Portraits by the twentieth-century pioneering photographer Ida Kar are now on display at the National Portrait Gallery.

Melding centuries old woodcut techniques with hypermodern digital video ones, German artist Christiane Baumgartner’s work is a compelling mixture of old and new.

It has taken decades for this American artist to grow out of her wordy cleverness – and the terrifying results have been more than worth the wait

Bridget Riley is the queen of modern British art, says Adrian Hamilton, and yet her work is enriched by her traditionalist and joyful regard for the masters

An exhibition of work by the British artist famous for making the mind boggle and see spots opens at the National Gallery tomorrow.

The Central St Giles complex is the Italian architect Renzo Piano's first London building. It may be the brightest new addition to the capital's landscape, but it's far from the best, argues Jay Merrick

Faces of a young op artist

This appropriately handsome volume offers a wealth of insights into the inspirations and thinking of Britain's leading abstractionist. In a 1988 conversation, Riley reveals that she "did not intend to make more than one" of the black and white paintings that made her name.

Bridget Riley has been creating abstract paintings for 50 years – and her latest work is as tantalising as ever, says Tom Lubbock

An exhibition close to a burnt-out south London estate looks long and hard at the gulf between 'us' and 'them'

This revelatory study opens our eyes to structures that we take for granted. It includes a car park that achieved stardom by appearing in Get Carter (Trinity Square, Gateshead) and another by star architect Zaha Hadid.

Bridget Riley's paintings are beautiful creations, but should they be regarded as fine art – or merely framed wallpaper?

So says the critic Brian Sewell, and the art market seems to agree, with men's work commanding millions more at auction. By Andrew Johnson

If proof were needed that success can blight a painter's career, then the life of John Plumb would provide it in spades. Plumb scored his first triumph as an artist 60 years ago when a portrait of his future wife, Joan Lawrence, was chosen for exhibition at the New English Art Club. The 21-year-old painter was then still a student at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London; a decade later, he was having solo shows at the trend-setting Gallery One in London. In September 1960, Plumb's fame peaked with his inclusion in the Royal Society of British Artists' exhibition "Situation".