I’m a writer on art and history… and I’m a painter too — From a young age, I knew I wanted a different sort of life. I grew up in a sleepy English town with a close family, but when it came to how I saw my own life in the future, I didn’t gravitate to the typical family and career path. I…

Where my evolving style has taken me — Writing about art has become one of my most rewarding endeavours, but long before I ever started to think seriously about the history of art, I was a painter. What kind of painter, I find it hard to say. Blessed with the proclivity for artistic indecision, my archive — to…

The art and life of Otto Freundlich — When the Nazi Party opened its infamous “Degenerate Art” exhibition (Entartete Kunst Ausstellung) in Munich in July 1937, its purpose was to lambast an entire generation of modern painters and sculptors.

Exploring the story behind “Ginevra de’ Benci” — Let’s consider the evidence… The fingerprint, the ambiguous expression, the juniper bush, and the mysterious emblem on the back of the painting. At first glance, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting appears to be a straightforward portrait of a young Florentine noblewoman, commonly believed to be Ginevra de’ Benci. It was Leonardo’s…

Advice for creatives on moving on from a critical comment — How should creative people react to a bad review? Feeling hurt — hand on dagger — is all too easy, but is there a more useful way to respond? For most people, the thought of creating something and then sharing it with the world does not, in its inspiration, in…

Why luminescence means more than illumination — One of my favourite possessions is a stack of Edward Hopper postcards, each with a painting on the front. I look through them often. Some of the postcards I’ve pinned to the wall above my desk; others I use as bookmarks. They’re around me constantly. One aspect of Hopper’s art…

A bizarre painting explained — It can take a few moments of looking to fully acclimatise to this striking image. Made by the French artist Jean Fouquet in about 1458, it shows an enthroned Madonna holding the baby Christ on her lap. The Virgin Mary’s appearance is particularly puzzling, being so pale, sleek and otherworldly…

Artistic witticisms for actionable advice — My attention was grabbed recently when I was listening to an interview with a famous writer. Midway through, they made reference to a line supposedly uttered by Pablo Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” The quote had me nodding along in agreement: that one of the…

Some questions are better when they can’t be answered — This scene will probably sound familiar. You’re walking around a gallery with room after room full of artworks. You glance between the paintings in front of you, deciding which one you might linger over for a little longer. As you manoeuvre, you try to avoid stepping on the toes of…