Life & Arts

Frieze lands on New York's shores

Fri, 04 May 2012 20:05:14 GMT

After the 10th edition of its London art fair, Frieze is hosting its first American fair on Randall's Island in New York City this weekend. Jan Dalley, the Financial Times' Arts Editor, takes us through the long serpentine tent that is hosting some 180 galleries from 30 different countries exhibiting and selling the best of contemporary art today

Moscow: life on the edge of history

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:21:27 GMT

Not long ago, Moscow was beyond the reach of most foreigners. Now the economic powerhouse of around 12 million inhabitants is home to thousands of expats who call the Russian capital home. Charles Clover, the FT's Moscow bureau chief, meets some of them to hear what aspects of the city most excite - and frustrate - them.

London's tallest building goes up

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:43:23 GMT

The glass-clad Shard already dominates the London skyline and it will be the tallest building in the European Union when completed in 2012. This time lapse video shows the rapid construction from foundation to finish..

Damien Hirst at Tate Modern

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:56:54 GMT

As crowds flock to Damien Hirst's retrospective at Tate Modern, his signature spot and spin paintings, his diamond-studded skull and his animals in formaldehyde are the focus of intense interest. But is Hirst an important artist of our time? Or is he merely an accomplished showman?

Glyndebourne Festival preview

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 06:08:00 GMT

Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, travels to Glyndebourne, a world-class opera house in Sussex, southern England. Ahead of the public booking opening on March 24, she talks to the people behind the annual Festival about what this year holds in store.

Turner Inspired at the National Gallery

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:57:18 GMT

Claude died almost a century before Turner was born, but he was Turner’s lifelong obsession. ‘Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude’ explores Claude’s influence on the English painter. Jackie Wullschlager visits the exhibition.

Johann Zoffany: Society Observed

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:22:25 GMT

Jackie Wullschlager visits an intriguing exhibition of work by Johann Zoffany at the Royal Academy, London. Born in Germany in 1733, Zoffany moved to London in 1760 where he depicted Georgian society and British imperial rule with a witty detachment.

Lucian Freud: Portraits

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:43:00 GMT

Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, introduces the first ever exhibition devoted to Lucian Freud’s portraiture. Produced in close collaboration with the late artist, it spans over 70 years and features some 130 stunning works.

Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:49:50 GMT

The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, is a religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim – and the subject of a new show at the British Museum in London, the first full exhibition of its kind. Jan Dalley looks at the artworks and objects on display.

Artists respond to new media

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:28:00 GMT

Over 50 years artists of all sorts have harnessed digital technologies. Now a new award is launched in the UK: the Samsung Art+ prize, whose ten-strong shortlist displays something of the huge range of new media art. Here, Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, explains how DJs and composers, painters and video artists have responded to changing times.

Robin Hood reimagined by the RSC

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:50:56 GMT

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 'The Heart of Robin Hood' is a radical take on the legend. Sarah Hemming visits the company’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon and talks to the people behind this physical and exciting family show.

Leonardo in London: an 'extraordinary privilege'

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:22:00 GMT

The National Gallery’s stunning exhibition "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" is a major diplomatic coup: with eight paintings, it reunites more than half of his surviving oeuvre as a painter. Jackie Wullschlager reports on the artist’s special appeal.

Artist Fiona Rae stays faithful to paint

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:46:00 GMT

Alongside Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, Fiona Rae is one of the generation known as the YBAs, or Young British Artists. Yet while her peers explored installation and video, she stayed faithful to painting. Rachel Spence asks her about her new works showing at the Timothy Taylor Gallery at Frieze.

Frieze Projects 2011

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:09:00 GMT

Frieze Projects are a group of provocative artworks commissioned for the fair. Rachel Spence meets the curator Sarah McCrory and two young artists whose Frieze Project is a bar-cum-installation in the style of a Romanian castle

Ximena Garrido-Lecca prepares for Frieze

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:47:00 GMT

Rachel Spence visits the London studio of Ximena Garrido-Lecca, who will exhibit for the first time at the Frieze Art Fair in October. Born in Lima in 1980, her work is inspired both by European art traditions and indigenous Peruvian culture. She is represented by the Revolver Gallery in Lima and the Max Wigram Gallery in London.

