August 10, 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 What the Art World Can Learn From Luxury’s Return to Intimacy and Cultural Depth by Elisa Carollo for Observer. Both luxury and art are shifting from scale toward personalization and meaningful human connection.
Art in America
Barry Schwabsky, Joeun Kim Aatchim’s Layered Lines Summon Translucent Worlds
Emi Eleode, National Gallery’s £250 K. Citizens’ Assembly Sparks Art World Criticism and Conservative Backslash
The Art Newspaper
Gareth Harris, UK Ministry of Justice spent more than £85,000 removing Banksy mural from the Royal Courts of Justice
James Imam, Uffizi Galleries in Florence announce ‘unprecedented’ €50m revamp
Dale Berning Sawa, Office block developers fight with heritage campaigners over London’s historic Square Mile
Annabel Keenan, From beavers to basketball hoops: a new public art trail opens in Toronto
Artforum
Davide Stucchi, Davide Stucchi on Ursula Meier, Tom McCarthy, and packing boxes
From the Editors, Uffizi Unveils Plans for $58 Million Transformation
From the Editors, White Cube New York Loses Three Top Directors
From the Editors, Longtime Andrew Kreps Gallery Partner Elizabeth Mulholland Moves To David Zwirner
Theo Belci, Thieves Steal $4.6 Million in Art from Italian Company in Overnight Raid
Artnet
Margaret Carrigan, ‘Comedy Is Terrified of Being Called Art’: Meet the Performance Artist Who Does Both
Richard Whiddington, Storm King Hires Hirshhorn’s Anne Reeve for Top Curator Job
Margaret Carrigan, Banksy Works Cost U.K. Taxpayers $200K—and Other Art World Matters
Richard Whiddington, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Wardrobe Hits the Auction Block
Ben Davis, The Curious Case of the AIR Festival in Aspen
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Ryan Presley Wins $100,000 Award for Indigenous Art—and More Industry Intel
Richard Whiddington, Salon Art and Design Returns for Its 15th Year as Collectible Design Booms
ARTnews
Devorah Lauter, All-Night Art Heist in Italy Suspected to Be ‘Some Sort of Revenge’
Tessa Solomon, Appeals Court Says Trump Lacks Authority to Build White House Ballroom
Daniel Cassady, 20 Years After eBay, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Costumes Are Back at Auction, This Time at Christie’s
Harrison Jacobs, A Picasso Etching Stolen 8 Years Ago Was Returned to Milwuakee Police
Leigh Anne Miller, Oslo Museum Curator Attributes Forgotten Still Life to Flemish Old Master Clara Peeters
Andy Battaglia, Sprawling Nuclear Bunker in Italy Will Soon Be a Cold War Museum
Andy Battaglia, Aspen’s Ambitious AIR Festival Turns the Rocky Mountains into a Stage
Brian Boucher, The Rauschenberg Foundation Has Listed its New York HQ For Sale, Making Way for Possible ‘Luxury Rentals or Boutique Condos’
Devorah Lauter, Jacques Chirac Presidential Museum in France Was Robbed Again
ArtReview
Jenny Wu, The Digital Jungle: On Datacentres and Slaughterhouses
From the Editors, CRM system used by UK charities hit by cyberattack
Financial Times
Eliza Goodpasture, Escaping the Blitz, two artists found inspiration and a lifelong friendship
Enuma Okoro, When on holiday, stay on holiday
The Guardian
Nadia Khomami, Three Banksy artworks in London have cost taxpayers nearly £150,000
Hyperallergic
Anna Lee, 2,300-Year-Old Fragment of Homer’s “Odyssey” Now on View at The Met
Anna Lee, Could This New Legislation Protect Historic Sites From Trump’s Wrath?
Hrag Vartanian, The Lost Pearls of New York City
Rhea Nayyar, Forthcoming New Museum Show Is a Love Letter to the Bowery
Anna Lee, Smithsonian to Show Historic Islamic Artworks From Louvre’s Collection
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, A View From the Easel
The New York Times
Cornelia Channing, The Man Who Brings Dummies to Life
The New Yorker
Zachary Fine, Pope.L’s Pleasing Refusal to Be Interpreted
Observer
Christa Terry, How an Idea Becomes an Institution or Exhibition That Outlives Its Moment
EDITOR’S PICK - Elisa Carollo, What the Art World Can Learn From Luxury’s Return to Intimacy and Cultural Depth: Luxury brands are eschewing scale in favor of privacy, exclusivity and personal engagement; galleries may need to do the same to survive in a changing market.
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum closes after curator’s arrest
Adam Schrader, UK judge dismisses Russia sanctions case against Hauser & Wirth
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: The ruling that dismissed the Hauser & Wirth Russia sanctions case
Adam Schrader, Rauschenberg Foundation lists its New York headquarters for sale
Adam Schrader, Marlborough’s former Chelsea flagship sells to Gazelli for $7.5 million
Adam Schrader, Yemen names looted antiquities at the British Museum and London auctions
The Wall Street Journal
Mary Tompkins Lewis, ‘James McNeill Whistler’ Review: Ode to a Roving Painter at Tate Britain
Brian P. Kelly, ‘Derrick Adams: View Master’ Review: Skimming the Surface in Boston
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