August 7, 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 White Cube Loses Three Star Directors in New York by Katya Kazakina for Artnet. Three senior directors have left White Cube amid ongoing leadership changes across the blue-chip gallery sector.
Art in America
Emily Watlington, “New Humans” Takes a Disappointingly Old Approach to Disability
Alex Greenberger, Isaiah Davis Makes Metal—and Masculinity—Seem Soft
The Art Newspaper
Elena Goukassian, Seven Smithsonian museums shut down due to cooling system failure
Senay Boztas, Raise a glass: long-hidden image of soldier returns to Pieter de Hooch painting
Hadani Ditmars, Lidar analysis reveals more than 20,000 pre-colonial earthworks under Amazonian rainforest
Dale Berning Sawa, As local museums in the UK face closure, government promises help
Artforum
Salomé Burstein, Sightseeing in Paris
Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Mommy Issues: From Devotion to Sexual Liberation
From the Editors, Louvre Islamic Art Masterpieces Come to the Smithsonian
From the Editors, Cultural Center of Philippines names Carlos Quijon Jr. as Contemporary Curator
From the Editors, National Park Service Worries Trump’s Arch Could Defile Historical Sites
From the Editors, The Australian Museum Repatriates Rapa Nui Ancestral Remains
Artnet
EDITOR’S PICK - Katya Kazakina, White Cube Loses Three Star Directors in New York: The departures come at a time of upheaval in the gallery world.
Andrew Russeth, 640-Year-Long John Cage Piece Changes Chord! And Other Art World Matters
Sonia Manalili and Andrew Russeth, Here’s Where the Art World Eats
Richard Whiddington, Yeah! Usher’s Art Collection Is as Smooth as You’d Expect
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Tracey Emin Plots Her Next Big Move in Margate
ARTnews
Tessa Solomon, 7 Smithsonian Museums Abruptly Closed Over Mechanical Issue
Devorah Lauter, Uffizi Announces Plans for $57 M. Renovations Over Two Years
Leigh Anne Miller, Monumental Bronze Age Tomb Discovered Amid Dense Vegetation in Sardinia
Noor Lobad, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Latest Brand Collaboration is A Makeup Line With MAC Cosmetics
Brian Boucher, David Zwirner Recruits Longtime Andrew Kreps Partner Liz Mulholland for LA Outpost
Brian Boucher, An America250 IndyCar Race Will Pass By DC’s Museums. Could the Vibrations Damage Artworks?
Amah-Rose Abrams, English Heritage Appoints V&A Deputy Director as New Chief Executive
Daniel Cassady, New York Historical Replaces Artworks With Reproductions Weeks After Opening $175 M. Expansion
Hikmat Mohammed, More Than 2,000 People Have Signed a Petition to Free Two Indian Artists After Protesting for Workers Rights
Devorah Lauter, Russian Drone Incinerated 18th-century Ukrainian Church
Andy Battaglia, Sao Paulo’s MASP Names Flavia Almeida as New President
Alex Greenberger, How Jonathan González Became the Performance Artist of the Moment
ArtReview
Alice Hattrick, Notes on a Crip Exhibition
Max Crosbie-Jones, ‘Why Are We in Okinawa?’ by Jon Mitchell, Reviewed
Financial Times
Ariella Budick, The Studio Museum in Harlem has long nurtured Black artists — Fade reminds us why this New York institution is still necessary
Frieze
From the Editors, Meet Me in London: Ella Fleck
From the Editors, Es Devlin, Grayson Perry and Danh Vō Headline Frieze Masters Talks 2026
From the Editors, Karin Kneffel to Do Ho Suh – Solo Presentations at Frieze Seoul
Max Andrews, Leah Dixon Reinvents the Wheel
From the Editors, Toilet Cubes to Grayson Perry: Programming at Frieze London and Masters 2026
The Guardian
Jonathan Jones, New faces, fresh memories and a grand day out with Aardman – the week in art
Joanna Moorhead, Buried for not being Brueghel: overlooked masterpiece by still-life pioneer discovered in storage area
Laisul Hoque, ‘The first time I felt art in my nose’: why a critic missed the point when he called my exhibition meaningless
Hyperallergic
Valentina Di Liscia, An Artist Reimagines Frieze London’s Loos
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Required Reading
Julia Bryan Wilson, Simone Forti Talks Yoko Ono, Dance, and Aging in Never-Before-Published Interview
Emma Cieslik, 16 Arrested for Showing Portraits of People Killed by ICE in DC Senate Building
Anna Lee, Cooling System Malfunction Shutters Seven Smithsonian Museums
Avedis Hadjian, Anna Boghiguian on Weaving Armenia
Observer
Margaret Carrigan, Wine, Wheat and Art Share the Same Acreage at These Out-of-the-Way Estates
Mercedes Ezquiaga, In the Pages of These Books, Privacy Is the Ultimate Luxury
Xintian Wang, Fueled by Private Wealth, China’s Next Art Capital Thrives Off-Grid
Gillian Harvey, Fiction That Feels Like a Total Escape
Elisa Carollo, NowHere Bets On the Japanese Artists New York’s Gallery System Overlooked
Dan Duray, One Fine Show: “Peggy Guggenheim in London, The Making of a Collector”
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Urgent Matter’s second ‘print’ edition is here — Vol. 1, No. 2, out now for paid subscribers
Adam Schrader, Charges behind two open Art Institute of Chicago labor cases revealed as NLRB faces delays
Adam Schrader, FOIA Documents: Retaliation charge against School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Adam Schrader, FOIA Documents: A worker’s charge against the Art Institute of Chicago’s staff union
The Washington Post
From the Editors, Museum and gallery exhibits in the D.C. area this week
Art Spell is a free daily roundup of art news and reviews to help you stay current with what’s being reported on in the visual arts community. Help us grow the Art Spell community by subscribing and sharing the newsletter with friends and colleagues who want to stay connected to the art world.