April 13, 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 Institute of Museum and Library Services Saved from Defunding After Legal Challenge by Tessa Solomon for ARTnews. A legal settlement preserves the Institute of Museum and Library Services, halting efforts to dismantle the federal agency that supports museums and libraries nationwide.
Apollo Magazine
Helen Barrett, How to build a museum for young people
From the Editors, Melissa Chiu to leave Hirshhorn to lead Guggenheim in New York
Art Asia Pacific
Michele Chan, Is Hong Kong Back? The GRAND PRIX de Basel 2026
Yuqian Fan, Melissa Chiu Departs Hirshhorn for Guggenheim
The Art Newspaper
Ben Luke, Comment | Catherine Opie shows us that in dark times, looking for joy can be radical
From the Editors, Stealing the show: Mona Lisa heist inspires Andrew Lloyd Webber musical
Caroline Roux, Antwerp exhibition celebrates its homegrown fashion designers, the influential Antwerp Six
Annabel Keenan, Paying tribute to storied printmaker Kenneth Tyler at the IFPDA Print Fair
Artnet
Katya Kazakina, Shoptalk: New Guggenheim Director Melissa Chiu on How She Got the Job
Sarah Cascone, The Women Defining Printmaking at the 2026 IFPDA Print Fair
Katie White, How a Hopi Potter Named Nampeyo Became a 19th-Century Art Star
Sarah Cascone, Why Was Sarah Miriam Peale, Pioneering Member of America’s First Art Dynasty, Left Behind?
Vittoria Benzine, 250-Year-Old Kiln Discovered on Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Estate
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Greece Creates New Art Crime Unit to Combat Forgery and Trafficking
Margaret Carrigan, Two Growing London Galleries Launch Second Spaces—and More Art Industry News
Kate Brown, What Germany’s Art Market Reveals About the Limits of Localism
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, What We Know—and Don’t Know—About Private Art Auctions
Richard Whiddington, Large Roman Villa Uncovered in the U.K. During Wind Farm Survey
Richard Whiddington, ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan to Direct 4D Film for New Alamo Museum
Vittoria Benzine, The L.A. Museums Getting a Glow-Up Before the Olympic Games
Vittoria Benzine, An Intimate Portrait of Basquiat’s Early Life Returns to Brooklyn
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger, Gagosian to Open New Upper East Side Gallery with a Duchamp Show, a Rarity in a Commercial Setting
Alex Greenberger, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Painter Who Used Her Art to Fight for Justice, Dies at 46
Brian Boucher, The Best Booths at Expo Chicago, From a 16th-Century Belgian Manuscript to a Painting of a Mariachi Band
EDITOR’S PICK - Tessa Solomon, Institute of Museum and Library Services Saved from Defunding After Legal Challenge: Despite its nonpartisan status, the agency became a prime target for defunding through executive action by the Donald Trump administration.
Daniel Cassady, David Geffen Settles Divorce With David Armstrong After Bitter Legal Fight
Howard Halle, What Made Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades So Revolutionary?
Leigh Anne Miller, Louvre Museum Jewel Heist Inspires Latest ‘Law & Order’ Episode
Anne Doran, Rome’s Colosseum Gets a New Pedestrian Plaza
Maximilíano Durón, Obama Presidential Center Announces Final Cohort of Commissions Ahead of June Opening, Including María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Lorna Simpson
Harrison Jacobs, The Long Legal Saga Between Artist Ryder Ripps and the Bored Ape Yacht Club Is Finally Over
Maximilíano Durón, Ukraine Sanctions Russian Culture Figures Linked to Country’s Participation in Venice Biennale
Harrison Jacobs, Beeple’s Elon Musk–Robot Dog Is Roaming the Streets of San Francisco in Viral Stunt
Alex Greenberger, The Best Shows to See in New York This Month Are at Nonprofit Spaces
Leigh Anne Miller, Check Out Some of the Incredible NASA Photographs from Artemis II’s Historic Mission to the Moon
Daniel Cassady, Maurizio Cattelan to Open Milan Design Week with Dawn ‘Breakfast-Barter’ in Piazza Duomo
ArtReview
Max Crosbie Jones, Thailand Biennale 2025 Review: Beyond the Tropical Paradise
From the Editors, Settlement allows Institute of Museum and Library Services to continue operations
From the Editors, Tanka Fonta wins 2026 Wi Di Mimba Wi Prize
Bloomberg News
Felix Salmon, Who’d Buy a Painting They Can’t Possess?
BOMB
Michael Londres, Pat Oleszko by Michael Londres
The Brooklyn Rail
Allison Carey, Ralph Lemon: From Out of Space
Chenoa Baker, A Kind of Order
Alex Bacon, Cinga Samson: Ukuphuthelwa
Amanda Gluibizzi, Hawai‘i: a kingdom crossing oceans
Alice Godwin, Isa Genzken: World Receiver
Cultured
Ella Martin Gachot, For Artist Cecilia Vicuña, Being Busy Is Not a Sign of Success
Delaney Kim, 5 Collectors on the Texas-Sized Hospitality at the Heart of Dallas’s Art Scene
Galerie
Rena Gross, Art Paris Returns to the Grand Palais
The Guardian
Joanna Moorhead, And this one shows the police evicting me: the fabulous fabric visions of Elizabeth Allen
Eromo Egbejule, ‘This scene is alive’: Abidjan art week showcases city as growing cultural hub
Mark Brown, Mysterious Lake District barn joins national treasures on heritage list
From the Editors, €1m Picasso painting to be won for €100 in charity raffle
Hyperallergic
Rhea Nayyar, The Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair Has Taken Off Its Training Wheels
Lisa Yin Zhang, Marcel Duchamp Was the Messenger of History
Aaron Short, Process Is the Point at IFPDA Print Fair
Natalie Jenkins, Who Do Chicago’s Art Fairs Serve?
Ela Troyano, Remembering Agosto Machado, Keeper of Queer Histories
Ela Bittencourt, The Paradoxical Delights of South America’s Biggest Art Fair
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, A View From the Easel
Observer
Sarah Moroz, In Venice, Andreas Angelidakis Is Queering the Idea of a National Pavilion
Elisa Carollo, Maurizio Cattelan Turned This Years RenBen Gala into a Silent Party
Elisa Carollo, EXPO CHICAGO 2026: Local Enthusiasm and Strong Institutional Sales
Christa Terry, 72 Hours of Art in Salt Lake City: Museum Hopping, Spiral Jetty and Sculpture on the Slopes
Sarah Moroz, Art Paris Brings a More Intimate, Grounded Energy to the Grand Palais
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Orbán’s election defeat offers a test case for unwinding politicized culture policy
Adam Schrader, Hungarian artists celebrate Viktor Orban’s election loss
Adam Schrader, Yuga Labs settles high-profile Bored Ape NFT lawsuit
Adam Schrader, In Bay Ridge’s Little Palestine, ‘Dear Laila’ reconstructs a lost home
Adam Schrader, Addiction recovery workshops led by artist Ventiko end in mask exhibition
Adam Schrader, Below the Fold: Addo Gallery woes, MoMA injury claim and cases move to discovery
Adam Schrader, New York investor seeks $3.3 million tied to Shchukin Gallery judgments
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Shchukin Gallery Judgment Enforcement Action
The Wall Street Journal
Judith H. Dobrzynski, ‘Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work’ Review: A Self-Taught Painter’s Countryside Scenes
Brian P. Kelly, At the IFPDA and Brooklyn Print Fairs, It’s Quality vs. Quantity
Willard Spiegelman, ‘Making Art and Making a Living’ Review: To Pay the Painter
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.