Civilisation

‘The intimacy draws us into Blake’s world; his other-worldly figures begin to make sense in our world and its division, hypocrisy, faithlessness and faithfulness. He plumbs our depths, the worst and the best’

What to paint, how —and why

An iconic American art form is in crisis thanks to new writers pushing politically-correct storylines

Female artists are at last getting their fair share of exhibitions, but the market is failing to catch up

Leonard Woolf had a logical mind, a lucid style, a rare honesty and a keen eye for cant. He was, after John Maynard Keynes, the most worldly, capable and impressive member of the Bloomsbury Group

Are human rights dependent on “human dignity”—and what does “human dignity” even mean?

It really does not matter what structures are in place to coordinate, direct, and execute strategic military aims; what matters is clarity of responsibility

When a gossip columnist criticised Thackeray, Dickens weighed in to savage his rival

A Florence exhibition celebrates one of the most influential artists you’ve never heard of

Nothing written is utterly without value, as I proved to myself by reading two random works

Louis de Funès may be France’s most beloved actor. The choice tells us a lot about those who love him

Having stolen a Klimt masterpiece, the Nazis could only show it if they hid the Jewish identity of its subject

A new thriller set in late-Stalinist Soviet Union has alarmed Russian authorities

A psychologist and sex therapist wonders where E.L. James’s celebration of sadomasochism comes from and what it means for human relationships  

Schumann’s setting of Faust is an aesthetic and spiritual triumph—and can truly be called heavenly

Which finale for Beethoven’s Op 130 should you pick— cheerful sonata-rondo or a fugue like no other?

Music stirs our emotions more than anything we can see. But visual notation is alluring too

Classical music outfits must be open about their carbon footprints

Jewish boys who survived the Holocaust recall their time in a charmed Italian villa

Anti-Christian bile may be inventive, but it stems from dangerous misunderstandings

Can society stand by and allow the technology that allows people to simulate sex with their neighbour?

Promoting demagogues of Left and Right makes for increased ratings but is bad for democracy

Two dramas of gender tension are re-explored for the era of #metoo by the RSC

A play based on the unfinished The Watsons has a familiar setting but takes a turn into existential crisis

Why modernise old plays when their message is already topical?

State of the nation plays like 1980s-set Hansard now have to compete with extraordinary real life drama