Art for Art’s Sake
A major exhibition in Berlin proves that the spirit of provocation is alive and well in German art
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Crises of Identity
Two European artists, Annette Messager and Gerhard Richter, explore the sense of self
Baroque’s Time to Roll
A new exhibition at the V&A seeks to rehabilitate a style that sought to inspire wonder and awe
Faces that Don’t Quite Fit
When it came to painting portraits, Constable struggled to emulate his mastery of landscape
A Blind Eye to Stalin
Soviet Constructivism is coming to town in the (emotionless) shape of an exhibition at Tate Britain
Who Are the Masters Now?
Two Paris exhibitions leave Mantegna's reputation enhanced but Picasso's diminished
From Baubles to Babel
The year the contemporary art juggernaut ground to a halt
A Cooler Shade of Red
A new museum exhibition of Cold War art leaves the nastiness of the communist system completely unacknowledged
In Search of Babylon
A British Museum exhibition will mix ancient artefacts with work inspired by the city of legend
An Array of Ageless Visages
The faces on show at the National Gallery and the Queen's Gallery are of their times, yet timeless
Primal Emotion – in Abstract or Concrete Form
Two exhibitions show how much Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko had in common, despite their different approaches
Writers, Visible and Invisible
Writers are hidden beings, says the winner of the 2008 PEN/Nabokov Lifetime Achievement Award