Group think: why art loves a crowd
With social gatherings a possibility once again, Olivia Laing considers the crowd in art and literature
Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser review – a wonderful tumble down the rabbit hole
Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonInspiring everything from Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit to Heston Blumenthal’s mock turtle soup, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland continues to feel delightfully modern
‘We got shot at’ – the outrageous life of Jayne County, the first trans rock’n’roller
She partied with Warhol and fronted a band called The Electric Chairs who were too shocking even for punk. As her extraordinary tell-all memoir is republished, Jayne County relives one of music’s most astonishing sagas
Barry Windsor-Smith is back: ‘Monsters has been a slow and difficult experience’
After 35 years of work, the feted comic creator has published Monsters, a drama featuring Nazi science and psychic powers. He talks about Marvel and how his drawing style has evolved
Tintin heirs lose legal battle over artist’s Edward Hopper mashups
French artist Xavier Marabout wins case and €10,000 in damages after Moulinsart contacted galleries displaying his art
‘We won’t be bouncing back’ – the unsettling truth about the big reopening
Next week, after 14 months of closure and despair, the arts are reawakening. But the damage caused by Covid runs deep – and recovery is by no means assured
Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal review – Proustian evocation of the belle époque
The potter and memoirist’s exacting study of a Parisian family’s collection of art objects is an exquisite coda to The Hare With Amber Eyes
Gio Ponti: the real charmer of Italian design
From the graceful Pirelli tower to his classic super-light chair, the Milanese architect’s life and work are celebrated in a huge new tome
How Holbein left clever clue in portrait to identify Henry VIII’s queen
New evidence shows miniature long held to be of Catherine Howard could depict Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves
Angela O’Keeffe on Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles – and engaging with the art of awful men
The writer’s ingenious debut Night Blue is narrated by Australia’s most infamous and triumphant canvas: Blue Poles
Britain’s best young architects raise their sights
The latest survey of the UK’s top emerging practices reveals style, wit and a desire to prioritise diversity and the climate crisis over wealthy clients…
On my radar: Tai Shani’s cultural highlights
The video artist on a film about the suppression of communism, the mysterious band Sault and the florist who brightened her lockdown
‘It blew our minds’: the surfers who braved sharks to ride Africa’s mightiest wave
Forget the blond California stereotypes. New book Afrosurf captures Africa’s overlooked surf culture – and celebrates its heroes, who’d ride colossal waves at beaches they were often banned from
In the Instagram age, you actually can judge a book by its cover
Social media is now a vital platform to promote new titles. And that means jacket designs that hit you ‘hard and quick’
From pencil sharpeners to a $539m lawsuit: how big tech weaponised design patents
In 1842, the US patent office registered 14 designs, including a bathtub and a ‘corpse preserver’. It now handles 35,000 a year. Why did this once sedate world became a corporate arms race?