77 m. ago Artists, Siblings, Visionaries by Judith Mackrell review – the remarkable lives of Gwen and Augustus John

Gwen’s talent vastly outshone her brother’s – but both are treated with subtlety in this outstanding dual biographyA young woman sits reading, a pot of tea to hand, her blue dress almost the only colour in a still, sandy room. Gwen John’s painting The Convalescent shows a subdued yet happy moment, for this woman is free to think and feel. That, we see in Judith Mackrell’s outstanding double biography of Gwen and her brother, was her ideal for living: to be at liberty even if that meant existing in deepest solitude.The quietness of a life spent largely alone in single rooms, reading, drawing, painting and occasionally having wild sex with the sculptor Rodin, is counterpointed in this epic narrative by the crowded, relentless, almost insanely overstimulated life of Augustus John. Lion of the arts in early 20th-century Britain, he was a bigamist, adulterer, father of so many children you lose track (so did he), and an utterly forgettable painter. Continue reading...

Politics

77 m. ago Art for Everybody review – the dark side of Thomas Kinkade, ‘painter of light’

The extraordinarily popular painter of kitsch American scenes struggled with addiction and depression, as this documentary with access to his previously unseen works showsYou won’t find the works of Thomas Kinkade lining the walls of the Museum of Modern Art, yet the painter, who died in 2012, is one of the best-selling artists in history and his paintings hang in tens of millions of American households. Kinkade’s typical subjects – rustic landscapes, sleepy cottages, quaint gazebos – bask in an idyllic calm, a luminous callback to a fabled simpler past. Turning to his unpublished archive, Miranda Yousef’s engrossing documentary portrait unveils the dark shadows that lurked within the self-titled “painter of light”.Through interviews with family members, close collaborators and critics, as well as Kinkade’s own words, the film traces his meteoric success in the 1980s and 90s. Shunned by the art world, he marketed his works through home-shopping television channels and a network of f...

Politics

16 h. ago Skintight leggings or baggy joggers? What your gymwear says about you – and the world

Social media will tell you that all millennials dress one way to work out, while gen Z dresses another. The truth is more complex and far more interestingAround me, a group of women in skintight gym sets are side planking. Some are wearing full-coverage unitards, others leave slices of midriff bare. No one is wearing a baggy T-shirt from 2008 with a naked Rufus Wainwright on it, and hardened flecks of damp-proof paint. Except me.If TikTok is to be believed, my gym-mates must be millennials, born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s; gen Z would find such skin-tightness a bit retro, or basic, or even “jurassic fitness”. Another generational schism has opened online – to add to socks, jeans and boundaries – this time over what millennials and gen Z are wearing to work out in. Tight-on-tight outfits supposedly single you out as a millennial – it is “giving middle school”, said one gen Z user witheringly – while gen Z prefers something baggier. Looking around me at pilates and in t...

Politics

20 h. ago The six million skeletons hidden in over 150 miles of tunnels under Paris' streets

From the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre, Paris' top tourist attractions draw around 50 million visitors to the French capital every year. But many travellers miss one of the city's more curious landmarks...

Events

31 h. ago Pioneering device could help patients with Parkinson's, which affects 150,000 people in the UK, to walk again

Nearly 150,000 people in the UK suffer from Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition that can cause tremors, muscle stiffness and slowness of movement as nerve cells in the brain die.

Science

35 h. ago I am a trans teenager. This is what it means to hate the shape of your own skin | Elsie Thwaites

There are sudden moments of ecstatic joy, but it’s terrifying to realise what you want to be and everything you’ve forced downYou’re fairly sure your skin has always been a problem. A problem before you even realised, lurking in the background of your earliest memories. Never with a clear mark for when you realised it was a problem. (When you realised what it means, to hate your skin so much.) But with signs scattered throughout your life.The very earliest sign was swimming. Or clothes in general, really, but swimming was the easy one. When you swam, you always wore (and always still wear) a shirt, even though the males of your family don’t. More broadly, you refuse to ever be seen without one. You called it modesty, but now you know it as shame. Shame for your square-ish, flat, slightly hairy flesh prison. Because, even then, you knew your chest should be covered up, even though your skin is flush against your ribs and males don’t need to cover up. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Netflix fans just have days to watch Florence Pugh's ‘inspiring’ breakout role

