A hummingbird, a spider monkey, a black cat and dragonflies – what the animal imagery in an iconic 1940 painting tells us about the artist's trauma, resilience and defiant desire.
A Roman soldier who was killed for his Christian beliefs, Saint Sebastian has been a hero for gay men over the centuries – from Oscar Wilde to Keith Haring. Here's why.
With his first "starry night" painting in Arles in 1888, Vincent van Gogh transformed an ordinary city square into something extraordinary – here's how he did it, and what it means.
In the wake of legendary British artist David Hockney's death, aged 88, his famous meditation on presence and absence, A Bigger Splash, takes on a new meaning.
Variety Show by German painter Max Beckmann is an unsettling painting depicting a chaotic cabaret scene – what does it mean, and did it foreshadow the rise of Nazism?
German director Lotte Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed was released a century ago in 1926 – and now stands as the world's oldest animated feature film
From a darkly comic tale of revenge to a beautiful contemplation on friendship, here are the year's most acclaimed works of fiction so far.
At first overlooked, Whistler's 1871 painting of his mother rose to fame over decades to become considered a national masterpiece, a maternal figurehead and a diverse meme.
Tracey Emin, one of Britain's most uncompromising artists, reflects on survival and a renewed urgency to create.
