Everything you ever wanted to know about the people - staff and artists - who make Artquest and our programme.

Mark Boyle interviewed by Henry Lydiate Henry Lydiate's Artlaw Column appeared in the first issue of Art Monthly when he first met Mark Boyle and his family.

Gustave Courbet's huge 20ft wide by 12ft high oil painting, The Painter's Studio (A Real Allegory of Seven Years of My Life), 1855, represents among other things his view of the (then) new role of the artist in society.

There is a well-established history of artists taking over empty shops for temporary exhibitions or community projects, and in the current economic downturn such activity is being actively supported both by local councils and artist networks.

Last month's column focused on the selling power of those few artists whose works have established a strong market value, and their ability to pick and choose - or blacklist - their purchasers or dealers.