One of Florence Pugh’s earliest and best movies is only on Netflix until the end of the month

Sport

39 h. ago MPs could vote to force government to build 150,000 social homes a year

A proposed change to the Planning and Infrastructure bill would demand a 150,000 target for building social homes this Parliament

Politics

40 h. ago Painter gets 'sweet revenge' on customer who refused to pay for garden fence job

A tradesman has shared his fury after a customer refused to pay for a service, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and get 'revenge' on the non-paying client

Economics

41 h. ago Ajax striker Brian Brobbey was the ‘target of violent extortion threats’

Brobbey allegedly blackmailed by Amsterdam criminalIncidents included arson, explosions and a shootingThe Ajax striker Brian Brobbey has been the target of violent extortion threats involving arson, explosions and a shooting, according to reports in the Netherlands.Het Parool reports that the attacks on Brobbey came after he allegedly refused to pay €150,000 to an Amsterdam criminal who claimed to have “solved a problem” for him. Continue reading...

Events

44 h. ago BBC period drama fans rave about fantastically cast 'unrecognisable' The Crown star

The BBC adaption of Charles Dickens' novel may have been released over a decade ago, but it is still being enjoyed today by fans who are rediscovering the series

Events

48 h. ago ‘I paint extreme emotions’: Rachel Jones on her riotously colourful paintings – and her obsession with mouths

Known for her colourful abstracts, the artist is getting a retrospective at the age of just 34. She talks about her love of karaoke, working on a full-length opera and how to deal with fame at a young ageViewers may find Rachel Jones’s paintings “beautiful”, but they should be warned: the artist herself doesn’t love that word.“In our culture, the idea of beauty sadly isn’t discussed in a critical, rich way – it’s much more reductive as a term,” says the 34 year old. “I hope that when people describe the work as beautiful, it doesn’t just stop there.” Her aim, she says, is to pull viewers in deeper, beyond the surface of the work. Continue reading...

Politics

49 h. ago Beware moving to the 'wrong' country in retirement... you could miss out on £70k in state pension

Choosing to retire to one of the 150-odd countries around the world where the state pension is 'frozen' could mean your expat dream ends in poverty.

Economics

50 h. ago It’s my goal to live to 100 – and it’s not just diet and exercise that will help me achieve it | Devi Sridhar

Every time my mind goes down the ‘optimisation’ route, I’m reminded of my job as a public health scientist, looking into the factors that affect how long we will liveProf Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)For much of the past century, life expectancy continually increased. In most countries in the world, children could hope to live, on average, longer, healthier lives than their parents. This expectation is still true of the mega-wealthy. In fact, tech billionaires and multimillionaires have recently been fixated on finding the secret to longer life, convinced that with enough money, technology and cutting-edge science, they can stave off the inevitable for a few more decades to reach 120 or even 150 years old.But their efforts aren’t trickling down to the rest of us. The world’s health crises are getting worse, with life expectancy going backwards in several high-income countries, such as the UK ...

Events

50 h. ago 'Elegant' £150 stoneware dining set drops below £55 in Amazon sale

Perfect for fancy dinner parties or quick weeknight meals

Economics

58 h. ago Berliners are rediscovering their faith outdoors through local pilgrimages

Around Berlin, Christian pilgrimage walks led by various organizations are open to locals and visitors nearly every week

Politics

61 h. ago 150 year old chip shop in Scottish city praised as cosy and authentic with celebrity visitors

A Glasgow chip shop opened in 1875 and taken over by the Corvi family in 1938 became famous under Luigi Corvi

Politics

63 h. ago Peter Lindbergh’s astonishing photos capture all sides of Tina Turner

New book celebrates the close relationship between the iconic rock singer and the revered photographer

Culture

64 h. ago Latest plans to transform what was once the biggest public sector housing scheme in Wales

Trivallis expects to submit an application for 150 homes in Penrhys this month which are part of wider regeneration plans for the area

Politics

65 h. ago Anthea Turner admits to having Botox and fillers to cope with the pressures of being on TV

Former Blue Peter star Anthea Turner said she had Botox and fillers to help cope with the demands of appearing on live TV and the 'pressure to look a certain way'

Events