Thomas Struth: an objective photographer?

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:10:00 GMT

German photographer Thomas Struth receives his first solo show in Britain this summer at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. Ranging from 1978 to 2010, the exhibition takes in dense jungles, gawping tourists, re-built German cities and sprawling Asian ones. FT photography critic Francis Hodgson visits the show, and asks Struth and curator Achim Borchardt Hume about the personal choices behind these seemingly objective pictures.

From Britten to Bones: the Aldeburgh Festival

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:01:33 GMT

The Aldeburgh Festival was founded in 1948 by the composer Benjamin Britten and the tenor Peter Pears. In 1967, it moved from Aldeburgh to a Victorian maltings at nearby Snape. This year, the Festival includes Snap, an exhibition by artists including former YBAs Sarah Lucas, Don Brown and Gary Hume, who have a special connection to the area. Jan Dalley has a preview.

Xu Bing at the British Museum

Fri, 13 May 2011 04:46:00 GMT

Xu Bing is one of China’s foremost contemporary artists. His latest creation is a light and shadow box installation commissioned by the British Museum. Inspired by a traditional Chinese scroll painting, it uses leaves and branches as well as found objects to startling and playful effect, and was completed in the space of 12 days. Xu and the piece’s curator Jan Stuart talk to Jan Dalley, the FT's arts editor.

Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:56:00 GMT

Tate Modern's Joan Miró retrospective focuses “primarily on his politically engaged art”, but its subtitle, The Ladder of Escape, points to Miró's co-existing impulse to disengage from the world around him and evoke a fantastical realm. Jan Dalley visits this fascinating show.

Should we turn art into an asset class?

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:35:50 GMT

The Armory Show is New York’s premier art fair, and this year art funds are making their presence known. An art fund is a privately offered investment vehicle aimed at getting significant returns for investors over five to 10 years by investing strategically in art.

Watercolour at Tate Britain

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:04:00 GMT

Tate Britain's landmark exhibition of watercolours spans 800 years, from illuminated manuscripts to the landscapes of Turner and the abstractions of Howard Hodgkin and Anish Kapoor. Jackie Wullschlager asks what has attracted artists to the medium over the years, and highlights the most important pieces in the show.

Modern British Sculpture at the Royal Academy

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:28:00 GMT

"Modern British Sculpture" at the Royal Academy in London is the first UK exhibition in 30 years to examine the sculpture of the 20th-century. Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Henry Moore Foundation, leads a fascinating tour of this important show, outlining the development of British sculpture from Edwin Lutyens to Damien Hirst – via Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Anthony Caro

Rebel Russian theatre comes to London

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:01:37 GMT

In January London audiences will have a chance to see a new chapter in the storied history of the Sovremennik theatre. Founded secretly in 1956, just a few years after the end of the tyrannical Stalin regime, the Sovremennik theatre was at the forefront of a movement to push the boundaries of artistic freedom in Russia and it has been doing so ever since.

Jancis Robinson: Bordeaux and bubbles

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:02:00 GMT

The FT columnist talks to Claer Barrett about chateaux hopes for wine prices, how Chinese buyers affect the market and gives some top tips for consumers

Exporting the English garden

Fri, 20 May 2011 06:45:00 GMT

From Russia to Korea, the gardens of England are in high demand. Buyers can expect to pay a minimum of £1m for a design by a leading British gardener, with some fetching five times that figure. As London's Chelsea Flower show prepares to open its doors to the world, Jane Owen, House and Home editor, asks what is it about Englishness and gardens that makes such a successful export.

The rebirth of a gothic beauty

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:47:00 GMT

Roydon Stock, the Historian and Tour Guide for the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London, takes us on a personal journey through the history, restoration and reopening of the famous London landmark.

