Penis-inscribed tables and parking meter chairs: the lost queer genius of House of Beauty and Culture

Boy George bought their provocative furniture; fashion giant Martin Margiela embraced deconstruction after visiting their loose change-strewn shop. So why is the groundbreaking 80s design collective so little known?

Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo review – masterpieces from a man with a heart as big as the Notre Dame

From hanged men and inky cephalopods to shadowy gothic castles, these cosmic, horror-tinged works let the Les Misérables writer and liberal political campaigner speak directly to us

‘The Polynesians loved him’: the astonishing revelations that cast Paul Gauguin in a new light

He has been tarred as a French colonialist who spread syphilis to underage girls in the South Seas. But, writes the author of an acclaimed new book, fresh discoveries challenge this view of the artist – and even show him as a hero

On my radar: Georgia Ellery’s cultural highlights

The Black Country, New Road and Jockstrap musician on a YouTube philosopher, the power of Munch and her love of saunas and Japanese onsen

William S Burroughs’s art: ‘He said, I killed the only woman I loved. Then broke down sobbing’

Notorious for his drug-fuelled literary experiments and the fact that he shot his partner, beat writer Burroughs also made art inspired by the climate crisis

The big idea: should we abolish art?

Down with expensive trophies at art fairs: it’s time to reclaim a more radical vision of creativity

Vincent Fantauzzo on childhood abuse, Heath Ledger and what’s wrong with the art world: ‘I was destined to fail’

Now one of Australia’s most successful artists, Fantauzzo opens up on his traumatic childhood in his memoir – with stories not even his wife Asher Keddie knew

On my radar: Bobby Baker’s cultural highlights

The artist on a moving biography of George Orwell’s wife, a theatre company that should be available on the NHS, and the joy of a good crime drama

Buy an exclusive cartoon by Tom Gauld to celebrate World Book Day

In this month’s limited-time print drop, we’re celebrating World Book Day with three exclusive cartoons by Tom Gauld. This special edition sale ends on 8 March

Those Passions: on art and politics by TJ Clark review – show me the Monet

The veteran art critic sets out to unsettle received ideas in this collection of 22 dazzling essays

Those Passions by TJ Clark review – a timely study of the connection between art and politics

The British art historian’s essays demonstrate a wide erudition but suffer from his relentless scrutinising

‘Important and beautiful’ 13th-century Bible returns to Salisbury

Sarum Master Bible to go on display at cathedral after being in private hands for almost 800 years

‘The banks thought we were mad’: coral castles and look-at-me loos reinvent New York housing

With building codes strict and land values high, Big Apple apartment blocks tend to be grim. But two firms, SO-IL and Tankhouse, are fighting back with lush courtyards, breezy landings – and glass-walled toilets 15 storeys up

The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker review – art for art’s sake

This beautifully written tribute to the author’s uncle Eric, whose death revealed hundreds of hidden paintings, serves as a northern corrective to the metropolitan art world

The big picture: a gaggle of visitors gather beneath London’s Shard

Photographer Andy Hall​’s atmospheric new series captures the capital’s eerie financial heart