Mind your mannerism

OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, ELLE HAS CELEBRATED CREATIVITY OF ALL KINDS. HERE, A RANGE OF TODAY’S LEADING ARTISTS, WRITERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS AND DIRECTORS SHARE THE RITUALS, ROUTINES AND REALITIES BEHIND THEIR GREATEST WORKS, FROM MIND-BLOWING EXCEL SHEETS TO THE MAGIC OF THE DARK ROOM

Avoiding the curse of the figurative

Lola Salem on an organisation showing the tone-deaf, identity politics-obsessed Arts Council that a modest grant wisely placed goes a long way

From Raphael and the mysterious Fornarina to Jan Steen with his flirtatious Margriet and Suzanne Valadon, who broke many hearts until she lost hers to a much younger man, Nick Trend explores five romances that made art history

TALK about being overshadowed. Sculptor Andrea della Robbia, ...

So close was Jean-François Millet to the humble peasants he painted that he wore clogs and coarse clothing. He was steeped in nostalgia, yet inspired avant-garde artists from van Gogh to Salvador Dalí, finds Mary Miers