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.

Comment

Francis was a force for good - even if he couldn't achieve everything

First South American Pope spoke to non-Catholics as well as Catholics and warned politicians against the ‘logic of fear’

21 Apr 2025
Exhibitions

Rubens and Women at Dulwich Picture Gallery: breathtaking beauty

From his depictions of powerful women of the time to religious work featuring Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary, this show is just heavenly

27 Nov 2023
Exhibitions

Impressionists on Paper at the RA: delight in these fragile treasures

This exhibition shows a different side to the ubiquitous Impressionists

21 Nov 2023
Restaurants

How well does a £1bn hotel do afternoon tea? The Standard reviews

Plutocratic loos, fake Battenberg and a very vibey piano — Melanie McDonagh gives her verdict on a tea for the super rich

17 Nov 2023
Exhibitions

Burma to Myanmar at the British Museum: a small, striking introduction

75 years after Myanmar became independent of Britain, this small but interesting exhibition looks at the diversity of the region

17 Nov 2023
TV

The Crown Season Six: Diana's ghost, bloodings and the Dodi ick

Diana dominates the first half of the Crown's final and riskiest season

16 Nov 2023
Exhibitions

Impressionists on Paper at the Royal Academy - a seismic shift in art

The museum's forthcoming exhibition is a chance to see fragile works that won't travel again for many years

15 Nov 2023
UK

How we’ve charted King’s life with 75 years of front pages

Our coverage of Charles highlights how the country has changed in eight decades. Melanie McDonagh looks back on the making of a monarch

14 Nov 2023
Exhibitions

Holbein at the Tudor Court, Queen's Gallery: these portraits speak

In just a few strokes of the brush the German painter introduces us to living, breathing human beings

9 Nov 2023
Opinion

Double, double toil and trouble: ghouls descend on Downing Street

Can Rishi Sunak spirit away the ghosts of yesteryear?

31 Oct 2023
Exhibitions

The Cult of Beauty, Wellcome Collection: we've always been obsessed

The museum's new show encourages us to disapprove of our preoccupation with beauty standards, but it's been part of society for ever

26 Oct 2023
Exhibitions

Radical Landscapes, William Morris Gallery: provocative but disjointed

From the right to roam to Greenham Common, this exhibition is about access to and the ownership of land

23 Oct 2023