Why I love
Artists talk about their secret passion
Kwes: why I love Paul Klee
‘I have synaesthesia, so I hear music as colour. And it’s as if Klee senses what colour feels like’
Matthew Bourne: why I love Angela Lansbury
Matthew Bourne: ‘Acting is tough and she’s the real thing – she’s 89 and still looking forward’
Adrian Chiles: why I love Bill Evans
‘His sharp, smart playing got me hooked on jazz. I’ve got a pair of sandals – and I do wear socks’
Neil Pearson: why I love Henry Miller
Neil Pearson: ‘You don’t just get warts and all with him. You get abscesses and cancers, too’
Kirsty Wark: Why I love Holyrood Palace
Kirsty Wark: Ahead of the vote for Scottish independence, the broadcaster explains why Holyrood beats Buckingham Palace
Al Murray: Why I love Marvel comics
The comic Pub Landlord still carries his teenage passion for the superhero comics filled with complex stories and masterful illustrations
Jacqueline Wilson: why I love fairy paintings
'Some of them look like opium dreams, which perhaps they were'
Gavin Esler: Why I love prog rock
The writer and BBC journalist talks about his love for rock’s most varied – and derided – genre, and how it’s about much more than silly capes and 10-minute drum solos
Alastair Campbell – why I love Jacques Brel
The journalist and former spin doctor explains why he finds Brel's poetic, melancholy songs so powerful – and the man himself so fascinating
Lavinia Greenlaw, poet – why I love Eva Hesse
Lavinia Greenlaw tells Andrew Dickson how the works of Eva Hesse remind her how a poem comes to her
Mark Wallinger, artist – why I love ballet
From Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev to the opium hallucination scene in La Bayadère, artist Mark Wallinger talks about how ballet had him hooked from an early age
Theatre director Declan Donnellan: why I love Breaking Bad
The theatre director tells Laura Barnett how Vince Gilligan's dark TV drama has influenced his stage work and why Breaking Bad isn't just for the cultural elite
Martin Creed: Why I love Bob Dylan
'One song, Highlands, sounds like he's making it up as he goes along. It's brilliant.' Artist Martin Creed on how bootlegs brought him to Bob
Margaret Drabble: Why I love the artist Maurice Cockrill
'I bought one of his landscapes after picking it as my luxury on Desert Island Discs. It was so big, I was afraid we wouldn't get it up the stairs'
Vera Lynn: Why I love Dolly Parton
'Her lyrics and voice are like mine – although we do dress differently, of course'
Will Young: Why I love Magritte
'Magritte was smart on the outside, rebellious on the inside – and that's kind of like me', says Will Young
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, dancer: why I love Kate Bush
'She can sound like a seductress, a mother, a man, or Elvis.'
Rufus Wainwright: Why I love composer Olivier Messiaen
Rufus Wainwright: 'I listen to Messiaen's work over and over – and once stole from him. But only one bar'