Ideas from the past

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:09:00 GMT

With a focus on historic designs and reworkings of successful models from previous decades, the watches at this year's show are, for the most part, restrained and convention

Brothers pick up the reins

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:22:00 GMT

Stefano and Massimo Macaluso explain how the Sowind group will be run after the death of their father, Luigi Macaluso and introduce the newest watch in the JeanRichard range

New beginning for Baume & Mercier

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:18:00 GMT

Entry level luxury watch brands are thought to have struggled in the aftermath of the recession. Alain Zimmermann explains how B&M are taking a new direction with a new series of watches

Timeless timepiece

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 06:30:00 GMT

Janek Delekiewicz tells Simon de Burton about the new ultra-thin version of the classic Reverso watch and explains why the classic watch remains popular after 80 years

Innovation over quantity

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:46:00 GMT

Stephen Forsey tells Simon de Burton about how the brand has weathered the financial crisis and says that there will be further complications added to the group's existing tourbillions

Putting the tick back into Swiss watchmakers

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:23:00 GMT

Haig Simonian examines why 2010 was such a good year for Swiss watchmakers

Mystery clocks and new models

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:15:00 GMT

Bernard Fornas, Cartier chief executive, tells the FT's Simon de Burton about the brand's collection of historical timepieces and their relevance to its current range of luxury watches

Jean-Luc Godard: still a rebel at 80

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 04:51:00 GMT

Jan Dalley, the FT's arts editor, is joined by FT film critic Nigel Andrews and Peter Aspden, the FT's arts writer, to discuss the French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard's legacy and how he has influenced modern cinema

Franco Zeffirelli interview

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:06:00 GMT

Opera, film and theatre: legendry Italian director Franco Zeffirelli’s productions include Tosca, which premiered at Covent Garden with Maria Callas in 1964, and the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. On the publication of a biography by Thames and Hudson, the director talks to Rachel Spence about his career. He discusses working with Maria Callas and joining Silvio Berlusconi’s Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, directing a 15-year old Juliet and the success of his autobiographical film Tea With Mussolini, as well as the influence of the maestri Luchino Visconti and Tullio Serafin.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:03:14 GMT

Are today’s photographic portraits much different from the formal painted portraits of the 18th century? Is the photograph entered into a prestigious competition more controlled and less free than the others in an artist’s portfolio? FT photography critic Francis Hodgson tackles these and other questions, as he assesses this year’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery

Arts council drafts picture of austerity

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:20:00 GMT

The Arts Council of England has given details of how its spending review cuts - 30 per cent over four years - will be allocated, including ending support for Arts and Business, the body that helps private sponsors fund arts organisations. Peter Aspden, the FT's arts correspondent, discusses the fallout with Seb Morton-Clark.

Venice: Canaletto and his Rivals

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:46:00 GMT

No city before or since has been as extensively and indelibly recreated on canvas as Venice by Canaletto. FT art critic Rachel Spence explores the National Gallery’s new exhibition, which puts the artist in the context of his contemporaries and successors.

Art deals buoyant at Frieze

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:37:00 GMT

FT arts correspondent Peter Aspden explores this year’s Frieze Art Fair in London He talks to directors Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover about what’s new this year and how the fair has defied recession. He asks established and upcoming gallerists why exposure at Frieze is so important.

Gauguin: Maker of Myth

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:13:00 GMT

Gauguin’s real significance, as this exhibition shows, was not as a formal innovator but, in a Europe sick of its cultural limitations, as the force unleashing the primitivism that made modern art possible. FT art critic Jackie Wullschlager leads a tour of Tate Modern's compelling new blockbuster

Formula 1 in the south of France

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:15:00 GMT

The south of France is blessed with great roads and fine weather. Rohit Jaggi enjoys both and tests a racing car from the former Arrows F1 team

Lehman auction: everything must go

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:55:00 GMT

Two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the bank's extensive art collection has gone under the hammer in London. Daniel Garrahan reports from Christie's auction house and looks at why companies buy expensive art and whether it is a good investment.

A ‘thoughtful’ garden tour with Robin Lane Fox

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:14:00 GMT

To mark his forty years as the FT's gardening columnist, Robin Lane Fox takes us on a rare tour of his private Oxfordshire garden. He explains why gardening should be mindful of art and literature, and why he fed his local badger peanut butter and Prozac. He was interviewed by Jane Owen, FT House & Home editor.

Video: The shock of the nude

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:00:39 GMT

Portrait artist Jonathan Yeo discusses his paintings and collages, including George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Dennis Hopper. Read the article in FT Weekend Magazine, or at ft.com/jonathanyeo