Art history

In 1957, the painter showed the BBC how he built up his pictures of industrial urban life from his imagination, and described the loneliness that informed them.

Beryl Cook's paintings were loved by the British public but derided by the art establishment. One hundred years after her birth, a new exhibition argues for a reassessment of her work.

A century and a half before today's AI deep fakes, photographers created remarkable image manipulations. Here are 10 images from the 19th and 20th Centuries that tricked the viewer.

From medieval beginnings, the samurai have inspired art, fiction and films, from Shōgun to Star Wars. But their true story is more complex and surprising than we might realise.

For centuries, real dead bodies inspired great artists and science illustrators alike. A new exhibition reveals the dark stories behind these cadavers – and how they were acquired.

Dozens of mysterious structures across the Northern Hemisphere – some nearly 5,000 years old – align precisely to frame the rising and setting Sun on midwinter's shortest day.

There is an art to rivalry. Mastering its rules has, since ancient times, shaped cultural history over millennia.