Melanie McDonagh

ABOUT

Melanie McDonagh is a columnist, arts critic and feature writer. She covers art exhibitions and also does some leader writing, interviews and occasional beauty/fragrance features.... MORE

ABOUT
VIEW

Melanie McDonagh is a columnist, arts critic and feature writer. She covers art exhibitions and also does some leader writing, interviews and occasional beauty/fragrance features.

TV

The Crown season 5 review: the royals remain as relevant as ever

Dramatised it may be, but The Crown conveys an awful lot of what actually happened

9 Nov 2022
Gardening

Best gifts for gardeners in 2022

Great gifts for the green-fingered

28 Oct 2022
<p>Coin showing early allegations for Alexander’s divine origin</p>
Exhibitions

Alexander the Great: the Making of a Myth, British Library review

Modern fictional depictions have got nothing on the stories that swirled up around the young commander during his life

21 Oct 2022
<p>Detail from Eva Gonzalès’s A Theatre Box at the Italiens, c1874</p>
Exhibitions

Discover Manet and Eva Gonzalès, National Gallery: worth digging into

This small show is an excuse to gorge on fabulous paintings by brilliant, mostly female artists

19 Oct 2022
<p>Senior conservator Stephanie Vasiliou prepares the Rosetta Stone (Jonathan Brady/PA)</p>
Exhibitions

Hieroglyphs at the British Museum review – a fascinating show

This is no dry academic investigation of how the ancient language was unlocked

11 Oct 2022
<p>Narcissus and the Arab Hall </p>
Exhibitions

Leighton House Museum reopens after £8m refurb - and it’s a treat

The museum known for its stunning Arab Hall has been refreshed with new spaces (and, yes, a cafe) in a way that breathes in new life

5 Oct 2022
CHRISTMAS

Best Christmas gifts for cooks 2022

Eat, drink and be merry! Perfect presents for foodies

4 Oct 2022
<p>Bathers by Paul Cezanne, 1894-1905</p>
Exhibitions

Cezanne at Tate Modern: the king of the fruit bowl is back

Picasso called him the “father” of his generation of artists

3 Oct 2022
<p>Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait) by Lucian Freud, 1965 </p>
Exhibitions

How the National Gallery is giving a new perspective on Lucian Freud

The largest exhibition of the artist’s work in a decade opens this week

28 Sept 2022
<p>M.K. Čiurlionis, Serenity, 1904-1905 (detail) </p>
Exhibitions

M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds at Dulwich Picture Gallery - hobbity

The work by this artist, a sort of Lithuanian Blake, evokes folk tales and mystic philosophies

20 Sept 2022