Marie Antoinette’s shoe sold at an auction
A silk shoe of the French queen Marie Antoinette of Austria (1755-1793) made 43,750 euros at an auction on Sunday. The yield is more than four times as much as [...]
Life & Arts
The history of art is full of female artists. It’s time they were taken seriously
There’s something about the feeling of finally standing in front of a painting that you have only known through the pages of books. It is not just the psychological shifting of dimensions (they are usually bigger, or smaller, than you imagined), but a sort of stirring recognition: “There you [...]
Covid-19 cases are now “exponentially” growing – but what does that mean?
The prime minister has warned that Covid-19 infections are now increasing “exponentially”. That sounds technical, but should we be frightened? The Latin exponere means “to place out”; so an “exponent”, from the 16th century in English, is a proposition (or later a person) that sets forth some idea. It was [...]
What is included in the basic set of kitchen tools?
The short answer, says perfectionist Felicity Cloake, is not very much: “Start with the basics, see what you actually cook and equip [...]
Equity reports an ‘enormous’ increase in complaints of racism
Equity, the UK trade union for creative practitioners, has seen a massive upsurge in cases of racism reported across the stage and screen industries. Paul Fleming, the union’s incoming general secretary, said the complaints raised by members include “dignity issues” and racist language used in dressing rooms and [...]
A third of British musicians may leave the industry amid a pandemic
One-third of professional British musicians are considering giving up their careers amid the coronavirus [...]
My father always humiliated me. Should I pretend that I like him?
Since childhood, I have had a fraught relationship with my father who always had to be right. We were not supposed to challenge or disagree with him, but to admire his rise from poverty. Every conversation was an opportunity for him to “win” the discussion, and I had to provide him with [...]
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “We must reopen the art sector”
Andrew Lloyd Webber says he is confident the air inside his theatres is cleaner than it is outside as he pleaded with government to give his sector a date to reopen [...]
Royal trophy fish found preserved at the site of a Danish ship sunk for centuries
A two-metre-long sturgeon, a species today near extinction, has been found preserved in the pantry of a 500-year-old Danish royal shipwreck in the Baltic [...]
Super satire: will The Boys usher in an era of self-conscious heroes?
‘Supes are like cops; they can’t be charged for damages while on the job,” says Hughie Campbell, the everyman at the centre of The Boys, Amazon’s contrarian take on the superhero genre. This is a show that, for all its slick editing and high production values, never misses an opportunity to punch up – [...]