Photo of Laura Cumming
Laura Cumming

Art Critic

Laura Cumming has been chief art critic of the Observer since 1999. Her book The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez won the James Tait Black Biography Prize; her memoir On Chapel Sands was a Sunday Times and NYT bestseller. Her latest book, Thunderclap, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, won the Writer's Prize for Non-Fiction and was Book of the Year at the 2024 Saltire Society Awards.

Photo of Laura Cumming

Laura Cumming

Art Critic

Laura Cumming has been chief art critic of the Observer since 1999. Her book The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez won the James Tait Black Biography Prize; her memoir On Chapel Sands was a Sunday Times and NYT bestseller. Her latest book, Thunderclap, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, won the Writer's Prize for Non-Fiction and was Book of the Year at the 2024 Saltire Society Awards.

  • Laura Cumming
    Rose Wylie's playful genius

    At 91, the artist who paints the world with a childlike sense of fun becomes the first female painter to have a solo exhibition at the RA

    Sat, 7 Mar 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    Tracey Emin at Tate Modern: return of the riotous queen of candour

    The artist’s tortured, trailblazing work is gathered in a major retrospective

    Thu, 26 Feb 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    Yin Xiuzhen and Chiharu Shiota at the Hayward recycles old material

    In this show, nothing is new except the Instagrammability factor

    Sat, 21 Feb 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    How to draw a bird

    There is a dilemma at the heart of art’s fascination with these restless creatures: a draughtsman can never let them take wing

    Thu, 19 Feb 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    How Seurat found peace by the sea

    Britain’s first show of the artist in nearly 30 years reveals his mastery of light and detail in calm, captivating seascapes

    Sun, 15 Feb 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    The private lives of Gwen John

    A retrospective of the Welsh artist takes a stance against biography in favour of method

    Sat, 7 Feb 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    A View of One’s Own rescues forgotten women artists

    The Courtauld’s riveting, revelatory and deeply researched show of ten lost female painters looks afresh at the golden age of British landscape art

    Sat, 31 Jan 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    Richard Avedon’s portraits: up close and impersonal

    The photographer’s stark pictures of ordinary Americans are big, beautiful – and blank

    Fri, 23 Jan 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    How Saint Sebastian became art history’s gay icon

    The patron saint penetrated is the subject of a powerful reappraisal at the National Gallery

    Sat, 17 Jan 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    The fierce life of Louise Bourgeois

    Knife-Woman, the first major biography of the sculptor, fails to capture her furious genius

    Wed, 14 Jan 2026

  • Laura Cumming
    A Hawaiian royal spectacle

    The Pacific island’s king and queen were the talk of London when they visited in 1824. Then disaster struck

    Sun, 4 Jan 2026

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