Images for Inspiring Thought

 On Orwell day - Steven Poole: My problem with George Orwell

'Orwell's assault on political euphemism is righteous but limited. His more general attacks on what he perceives to be bad style are often outright ridiculous'

http://gu.com/p/3d5g5/tw

Photograph: Rex Features

 
 
My hero: George Orwell by Margaret Atwood

'To say I was horrified by this book would be an understatement. The thing that upset me most was that the pigs were so unjust'

http://gu.com/p/3d4n7/tw



 

 Andy Warhol's unseen early drawings unveiled next week

The 300 drawings from the 1950s show a skilled and sensitive side to the artist – more Egon Schiele than pop art
http://gu.com/p/3d7kk/tw

Photograph: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc




 

 Mali's magical music

Music is central to Mali's identity – and yet the conflict there has led to it being widely banned. Here, African and western artists pick their favourite tracks from this most musical of nations - http://gu.com/p/3d6tb/tw





 
 
David Hare: 'Working in theatre, you're less at the whim of stupid people'

The playwright on the revival of The Judas Kiss, the loneliness of writing and this year's Oscar nominations
http://gu.com/p/3d6eq/tw

Photograph: David Levene





 

Basket with Six Oranges (1888). Photograph: Private Collection

1. Basket with Six Oranges: Van Gogh (1888)

These oranges are incandescent, so bright you take a dazed step backwards in the gallery. The white cloth scintillates, racing up towards the brilliant blue aura of a ship-shaped basket formed of twining, dancing willows. The fruits form a troupe of glowing spheres, apparently lit from within by their own vitamin C. Even the walls seem to be watching the show, admiring the celluloid crackle of sunshine on peel, the singular beauty of each fruit, and the sensational all-together-now performance. Van Gogh turns his winter fruits into a modest miracle.
 
The 10 best paintings for winter cheer

The Observer's art critic chooses some works to chase away the darkness. Nominate your favourites below

http://gu.com/p/3cqmk/tw

Photograph: Basket with Six Oranges (1888). Private Collection





 

 he 10 best movie manhunts

As the Osama bin Laden pursuit movie Zero Dark Thirty joins the chase for Oscars, we recall other runaway successes, from the 1935 version of Les Misérables to North by Northwest

http://gu.com/p/3d6zc/tw

Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar



 

 Ian Beesley's best photograph: a sewage foreman captured in tears

'I thought my old boss at the sewage works was having a nap. But he was crying – he'd just been sacked'
http://gu.com/p/3d59f/tw