July 24, 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 Observer’s 2026 August Art Fair Calendar by Christa Terry for Observer. A roundup of the end-of-summer art fairs.
Art in America
John Yau, Bard’s Betty Parsons Retrospective Is a Revelation
The Art Newspaper
Gareth Harris, Viking centre that loaned ship for ‘The Odyssey’ says that it has not been compensated by Universal for repairs
Mercedes Ezquiaga, Ecuador’s national museum picks new design for $100m home following pushback to original selection and resignations
Benjamin Sutton, Appeals court sides with Jeff Koons in copyright-infringement dispute over ‘Made in Heaven’ series
Martin Bailey, Philadelphia opens its Van Gogh Sunflowers display with a very rare loan from London’s National Gallery
Artforum
Qingyuan Deng, Can’t Forget Gossip Needs You: CFGNY at Amant
Elise Duryee-Browner, Ruminations from the Serpent Mound
From the Editors, New San Francisco Art College Receives $75 Million From NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang
From the Editors, Michael Wellen and José Luis Blondet to Curate Made in L.A. 2027
From the Editors, JEFF KOONS WINS APPEAL IN COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CASE
From the Editors, Joyce Kozloff, Key Figure in Pattern & Decoration Movement, Comes Out as a Guerrilla Girl
Artnet
Judd Tully, Influential Dealer Joe Helman, Who Shaped the Market for Contemporary Art, Dies at 89
Andrew Russeth, A Guerrilla Girl Takes Off Her Mask—and Other Art World Matters
Min Chen, Forgotten Chagall Reemerges After 20 Years in Customs
Gabi Vidal-Irizarry, Wet Paint Hits the Beach: Nicolas Deshayes Alights at Lucy Chadwick’s Biarritz Gallery
Sonia Manalili and Ben Davis, Re-Air: The Magic of ‘The Artist’s Way’
ARTnews
Lilyanna D’Amato, 5 Ways to Celebrate Betye Saar’s 100th Birthday
Leigh Anne Miller, South Korean Museum Returns Two Qing Dynasty Lion Sculptures to China
Devorah Lauter, Leonardo da Vinci May Become the Face of Future Euro Banknotes
Anne Doran, FBI Returns Looted Cultural Artifacts to Indonesia
Tessa Solomon, The Knicks Championship Trophy Is Heading to the American Museum of Natural History
Andy Battaglia, Restoration of Fire-Ravaged Glasgow School of Art May Be Too Expensive
Maximilíano Durón, Made in L.A. 2027 to Be Curated by Hammer Chief Curator Michael Wellen and MOCA’s José Luis Blondet
Maximilíano Durón, Connecticut Antiques Dealer Pleads Guilty in $2.1 M. Theft Scheme
ArtReview
Jenny Wu, Notes from New York: Spectral Architecture
Maddie Hampton, Group Material’s Means to an End
From the Editors, Shabbir Hussain Mustafa appointed artistic director of Aichi Triennale 2028
From the Editors, Michael Wellen and José Luis Blondet to curate Made in L.A. 2027
From the Editors, ArtReview Podcast | Episode 9: Jack White
Frieze
Tarini Sethi and Livia Russell, Work in Progress: Tarini Sethi
From the Editors, Oyster Clouds and Vodou Flags – Solo Presentations at Frieze London and Frieze Masters
The Guardian
Jonathan Jones, Bedlam dreamscapes, digital-age aliens and a summer pastoral – the week in art
Libby Brooks, Friday briefing: How disabled creators are challenging an ableist world
Hyperallergic
Anna Lee, 132 New York Artists Receive $903,000 in Grants
Anna Lee, Former V&A Academic Programs Head Accuses Museum of “Racist” Behavior
Lisa Yin Zhang and Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Meet the Curators of the Next “Made in LA”
Todd Fine, Mayor Mamdani Should Reclaim the City’s Jefferson Statue
Hrag Vartanian, Giant Wieners, Drag Queens, and Curtis Sliwa at “The Most American Pageant Ever!”
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Required Reading
The New York Times
Roslyn Sulcas, Upstairs, Downstairs, in a House Full of Spies
Zachary Small, The Artist and Filmmaker Helping Trump Reshape Washington
Maya Phillips, The Piece of Art That Inspired One of Theater’s Greatest Works
Observer
Elisa Carollo, Doug Aitken’s ‘Lightscape’ Turns the American Dream Into a Requiem
Jasmine Lobe, When Mother Nature Crashed the Parrish Midsummer Gala
Elisa Carollo, Kai Yoda’s Animist Paintings and the Beast Within
EDITOR’S PICK - Christa Terry, Observer’s 2026 August Art Fair Calendar: In the height of summer, there are loads of smaller, lesser-known and niche art fairs happening around the world.
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Photographer sues Mickalene Thomas and four galleries over 820 Ebony/Jet photos
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Photographer’s copyright suit against Mickalene Thomas
Adam Schrader, Greenwich dealer pleads guilty to laundering money stolen from client’s estate
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: David L. Johnson’s plea agreement in the Greenwich estate-theft case
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