COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The fine art issue, featuring Seurat, art in literature and Sir Antony Gormley, plus Ampthill Park House and the long-eared eagle owl. 

Cast in the same mould

Sir Antony Gormley examines the parallels between his own Reflect and the Adriaen de Vries bronze of Antiope and Theseus

Don’t believe in modern love?

With Valentine’s Day looming and singlehood rising, Will Hosie seeks dating tips from the finest minds among the Ancients

Ford momentum

Harry Pearson enjoys the thrill of splashing through the countless fords criss-crossing the rivers and streams of the British Isles

Luxury

Jonathan Self is bewitched by the poetry of poesy rings and Amie Elizabeth White says ‘if you only buy one Derby boot…’

Life in the fast lane

Norfolk farmer Gavin Lane tells Julie Harding of the sleepless nights he has endured since taking the reins at the CLA

Sir Thomas Drew and Hélène Duchêne’s favourite paintings

His Majesty’s Ambassador to France and the French Ambassador to the Court of St James share their artworks of choice

Country-house treasure

John Goodall glimpses early-20th-century life at Mapperton House in Dorset in the form of a black-and-gold satin dress

A house of collections

In the second of two articles, Jeremy Musson explores the exceptional modern collection in the historic setting of Ampthill Park House in Bedfordshire

The legacy

Carla Passino hails the artworks amassed by Sir William Burrell

Where the wild things are

Exotic animals from around the world were unveiled to European eyes by artists such as Dürer and Stubbs, finds Michael Prodger

Winging it

Mark Cocker profiles the elusive and elegant long-eared owl

Interiors

Arabella Youens lauds a London drawing room and Amelia Thorpe keeps the home fires burning

Floral geometry

Banish the gloom with glorious winter-flowering Camellia japonica, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson

Slow and steady wins the race

Tom Parker Bowles savours the boozy boeuf à la Bourguignonne

Travel

Ben Lerwill delves into the story of space travel when he touches down at NASA HQ in Houston

Arts & antiques

Georges Seurat’s sublime French seascapes are taking centre stage at the Courtauld Gallery in London, reveals Carla Passino

Write side up

Art has long drawn inspiration from literature — from Ovid and Virgil to Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll, discovers Carla Passino