His provocative actions of the 1960s caused chaos and violent indignation in the narrow-minded, religious, conservative Austria of the period. Günter Brus (b. 1938) has never lost the resulting

Sparkling colours and gossamer lines – the glassblowers, potters and ceramic painters of the Italian Renaissance produced the most marvellous things. It was a flourishing time of great technological

Katarzyna Kobro (1898-1951) & Władysław Strzemiński (1893-1952) met during the turbulent years that followed the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. Their paths crossed in Moscow. Kobro – a Russian

This wall plate, painted by Christian Benjamin Olsen (1873-1935) for Royal Copenhagen, was a wedding gift for the Danish king. The entwined initials C and A refer to King Christian X and his wife...

The gently rounded, playful shapes in shades of white and pale pink look almost cuddly. For his Sculptissimo series, Hans Hovy (b. Amsterdam, 1953) has chosen to use two soft, translucent types of

Marc Mulders’ (b. 1958) studio is a barn in the middle of a field of flowers. As he stands painting in the doorway, bees buzz and butterflies flit around his easel. Mulders calls his garden ‘my own

The legendary Indonesia of the past comes to life in the sumptuous gold jewellery of the pre-colonial Javanese court culture and unique silver objects made in Batavia the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

French couturier Hubert de Givenchy is one of the leading fashion designers of the 20th century. His career ran concurrent to that of Christian Dior and Cristóbal Balenciaga and he is a living legend