April 1, 2026
Your morning brew of art world media
Welcome to Art Spell, a daily, comprehensive roundup of art news and reviews for the visual arts community. Today’s Editor’s Pick is Venice Biennale Artists Push to Ban U.S., Israel, and Russia From Exhibition by Jo Lawson-Tancred for Artnet. A new open letter increases pressure on the 2026 Venice Biennale’s neutrality.
Art in America
Emily Watlington, Bicoastal Art World Satire ‘Kill Dick’ Imagines Sackler Revenge
The Art Newspaper
Constanza Ontiveros Valdés, Mexico’s art community calls for greater transparency in management of treasured collection
Joe Ware, Caravaggio documentary from makers of record-breaking Vermeer film to make streaming debut
Helen Stoilas, Construction of White House ballroom must stop, federal judge orders
Catherine Hickley, Bavaria restitutes Lesser Ury painting to the heirs of a Jewish banker
Anna Brady, Trey the Triceratops sells for $5.5m via Pharrell Williams’s auction site
Alton Yan, Plan to build border wall along the Rio Grande in Texas threatens prehistoric rock art, locals warn
Joe Ware, Charity Art UK digitises nearly 7,000 murals across country
Artforum
Michael Fried, Philip Leider (1929–2026)
From the Editors, Hong Kong Auction Results Bounce Back With Big Wins for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips
From the Editors, Participating Artists and Curators Push Back on Venice Biennale’s Relocation of Israeli Pavilion, Call for Exclusion of Russia, Israel, and US
From the Editors, Steve McQueen Awarded $172,000 Erasmus Prize
Artnet
Eileen Kinsella, 6 Objects That Capture Everything Brilliant and Strange About the Shakers
William Van Meter, How Lillian Bassman Pushed Fashion Photography to the Edge of Abstraction
EDITOR’S PICK - Jo Lawson-Tancred, Venice Biennale Artists Push to Ban U.S., Israel, and Russia From Exhibition: This latest call follows an earlier one protesting Israel’s participation in the event.
Vittoria Benzine, Rare Rauschenberg Experimental Dance Revived at Brooklyn Roller Rink
Min Chen, Rare Complete Triceratops Skeleton Snags $5.5 Million at Auction
Richard Whiddington, The Sistine Chapel Is Coming to a Mall in Suburban New Jersey
Vittoria Benzine, Kim Kardashian’s Maximalist ‘All’s Fair’ Wardrobe Is Up for Grabs
Margaret Carrigan, How Auction Sales Fueled an $11.7 Billion Art Market Rebound
From the Editors, Which Artists Are Dominating the Auction Market?
Vittoria Benzine, What Did Pompeii Smell Like? A New Study Analyzes Its Ancient Incense
ARTnews
Anne Doran, Germany Creates New Council to Oversee Returns of Looted Art
Andy Battaglia, Getty Museum Acquires Two Significant Dutch Still Lifes
Brian Boucher, The Louvre Remains the World’s Most-Visited Museum, with Competition Coming from the Middle East and Asia in 2025
Tessa Solomon, Pinakothek in Munich Returns Nazi-Looted Painting by Lesser Ury to Jewish Heirs
Leigh Anne Miller, Jeff Koons Designs Two Bottles for Evian’s 200th Anniversary
Gameli Hamelo, François-Xavier Gbré Uses His Photography to Fill in History’s Gaps
Brian Boucher, California’s High Desert Is Rich With Natural and Artistic Beauty—All Amplified by a Budding Art Fair
Harrison Jacobs, President Trump Has Unveiled Plans for $1 B. Presidential Library Skyscraper in Miami
Maximilíano Durón, 1-54 New York Lines-Up More Than 20 Exhibitors, with a Special Focus on Brazil
Maximilíano Durón, Gladstone Gallery Now Represents the Estate of Pope.L, Boundary-Crossing Performance Artist
Alex Greenberger, Melvin Edwards, Sculptor Whose Steel Assemblages Influenced Generations of Artists, Dies at 88
Petala Ironcloud, The Met Touted Her as Its First Native American Curator. Amid Criticism, She Quietly Left.
ArtReview
Zehra Doğan, The Distance Between Art and Survival in Rojava
From the Editors, The 9 Exhibitions to See in April 2026
From the Editors, Melvin Edwards, pioneer of Black abstraction, 1937–2026
From the Editors, Steve McQueen wins 2026 Erasmus Prize
From the Editors, Three-minute heist nets works by Matisse, Renoir and Cézanne
Frieze
From the Editors, What’s on at No.9 Cork Street this April
Mariana Fernández, Madeline Jiménez Santil’s Geometries of Dance
The Guardian
Jed Surio, ‘How can you forget me’: show details Filipino Americans’ rich history
Keith Stuart, Pixels and paintings: video games return to the V&A
Joanna Moorhead, Calling all sinners: for his latest work, artist Maurizio Cattelan wants people to confess
Mark Brown, Writing on the wall: Art UK digitises thousands of murals as street artworks go mainstream
Sarah Butler, Centuries-old pottery firm Denby set to call in administrators
Hyperallergic
Valentina Di Liscia, Louvre Museum to Install Locks on Doors After Heist
Rhea Nayyar, Spirit Halloween to Temporarily Take Over Kennedy Center
Valentina Di Liscia, Woman With Her Back to the Viewer in Gallery Photos Speaks Out
Hrag Vartanian, New Mysterious Art Fair “The Island” Seeks the Opposite of Buzz
Rhea Nayyar and Isa Farfan, List of Failed Business Ideas Found Beneath Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”
Rhea Nayyar, Survey Finds 51% of Men Think Mona Lisa “Should Smile More”
Hrag Vartanian, Philadelphia Museum of Art Rebrands Again as “PhArt”
Lisa Yin Zhang, 5 Art Job Openings That Are Definitely Not Exploitative
Isa Farfan, Curator’s Shoes Steal the Show at MoMA Reception
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Ancient Statues at The Met to Receive Patrons’ Noses
Hakim Bishara, JD Vance Unveils Incel Statue at the White House
The New York Times
Walker Mimms, Lucy Sante on Collage: ‘You Have to Kill One Thing to Make Another.’
The New Yorker
Zachary Fine, The New Museum Returns, but Humans Are Left Behind
Observer
Daniel Grant, Collecting Art Is Easy. Running a Museum, Not So Much.
Elisa Carollo, Luxury Auctions Surged Last Year, With Jewelry, Ferrari and Hermès Driving Record Results
Elisa Carollo, Vian Sora’s Beautiful Wreckage
OCULA
Baya Simons, Come Together: UAE And South Korea Compare, Contrast and Comment Via Cultural Collaboration
Bradford Nordeen, I’ll Be Your Mirror
Baya Simons, Steve McQueen’s ‘Commitment to the Human Spirit’ Secures Prestigious Erasmus Prize
Puck
Marion Maneker, First Impressionists
Sculpture
Martin Holman, Elisabetta Di Maggio
T Magazine
Will Heinrich, Melvin Edwards, Sculptor Who Wove Black History Into Art, Dies at 88
Wallpaper
Millie Walton, Daphne Wright casts her family in Jesmonite. Discover her works in London
Tianna Williams, New York art exhibitions to see in April
Hannah Silver, Painter-to-watch Joanna van Son puts a modern spin on the old masters at Saatchi Yates
The Wall Street Journal
Peter Plagens, Remembering Melvin Edwards, Whose Sculptures Spoke of History
Art Spell is a subscription-based daily roundup of art news and reviews to help you stay current with what’s being reported on in the visual arts community. The profits from Art Spell are donated to organizations supporting art journalists and writers.