Jeff Koons’ Louis Vuitton bags: a joyous art history lesson

In championing the likes of Fragonard, Rubens and Titian, Jeff Koons’ line of Louis Vuitton accessories brings high art to the high street – and shows off his sincere passion for painting

Put away the gallery guides – art is best when shrouded in mystery

A new app, Smartify, allows you to point your phone at artworks and instantly know everything about them. But while facts can enrich enjoyment, it is the shock of the unknown that really makes art resonate

Damien Hirst gives first glimpse of new Venice art – but can he win back critics?

With mysterious underwater objects hinting at monsters and ancient civilisations – including a $4m Medusa – Damien Hirst could be about to reverse years of creative decline

Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights shows a world waking up to the future

With its giant strawberries and nudity, Hieronymus Bosch’s painting has been seen as a celebration and warning about sin – but it’s really about a Renaissance-era curiosity that helped better explain the world

Google’s satellite timelapses show the inconvenient truth about our planet

Google’s new Timelapse project allows you to see how anywhere in the world has changed in the last 32 years; from evaporating lakes to exploding cities, it’s a document of recklessness

We need to remove the mask of history from female artists

Madrid’s Prado gallery has finally, after 200 years, put on its first show devoted to a female painter, Clara Peeters. We need far more like it, to understand the greatness of women working under heavy patriarchies