August 3, 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 A Collector’s Guide to Freeports: Capital Efficiency, Tax Timing and Strategic Anonymity by Daniel Grant for Observer. Grant sheds light on the concept of freeports and their use by the art world.
Apollo Magazine
William Aslet, The craftsmen with a material understanding of architecture
From the Editors, After another French museum theft, government announces security plan
Sophie Barling, View-finding in Italy
Art in America
Emily Watlington, 6 Books We’re Looking Forward to in August
The Art Newspaper
Gareth Harris, Royal Museums Greenwich workers vote to strike over pay and working conditions
Mercedes Ezquiaga, Collector Bernardo Paz plans new museum in Brazil next-door to Inhotim
Tim Schneider, Gagosian exits locations in Basel and London’s Burlington Arcade
Carlie Porterfield, ‘Art-world summer camp’: the Aspen Art Fair prioritises immersion over expansion
Artforum
2020 Music Group, 2020 Music Group on Digital Outsiders, Fred Again, and Theo Parrish
Clare Koury, Clare Koury on Moby Dick, Icon Painting, and Earworms
Artnet
Eddy Frankel, Is Margate’s Booming Art Scene a Victim of Its Own Success?
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Art Basel Could Save $9M in New Miami Beach Rent Deal—and More Industry Intel
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Lost Elizabeth Murray Painting Resurfaces After 45 Years
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, Why Animation Art Prices Are Soaring
Margaret Carrigan, London’s National Gallery Accused of Segregating Security Staff—and Other Art World Matters
Vittoria Benzine, This New A.I. Chatbot Hunts Nazi-Looted Art
Richard Whiddington, Gilded or Just Gaudy? D.C.’s Gold Equine Statues Split Opinion
Katya Kazakina, The Hole Faces Fresh Non-Payment Claims—and Other Art World Matters
ARTnews
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, At Venice’s Palazzo Cavanis, VCUarts Qatar Rethinks How Art and Tech Is Taught
Tessa Solomon, Citing Censorship, Artist Emma Shapiro Launches Legal Challenge to Restore Instagram Account
Anne Doran, Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Egyptian Grave Markers Carved with Human Figures
Daniel Cassady, In New York Court, Dealer Yves Bouvier Seeks Sotheby’s Records as Part of New French Criminal Case
Maximilíano Durón, See the Trailer for the New Thomas Crown Affair Movie, Starring Michael B. Jordan as a Notorious Art Thief
Leigh Anne Miller, Business School Professors Launch AI Tool to Help Identify Unclaimed Nazi-Era Looted Artworks
Andy Battaglia, Ex-National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet Defends Smithsonian Colleague After Heated Congressional Hearing
Harrison Jacobs, Federal Investigation Finds New York Museum Misused $600,000 in Grants With Inflated Time Sheets
ArtReview
Claudia Ross, The Formal Dictates of Earthly Art
Jenny Wu, Im Youngzoo: Requiem for Technological Progress
Oliver Basciano, ‘The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness’ by Cal Flyn, Reviewed
Financial Times
Jackie Wullschläger, Portrait of a City review — a nostalgic stroll through a century of the American urban experience
Frieze
Muyeong Kim and Monica Jae Yeon Moon, Work in Progress: Muyeong Kim
From the Editors, 5 Shows to Catch Across Europe This August
The Guardian
Sian Cain, Who will make the bigger splash? Two blockbuster David Hockney exhibitions opening in Australia
Hyperallergic
Eileen G’Sell, The Thorny Politics of Protest Photography
Isa Farfan, California Exhibition to Document One of the US’s Worst Deportation Campaigns
From the Editors, 15 Outdoor Art Shows to See in NYC This Summer
Anna Lee, Long-Contested Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Gets Opening Date
Andrew Nachemson, How a Former Military Settlement in Taipei Became an Artist Residency
Isa Farfan, V&A Storehouse Workers Vote to Strike Over “Amazon-Style” Conditions
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, A View From the Easel
Observer
Alistair McQueen, The Legal, Logistical and Conservation Challenges of Collecting Art at Sea
EDITOR’S PICK - Daniel Grant, A Collector’s Guide to Freeports: Capital Efficiency, Tax Timing and Strategic Anonymity: Industry experts break down how extraterritorial art storage facilities function, their cost-saving benefits and why strategic patience pays off.
Elisa Carollo, How Aspen Art Fair Is Turning the Mountain Escape Into a Collector Destination
Elisa Carollo, These Are the Must-See Art Exhibitions in Athens Right Now
Elisa Carollo, Tran Luong Considers Vietnam’s Reality Through an Imagined Underwater World
Naima Morelli, From Athens to the Islands, Art Collectors Are Building an Ecosystem of Their Own
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Penticton Art Gallery apologizes after donated art turns up at Value Village
Adam Schrader, Merrick Art Gallery ex-director charged in $120K theft
Adam Schrader, East Hampton sues The Ranch, and a judge bars any work on its 60-foot sculpture
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: East Hampton’s suit to tear down The Ranch’s Montauk sculpture
Adam Schrader, Yves Bouvier accuses dealer Antoine Peretti of withholding Picasso resale proceeds
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Yves Bouvier’s second Section 1782 bid for Sotheby’s records
Adam Schrader, California history museum apologizes for selling racist towels tied to trustee’s wife
Adam Schrader, Actress Julia Ormond’s lawyers cite Ovitz’s Epstein emails in push for his arrest for contempt
The Wall Street Journal
From the Editors, Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of August 2
Judith H. Dobrzynski, ‘Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea’ Review: Illuminating an Unlikely Kinship
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