Victoria Woodcock

On a sizzling September day in Paris, the shade of an arched blue door on the left‑bank quartier of Saint-Germain-des-Prés offers a welcome reprieve. Arriving at 51 Rue de l’Université, one steps into a large cobbled courtyard where the palatial, pedimented and pilastered 18th-century façade of historic L’hôtel de Maisons comes into view. Inside the mansion, room after rococo room reveals parquet floors, crystal chandeliers and the odd frescoed ceiling. But in the central marble-floored foyer,…

In February, I relocated back to Shanghai – the city where I grew up – though I still live part-time in New York. In my previous role at the Guggenheim, I always looked to the Rockbund Art Museum to see which regional artists I should pay attention to. The museum leads a lot of conversations about contemporary art in Asia, and just launched a biennial of architectural thinking. It was built in 1933 for the Royal Asiatic Society, then restored by David Chipperfield and reopened in 2010. At the no…

Behind a bright turquoise façade in Arroios, Lisbon, three designers are putting the finishing touches to a new collection of furniture. The 19th-century townhouse, built in the classical Pombaline style with arched doorways, scrolling ironwork and all-over azulejos (Portugal’s famous, florid tiles), is the home of French designer-duo Olivier Garcé and Clio Dimofski. Their houseguest is Minjae Kim, the Seoul-born, New York-based creative with whom they have been collaborating for the past three…

On a Tuesday lunchtime, Anissa Kermiche is sitting by the window of her marshmallow-pink office, surrounded by paintings, drawings and a pair of fabric breasts (an artwork by Sally Hewett). The south London space is part studio, part showroom for her eponymous brand of jewellery and homewares. Today, however, the French-Algerian designer is having her make-up done by Isamaya Ffrench. After admiring each other’s work from afar, the pair were introduced by mutual friends seven years ago. “I have…

At her Warsaw home, Maria Katarzyna Krętowska is surrounded by memories of her grandmother — the Polish artist Barbara Levittoux-Swiderska (1933-2019). Her former studio remains dotted with collages and paintings, as well as small examples of the textile pieces she started making in the 1960s — sculptural, nature-inspired and often large-scale forms that at the time were groundbreaking. “Her works can be so minimalistic and yet have huge impact,” says Katarzyna Krętowska, recalling how the dram…

Deep in the basement of London’s Somerset House, in the studio of artist, dancer and choreographer Florence Peake, giant canvases unfurl to reveal a cascade of figures. “The paintings are made with a group of dancers – drawing around bodies, working with line- and mark-making,” says Peake. Inspired by her performance at the National Gallery in 2021, the series Factual Actual also involves the canvases being “hung up and flung about” and dancers breaking out of frames. It’s a vibrant and somewhat…

“Live the way you drive . . . ” Slowly? Cautiously? On the edge of inevitable breakdown, surrounded by the crumbs of endless children’s snacks? Clearly, these words are not aimed at me and my hand-me-down Renault Clio. In the context of the Bentley Motors website, however, they have more appealing connotations: being encompassed in sleek curvilinear lines; encircled in cutting-edge design; and cosseted in luxury leather. “Live the way you drive,” the brand suggests, “with a range of handmade fu…

The artist’s monumental works are an ode to his Montana mountain home

A grand Georgian town house — The Spectator’s former offices — is a riot of bold-patterned wallpaper that calls to mind Arts and Crafts, the Bloomsbury Group and Wiener Werkstätte

Images of the universe are in hot demand. Could the prices go astronomical?