L S Lowry turned the working class into a flat-capped mob, always on the move, never getting anywhere

Seeking to enrich the lives of their citizens, British cities and towns once embraced art for art's sake, scooping up masterworks for display in squares, train stations, schools and museums. But as Europe scrimps and saves amid a historic push to slash public debt, the motto here now is art for cash's sake.

If proof were needed that the names of Liam Hughes and Jason Parker are not destined for the ranks of the  nation’s criminal masterminds, it  came when the pair turned up at a scrap metal dealer brandishing a large and unusual bronze sundial.

A study of a single year in early Modernism is more insightful than a century of drawing

English Heritage considers listing Didcot power station, once the third most hated site in Britain

Another year, another gladiatorial contest, racked with anguish and ambition – but at least 2012's entries have some merit

Ten years ago, an art fair pitched a tent in London's Regent's Park. Now film stars and oligarchs queue to get in to the HQ of the see-and-be-seen art scene. Charlotte Philby examines its cultural significance

A £500,000 bronze sculpture by the leading British artist Henry Moore has been stolen from the grounds of his former home, police said.

Leeds College of Art

Gigantic bronze sculptures that fight for attention in public squares get a quiet place of their own

There's plenty going on indoors, too, including some brand-new attractions.

Hockney making faces, Henry Moore in his daughter's wig – some intriguing photos of Britain's art titans have just been discovered in an Essex barn

Imagine the art exhibition as a blockbuster action movie: perhaps something like The Expendables (2010), in which hefty stars like Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis are brought together (at last!) to spray bullets, pummel and high five: powerful presences brought together. Mark Leckey, in his first major public gallery show in London since winning the Turner Prize in 2008, has brought together some other powerful presences – brands – as though they were the stars of his show. Artists, galleries, electronics companies: all flattened into brands. Samsung! Henry Moore! Serpentine! Fiorucci! Hyde Park! Entering the Serpentine, one is confronted with a trailer for this exhibition – the one that is happening now – announcing the presence of these in his show.

Mark Leckey, a Turner prize-winning artist, has likened a Henry Moore sculpture to a Samsung refrigerator, calling them both highly marketable brands that trade off the legacy of their names.