Multicultural Man: On listening to public protest &
WILL SELF on the culture of public dissent.
Today’s highlights
Taste of Europe: Dani García’s Andalusian Sea Bream
Food writer JOSH BARRIE brings readers a taste of Andalusia.
The last days of the genius Vincent van Gogh
The promise of a fresh start, followed by a stunning burst of creativity – and then the full stop of his final act.
Art
The last days of the genius Vincent van Gogh
The promise of a fresh start, followed by a stunning burst of creativity – and then the full stop of his final act.
The rise of the scam artist
As art has gone bling, so too
has art fraud, with a series of
sophisticated fakes and cons
now sweeping the world.
Stories from Tokyo, told in Oxford
An exhibition in Oxford explores the creativity and chaos of the Japanese capital.
Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything: rediscovered images now brought to life
He is best known for The Great Wave off Kanagawa, but Japan’s Hokusai also produced an extraordinary ‘encyclopedia’ of art. Lost for decades, it is now the subject of a blockbuster exhibition at the British Museum.
They might be worthy… but are they Turner Prize winners?
This year’s Turner Prize finalists have been chosen for their promotion of social causes. But has rewarding virtue left any room for art?
The genius, and lies, of Joseph Beuys
On his centenary, Germany’s best-known post-war artist remains as influential – and contentious – as ever.
Books
The greatest characters in European literature
CHARLIE CONNELLY comes up with the first half of his rundown of the top 20.
Kinder Eggs: The Rosetta Stone of our times
KEITH KAHN-HARRIS on the linguistic politics behind the safety warning message found in the humble confectionery.
The Wolf Age: Bloodsoaked Britain’s age of terror
CHARLIE CONNELLY on a page-turner which brings to vivid, often gruesome, life one of the most violent periods in the history of Britain
The forgotten proto-feminist who ripped up the rulebook
The little-known writer was responsible for one of literature’s truly great landmarks.
The writers who took inspiration from rejection
Even the greatest writers have had to get used to having their work turned down.
Book review: Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis. Something special to chew over.
A beautiful book about an extraordinary obsession with a piece of used chewing gum
Music
Sweden’s giving it up for Ghost
The nation’s musical genius and talent’s extends beyond ABBA, as one rock band proves.
When it comes to cases of sexual assault, we are still asking the wrong questions
With cases like Emily Ratajkowski’s, two lines of enquiry are usually made. Both of which miss the point.
There’s no omertà for Mafia music
Music reflects society. For Italy, this has meant the birth of a genre that’s rife with scandal.
The Dante Project and its divine display of dance
The union of British stars from ballet, art and music to rework Dante is paradise.
Micheline Ostermeyer: The woman who combined sporting and musical brilliance
From the Olympic field to Parisian concert calls, Micheline Ostermeyer never failed to provide that special something
The movement and the music: #MeToo and its songs of revolution
Four years on from the hashtag that
started a revolution, SOPHIA DEBOICK on the female performers who chronicled their experiences of harassment and hope for change in song
Film
Belfast’s Boys Tale is Kenneth Branagh’s Roma
JASON SOLOMONS wraps up the best of the London Film Festival.
Step inside Wes Anderson’s world
The films of Wes Anderson always boast highly detailed retro design. Now fans can put themselves directly into scenes from his new release, The French Dispatch.
Maid is not made to enjoy, but to admire
The story carefully, and cleverly, portrays domestic abuse, making it one of the more worthwhile Netflix originals of late
The greatest European film you’ve never seen
A lost avant-garde masterpiece, supressed by the Nazis, stuns the London Film Festival and captivates JASON SOLOMONS
007’s guide to Europe
Fancy a trip to the continent now the pandemic is easing? JOHN RAIN looks back at some exotic European locations James Bond has been to, and who he killed there
The woman behind James Bond
Barbara Broccoli on film, family and Daniel Craig’s farewell in No Time To Die.
Theatre
Theatre Review: Value Engineering has the stage’s most important role
The cast in this production of the Grenfell Inquiry know this theatre is more important than them – this is why it is so powerful.
Theatre Review: Love and Other Acts of Violence continues Donmar’s downturn
The production makes for pointless and boring watching for audiences.
Theatre Review: A big star shines in a very small role in The Cherry Orchard
Sir Ian McKellen proves there are no small parts, only small actors in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard
The Dante Project and its divine display of dance
The union of British stars from ballet, art and music to rework Dante is paradise.
Theatre Review: Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light makes a bit of a carry on
A stage adaptation of the author’s The Mirror and the Light makes for feeble and pretentious watching
Theatre Review: a familiar Hamlet leaves nothing fresh in the state of Denmark
A modern production of the Shakespeare classic fails to provide a new angle
Great European Lives
Jenny Lind: The very modern career of a 19th century superstar
The “Swedish Nightingale” soared to fame, burned brightly, but then burned out retiring in her early thirties.
Paul Cézanne: The self-doubt of an artistic genius
His work stood out amongst Post-Impressionism, but the artist was still crippled by a lack of self-belief
Micheline Ostermeyer: The woman who combined sporting and musical brilliance
From the Olympic field to Parisian concert calls, Micheline Ostermeyer never failed to provide that special something
Chantal Akerman: The director who truly treasured time
The Belgian filmmaker believed all you ever really have in life is time and she took control of her own in the most definitive way she knew how.
Henning Mankell: The optimistic activist who captured disillusionment
His greatest character was weighed down by disillusionment and ennui, but the author behind Wallander was quite different.
Juliette Gréco: The French chanteuse whose greatest triumph was silence
She lived in an extraordinary time, among some of the most colossal figures of 20th Century Europe. But, Juliette Gréco outlived them all – and did so on her own terms.