French artists have appropriated alfresco dining ever since Édouard Manet scandalised Paris with his Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe , yet many charming scenes were painted in Britain, too, and are worth rediscovering, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee

Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro spent time in London, but it took James McNeill Whistler to act as artistic bridge with Britain and the ‘sweetened’ Impressionism of Jules Bastien-Lepage to inspire most homegrown painters, says Caroline Bugler

From topless staddle stones outperforming complete ones to two versions of the same desk selling on the same day 212 miles apart, bizarre occurrences are par for the course at contents sales

Paintings have never looked so delicious. Tom Parker Bowles selects five pictures with gastronomic appeal and imagines the recipes to go with them, as Carla Passino investigates the stories behind the art

No More Napoleons: How Britain Managed Europe from ...

OLD friends Marlee and Devin were tucked into a quiet corner of the Rustic, the long-established coffee shop and deli on a pleasant side-street in town. They only ever came here for coffee – the food