Germany of the 1920s was an enormously creative and liberalised time, no more so than in its capital, Berlin. It was a city of bright lights and bustling streets, of decadent pleasure-spots and fervent nightlife.

During the 1920s, artists adopted new forms of painting and performance art. Nightclubs transformed into cabaret theatres and filmmakers produced some of the most revolutionary films in movie history.

It was a fertile moment in European culture, one made all the more fleeting by the circumstances that followed it. As the 1920s progressed, culminating in the economic depression of 1929, the Weimar Republic — as…

In the winter of 1886 to ’87, Vincent van Gogh bought several hundred Japanese prints which he came across in the attic of an art dealer in Paris.

Japan held magical, mystical significance for Van Gogh, despite having never visited the country. The prints he bought gave him a window onto a culture he idealised.

Japanese woodblock prints had a unique appeal for a generation of 19th European artists. Attracted by the bright colours and clear forms, vivid contrasts and asymmetrical compositions, artists like Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec were keen collectors of this imported art form.

For Van Gogh…

The Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is best known for his superbly arranged interior scenes. But occasionally the artist would paint outdoor subjects too. One such painting, titled View of Delft, may well be one of the best paintings he made during his lifetime.

I must admit to having an especially strong fondness for this work. There’s no particular reason for it except that I find the painting to be utterly beguiling in its simplicity, composition and exquisite treatment of light and atmosphere.

Take a moment to look at the painting. It is roughly square, with the lower half of the…

Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow in the winter of 1866. His painting career would begin relatively late in life: his decision to become an artist came at the age of 30 after he’d originally studied Law and Economics, and trained as a lawyer.

And yet this was no overnight transformation. Kandinsky’s artistic sentiment had been stirring for many years. He grew up listening to Russian and German fairy tales that kindled his imagination, and even as a child was acutely aware of his heightened sensitivity to colour. …

Sometime ago, about 15 years, I began writing a novel. How long does it take to write such a thing? I imagined about six months, or maybe a year, if you include the reworking, the re-reading, and whatever else goes into making something “good enough”.

At the time, the draft I produced seemed to me to be fully-formed, but when I returned to it after a few weeks, I realised that it was just a little short of perfection. So I swapped some chapters around, renamed some of the characters and changed the story ending. …

The painting shows a remarkable scene: a man has fallen asleep on a woman’s lap. They are both partially unclothed. Beside them are two figures, one holding a candle to illuminate the lovers, the other taking a pair of scissors to the sleeping man’s hair.

In the background, a troop of soldiers pause at a doorway before entering. They appear to be waiting for something, a sign perhaps, or a signal that “the deed is done.”

This large painting, by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens — the canvas measures 185 x 205 cm — captures the moment when the…

Don’t worry about not knowing enough

In the grand halls of an art gallery, we can all sometimes feel confined by our own lack of knowledge.

Now, I’m not one of those people who says your reading of a work of art can never be wrong. Some artworks are made up of a precise collection of signs and symbols that offer a complex and subtle message. Armed with information about that, your engagement with the work is bound to be richer for it.

But there is also a tremendous advantage in seeing a work of art with fresh, untutored eyes, where the textbooks have not yet…