Once dismissed as a lesser art form, the still life has been reinvented as a radical form of expression, as a thrilling new show makes clear

Still life is the lowest form of art. So declared the French Academy when it established its Hierarchy of Genres in the 17th century. Historical scenes and portraiture were the noblest genres, whereas landscapes and still lifes were considered lowly. According to the art institute, biblical frescoes required a higher level of mastery; an inanimate fruit bowl, or a bunch of wilting flowers? Anybody could paint those.

This categorisation shaped the perception of still life as a marginal genre. Four centuries on, the discourse has pivoted. “The careful and meticulous depiction of objects has always been an element of art, but generally this was something you saw in the backdrop of a religious scene or a portrait,” says Melanie Vandenbrouck, chief curator at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. This month, the Chichester museum will present a comprehensive survey of around 150 still lifes made in Britain. Chronologically charting its development, the exhibition presents it as a fundamental genre of British art, one that has historically grappled with the universal human experiences of love and grief, but also provided a radical commentary on gender inequality, the climate crisis and war.

Photographers talk us through the images – from confused parents to topless lovers – that wowed the judges for this year’s prize

‘I have photographed fathers and sons holding hands from Bulgaria to Armenia and beyond. I approached these two as a stranger – and had just seconds before it got too awkward’

A few years ago, while walking my sons to school, I found myself thinking that, although I held their hands daily, one day they wouldn’t need me alongside them, that we would lose that sense of physical closeness. I decided to photograph my own father and grandfather holding hands – but it was the start of the pandemic, my grandfather was 95 and we wanted to keep him safe. We couldn’t meet for over a year.

In the meantime, while walking around Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, where I live, I stopped to photograph a house that caught my eye and a woman came out pushing a man in a wheelchair. I assumed they were going to chase me away, but instead she showed me a framed picture of a young man, aged about 30. She said he was their only son and he had died eight months before. She asked if I would photograph her husband with the portrait.

Albert Street, 2009, which was recovered from Lenn Mayhew-Lewis, estimated to be worth millions of pounds

A Frank Auerbach painting estimated to be worth several million pounds is to be sold by the National Crime Agency after it was recovered from a convicted money launderer who worked for organised criminal gangs, including drug traffickers.

The work was seized by police after Lenn Mayhew-Lewis , 69, was caught after being on the run since March 2023, with an investigation discovering that he had also bought a painting by Auerbach in a private sale.

The Magnum photographer’s social media feed combines superb old images with modern reflections – on Brexit, bum thermometers and radical coffee shops

Eight layers of varnish had drowned iconic painting’s colours over time, as coating became yellow with oxidation

For almost 200 years, she has been the definitive symbol of the French republic. Now, after a much-needed facelift, Eugène Delacroix ’s Liberty will rise above the fray of revolutionary anarchy in her true colours once more.

The 19th-century painter’s world-famous and widely copied Liberty Leading the People, depicting a bare-chested woman brandishing the French flag and leading armed men into battle, will be hung again at the Louvre art museum on Thursday, after a six-month effort to remove decades of varnish and grime.

George Georgiou gave British rave culture its smiley face. Now he’s placing plaques where hardcore clubbers sweated till dawn. Our writers joins the designer – and DJs Danny Rampling and Nicky Holloway – on a face-melting trip

‘I remember this street being covered with hundreds of these all over the floor,” says George Georgiou, handing me an original smiley-face flyer he designed for the acid house club night Shoom. “I wish I’d picked them up because now they sell for up to a grand.”

The doorway we’re standing outside in London Bridge is one of many locations we’ll visit today, as Georgiou places acid house heritage plaques outside buildings that were once home to clubs such as Shoom, Raw and Sin. These locations are then tagged on an interactive acid house map on his website. We kick off the day 15 minutes’ walk away on Tooley Street, where the Special Branch club began life in 1984. It was here that resident DJs Nicky Holloway and Pete Tong lured suburban soul boys and Soho trendies to an old pub to get sweaty, while Gilles Peterson kept the footworkers busy by spinning jazz-funk in the other room.

Shortlist dominated by institutions that have undergone extensive renovations, including Young V&A and Manchester Museum

The National Portrait Gallery, the Manchester Museum and the Young V&A are among the contenders for this year’s museum of the year award, as institutions that have undergone extensive renovations and reappraised their collections dominate the shortlist.

In recent years, the prize has been praised for moving away from focusing on attention-grabbing capital projects , but this year museums that have invested in multimillion-pound facelifts make up most of the shortlist.

From Shaolin wall-runners to caged birds and S&M clubs, these images have all inspired their own Granta magazine stories – and now is your chance to buy one