July 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 Who Needs an Art Museum When There’s a Banana Room in Town? by Zachary Small and Tim F. Schneider for The New York Times. Immersive attractions like the Museum of Ice Cream are drawing larger crowds than many traditional museums, highlighting a shift toward experience-driven cultural entertainment.
Art in America
Emily Watlington, 5 New Books to Keep Your Brain From Melting in July
The Art Newspaper
Senay Boztas, Former Nederlands Fotomuseum director awarded €400,000 after unfair dismissal ruling
Simon Bainbridge, Lee Miller and Roland Penrose’s Sussex home handed over to newly formed charity
Dale Berning Sawa, Comment | Why should artists stay in cities like London and New York when financial pressures are making it harder than ever?
Gareth Harris, National Museum Cardiff may temporarily close for renovation work, officials say
James Goodwin, Even at time of the American Revolution, art trade between Britain and US was thriving and complex
Elena Goukassian, World Monuments Fund spotlights ten heritage sites for the US’s 250th
Artforum
Bryan Barcena, June Doom: Bryan Barcena tours Los Angeles Galleries
Jonathan Odden, Divinity and Sardonic Wit: Paul Thek’s Hermetic Paintings at PACE
From the Editors, Swiss Museums Return 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
From the Editors, Ownership of a Van Gogh in the Orsay’s Collection Is In Dispute
From the Editors, Strike Looms at Guggenheim as Tourist Season Peaks
From the Editors, Skulptur Projekte Münster Announces First Artists, Locations for 2027 Edition
Artnet
Katya Kazakina, Zabludowicz Online Auction Misses Estimates, as 55 Percent of Lots Fail to Sell
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Hew Locke, Oscar Murillo Tapped for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2027
Richard Whiddington, Prized Etruscan Frescoes, Newly Acquired by Italy, Go on View
Vittoria Benzine, Switzerland Returns 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
Min Chen, 1,000 Unseen Karl Lagerfeld Sketches Hit the Auction Block
Richard Whiddington, These 10 U.S. Landmarks Are At-Risk, World Monuments Fund Says
ARTnews
Daniel Cassady, Christie’s Old Masters Sale in London Totals $51.4 M. as Collectors Chase Standout Pictures
Tessa Solomon, World Monuments Fund Adds Black Mountain College Building to U.S. Preservation Watch List
Anne Doran, Rune Mields, Self-Taught German Conceptual Artist, Dies at 91
Leigh Anne Miller, Researchers Utilize AI to Translate 2,000-Year-Old Carbonized Scrolls from Herculaneum
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, IM Youngzoo’s ‘The Late’ Blends a 1,254-Page Research Book and a 7-Channel Video Into a Meditation on Belief and Technology
Andy Battaglia, Artistic Director for 2028 Gwangju Biennale Will Be Selected Via Open-Call in Break from Tradition
Alex Greenberger, Bae Young-hwan, Artist Who Represented Korea at Venice Biennale, Dies at 57
Alex Greenberger, Adrien Brody’s Latest Art Monstrosity Is a Mural for the Raising Cane’s in Times Square
Tessa Solomon, Russia’s Hermitage Museum Suspends Archaeological Expeditions in Crimea, Citing Fuel Shortage
Daniel Cassady, UK Lawmakers Fault Government’s Oversight of National Museums, Raise Prospect of Admission Fees for Foreign Visitors
Sarah Douglas, In Zabludowicz Online Sale at Christie’s, Over Half the Artworks Failed to Sell
Brian Boucher, Weeks After His Death, a $3.2 M. David Hockney Leads Phillips London’s $15.8 M. Modern and Contemporary Art Sale
ArtReview
J.J. Charlesworth, Rose Wylie’s Bad Paintings
From the Editors, Sharjah Architecture Triennial announces dates and participants for 2026 edition
From the Editors, Bae Young-whan, artist who married conceptualism and K-Pop lyrics, 1969–2026
The Brooklyn Rail
Brooke Kamin Rapaport, CRISTINA IGLESIAS with Brooke Kamin Rapaport
Christopher Y. Lew, ANICKA YI with Christopher Y. Lew
Neil Baldwin, NANCY RUBINS with Neil Baldwin
Chloe Stagaman, MARY ELLEN CARROLL with Chloe Stagaman
Blake Gopnik, When Art is Art: A Discursive Theory
Frieze
From the Editors, Apply for the 2026 Frieze and Goethe-Institut Curator Travel Grant
Slaire Shiying Li, ‘Threads of Kinship’ Foregrounds Women’s Autonomy
The Guardian
Chloë Ashby, Depraved by Daisy Dixon review – a history of dark and dangerous art
Farida Mahdy, Women behind the lens: ‘My grandma dressed like a celebrity, even matching the colour of her cigarettes to her outfits’
Hyperallergic
John Yau, Philip Guston’s Lines of Poetry
Sarah Bond, Human DNA in Cave Paintings Can Survive For Millennia, Study Finds
Ridikkuluz, The Ballroom Icon Who Paved a New Way
Natalie Haddad, Jack Halberstam’s Trans Theory at a Slant
Rhea Nayyar, Guggenheim Museum Union Votes to Authorize Strike
The New York Times
EDITOR’S PICK - Zachary Small and Tim F.Schneider, Who Needs an Art Museum When There’s a Banana Room in Town?: As arts institutions struggle to increase attendance, entertainment centers marketed as museums are wooing those who once might have gone to view art.
Graham Bowley and Tom Mashberg, With New Seizures, Value of the Met’s Looted Artifacts Tops $95 Million
Observer
Jennifer Ashley Wright, The Socialite New York Never Forgave, for a Crime That May Not Have Happened
Elisa Carollo, On the High Line, Xin Liu Imagines the Lonely Afterlife of a Decommissioned Satellite
Christa Terry, A Bronze Lady Liberty Cast From Bartholdi’s Original Model Is Coming to the Hamptons Fine Art Fair
Chenoa Baker, What the Reykjavík Arts Festival Can Tell Us About the Future of the Interdisciplinary Biennial
Elisa Carollo, 11 Record-Breaking Auction Lots That Reshaped the Americana Market
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Getty Images licenses content to OpenAI three years after suing an A.I. rival
Adam Schrader, Netherlands and Germany pledge to return 2,000 artifacts to Ghana
Adam Schrader, Judge rules Marlborough Gallery did not sabotage rival’s ceramics deal
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