Civilisation

British arts venues want to become bastions of “inclusivity” at the expense of connoisseurship

The restoration of great works of art is increasingly being carried out in public before an admiring audience

Calls for restitution of artworks taken during the colonial era are intensifying around the world

One name dominates the art market, with his paintings soaring in value and remaining a solid investment

Kierkegaard’s spirit has never been laid to rest. He is the philosopher of angst and dread: the conscience-stricken companion of modern consciousness

The radical Jewdas Haggadah provides a rag-week version of the Passover ceremony for pubescent Marxists

André and Simone Weil were two sides of the same coin: impatient; determined; brilliant; attracted to ancient wisdom and ideas

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

Self-help advice might seem painfully obvious, but those who struggle with “normality” need it

Artists in the Third Reich swiftly learnt to adapt to Hitler’s traditionalist cultural diktats

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  

A pivotal moment in British movie history — and Bob Hoskins’s greatest performance

Few of even the greatest writers have managed to capture the emotional, elusive, essence of music

Inspirational amateur companies are flourishing, yet damned as elitist by London’s culture czars

In classical music nothing happens overnight, but the rise of female conductors marks a massive change

The Scots, Welsh and Irish have an authentic tradition of folk songs. England demonstrably does not

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

Eurosceptics lacked the integrity to acknowledge the consequences of leaving the EU’s single market

Hollywood has finally washed its hands of a sexual predator, a mere 40 years after his conviction

A new production of Betrayal reminds us of the playwright’s insights into male relationships

Joshua Harmon’s new play about the struggle to get into top American universities could not be more timely

The classic Tartuffe transposed to Highgate provides a witty commentary on post-crash London

New plays on Broadway and at the Royal Court take on gay coming of age and corporal punishment