faces of today’s most relevant figures. Amidst...

The unveiling of a royal portrait is always a seismic cultural event, but rarely has one generated such instantaneous and visceral division as Jonathan Yeo’s depiction of King Charles III. Bathed in a vibrant, almost infernal scarlet, the work...

The unveiling of a new royal portrait is invariably an event of national significance, yet in the age of instant online critique, it has become less a celebration of art and more a catalyst for global debate. Following the...

The term "art collector" is often cloaked in an air of mystery and exclusivity, reserved by the art-world cognoscenti for those possessing an ill-defined "eye" or "sensibility." Many art buyers, conscious of this lofty title, struggle with imposter syndrome,...

The story of historic women artists, as art historian Pamela Gerrish Nunn once observed, often leaves them standing on the “eternal doorstep of fame.” For Mary Beale (1633-99), the most famous early professional female portraitist in Britain, that door...

For generations, the name Edvard Munch has been instantly synonymous with a singular, primal image: the solitary, wailing figure silhouetted against a blood-red fjord in The Scream. This enduring masterpiece has fixed the Norwegian Expressionist in the popular imagination...

For centuries, the story of Lady Jane Grey, England’s shortest-reigning queen who was executed at just 17, has been defined by her tragic brevity and the fact that no definitive portrait from her lifetime was thought to survive. However,...

Eighty years ago, in April 1945, the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen, revealing a landscape of incomprehensible horror that shocked the world and defined the final days of the Second World War. Today, an exhibition in London is commemorating that...

A profound loss has struck the Palestinian and international art communities with the reported death of 22-year-old Gazan artist Dina Khaled Zaurub. Known for her charcoal and graphite portraits, Zaurub was a powerful chronicler who specialized in documenting the...

A new painting unveiled in the White House’s Grand Foyer has ignited a fierce debate, pitting loyalists who praise the "awesome portrait" against critics who deride it as the work of "Tariff Lautrec." The controversial piece, painted by Florida-based...