FT Arts

The death of the veteran folk singer prompted numerous tributes to his integrity and idealism. But it was his mythical spat with Bob Dylan that really defined his era’s cultural politics

As King’s College, London, devotes an exhibition to its charismatic alumnus, the FT’s arts writer reflects on the artist and film-maker’s earliest inspirations

Christian Bale’s hairpiece in the Oscar-nominated movie caper epitomises the preposterousness of the 1970s – but the decade’s unabashed lack of polish looks increasingly appealing in our technology-dependent age

Businesses like buying contemporary art to show off their forward-thinking and investment savvy. Fair enough – but it still sits oddly with artists’ desire to provoke and subvert

In a persuasive new book, the trend forecaster James Wallman says that our appetite for material possessions is giving way to a hunger for experiences. How will that shift be reflected in the arts?

As Miami’s sparkling new Perez Art Museum hosts a big retrospective of the Chinese artist’s work, the FT’s arts writer reflects on culture’s role in challenging oppression

An exhibition of Soviet-era sporting paintings shows how, even in a repressive political climate, artists still made work with real human insight

Author Mohsin Hamid reads his short story 'Alien invasion in the G.L.A.C.', commissioned by the Financial Times for the new year.

The FT’s arts writer finds that, for all the acquisitive buzz around art fairs, they still richly cater for people’s inquisitive side too

Efforts to restore historic buildings to their original splendour tell us as much about today’s tastes as they do about yesterday’s

The French conceptualist’s exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo is a sense-scrambling rethink of the relationship between art and the environment in which it appears

They seem always to be on, but ‘Rules of Engagement’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and their ilk shouldn’t be taken for granted: these immaculately crafted, relentlessly inoffensive series open a window on American society

A concert sponsored by insurance company Direct Line aims to help time-challenged audiences snatch some shut-eye – but a wakeful FT arts writer finds that the relationship between art and sleep is not a straightforward one

The market for Orthodox icons has been revivified by Russian money in recent years – yet the genre’s spiritual charge and innate conservatism make it a challenging field for collectors

Neglected in his lifetime, the singer-songwriter is now revered, as an event devoted to his album ‘Bryter Later’ demonstrates. But it’s doubtful his genius would have flourished any better in today’s impatient world, the FT’s arts writer says