July 15, 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 Christie’s and Sotheby’s 2026 half year results: trophy lots and luxury goods fuel rebound by Anna Brady for The Art Newspaper. Christie’s and Sotheby’s report strong sales for the first half of 2026.
The Art Newspaper
Scarlet Cheng, Gus the T-Rex sells for a record $50.1m at Sotheby’s
Gareth Harris, V&A reveals 2027 exhibitions, ranging from South Asian contemporary art and textiles to punk music and fashion
Catherine Hickley, Bavaria approves creation of Nazi loot panel and independent entity for provenance research
Eve M. Kahn, Comment | A view from the top of Manhattan’s famed Municipal Building
EDITOR’S PICK - Anna Brady, Christie’s and Sotheby’s 2026 half year results: trophy lots and luxury goods fuel rebound: Private sales and flexible financing arrangements are also helping the businesses shore up their bottom lines
Artforum
Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, Regards and Earthly Delights
From the Editors, Three Robert Rauschenberg Sculptures Have Been Donated To The Tate And National Galleries Of Scotland
From the Editors, Suspects in Louvre Heist Say They Were Recruited by a ‘Mastermind’ Who Wasn’t Pleased With Their Efforts
From the Editors, Trump Slashes Millions of Acres from Utah National Monuments
From the Editors, Nazi-Looted Painting Salvaged From Amsterdam Rubbish Pile Is Set To Be Returned
Artnet
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Gus the T. Rex Nets $50 Million as Fossil Fever Rages
Min Chen, Christie’s $4.5 Billion First-Half Haul Is Its Biggest in Five Years
Margaret Carrigan, The Battle for the Smithsonian Board—and Other Art World Matters
Margaret Carrigan, Sotheby’s Posts $4.4 Billion in First-Half Sales, a New Record
ARTnews
Daniel Cassady, Christie’s Reports $4.5 B. in Sales, Strongest First Half in Five Years
Maximilíano Durón, Lyndon J. Barrois Sr.’s Miniature Portraits of World Cup History Explore Moments of Joy and Political Controversy
Harrison Jacobs, Superblue Teams Up With Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre to Bring Immersive Art to Mumbai
Brian Boucher, Zendaya Gets an Earful of ‘Orientalist’ Complaints for Wearing Ancient Iranian Earrings to ‘Odyssey’ Promo Amid US-Iran War
Brian Boucher, Frieze Seoul’s Public Programs Include a Hunt for Hidden Coins and a Place to Talk About Climate Change
Alex Greenberger, Dealer Dominique Lévy Says She Received Death Threats After Denouncing Post–October 7 Letter in Artforum
Brian Boucher, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Announces Citywide Mural Project to Commemorate Historic FIFA World Cup
Leigh Anne Miller, Hieroglyphs Inscribed on Wall of Ancient Building Reveal Name of Mayan Astronomer for the First Time
Andy Battaglia, Man Charged in Theft of More Than 600 Artifacts from UK’s Bristol Museum
Daniel Cassady, Sotheby’s Reports Record $4.4 B. First Half as Private Sales and Luxury Fuel Growth
Daniel Cassady, Sotheby’s $50.1 M. T. Rex Sale Sets New Record as Scientists Scowl
George Nelson, Dinosaur Dealer Sal Aaron Discusses the Fossil Market as Sotheby’s Sells T. Rex for Record $50 M.
Alex Greenberger, Trump Slashes Size of National Monument Rich with Ancient Rock Art
ArtReview
Bex Wade, Sex, Clubs and the Politics of Being Seen
Chris Fite-Wassilak, Why Should We Look at Park Chan-Kyong’s Paintings?
From the Editors, Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is missing after jail sentence ends
Frieze
From the Editors, Visions of the Future at Frieze Seoul 2026
The Guardian
David Smith, ‘People are picking the dumbest fights’: the tortured history of America’s culture wars
Janelle Zara, ‘A frightening piece to perform’: can Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece still shock?
Joanna Moorhead, Enid Marx: the maverick textile artist who changed tube commutes for ever
Hyperallergic
Renée Reizman, For Michael Asher, the Museum Was the Medium
Tulsa Kinney, Meet the Doyennes of Ecosexuality
Rhea Nayyar, Mural Damaged in Break-In at Harriet Tubman Museum
Aaron Short, Connecticut’s Artists Have Been Hiding in Plain Sight
Isa Farfan, Former High Museum Executive Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
Imani Williford, Contending With Fashion Photography’s Artifice
The Los Angeles Times
Tara Anne Dalbow, Enough about her legacy. At 100, Betye Saar just wants to keep making art in L.A.
By Patrick J. McDonnell and Cecilia Sánchez Vidal, The battle over Frida Kahlo: Activists sue to keep her art from leaving Mexico
MOMUS
Rosily Roberts, Hope Lies in the Universe: Alison Pebworth on Americanitis
The New York Times
Zachary Small, Why Did a Major Museum’s Bong Show Go Up in Smoke?
Zachary Fine, Michelangelo’s Forgotten Renaissance Masterpiece
Julia Jacobs and Zachary Small, T. Rex Fossil Sells for $50.1 Million, Putting the King Back On Top
Brian Seibert, Can an Arts Lab Created by a Visionary See a Future Without Him?
Observer
Alai Ganuza, The Flood of A.I.-Generated Images Will Make Human-Made Art More Precious, Not Less
Elisa Carollo, Sean Green Built the Gallery World’s First CRM. Now He’s Building Its First A.I. Agents.
Elisa Carollo, Sébastien Borget Is Expanding Digital Art’s Reach Without Softening Its Ambition
Elisa Carollo, Can Magnus Resch’s A.I. App Crack the Art Market’s Transparency Problem?
OCULA
Baya Simons, Real Life in America, Through the Eyes of Alice Neel
Imogen Lees, In Brussels, Tender Sculpture Celebrates Ireland’s EU Presidency
Zian Chen, Mona, Tasmania’s Most Controversial Museum, to Open Outpost in Bangkok
Naomi Rea, Louvre Heist Suspects: ‘We Could Have Taken More’
Philippa Kelly, Erick Alejandro Hernández, Painter Who Explores Grief and Allegory, Wins $20,000 DAG Prize
Puck
Marion Maneker, Paul Klee’s Angels and Demons
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Tina Spiro, key artist at Minimalism’s advent, seeks to affirm her legacy
The Wall Street Journal
Julie Brener Davich, The Most Expensive Dinosaur Just Sold for $50.1 Million
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