July 6, 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 Comment | American museum expansions must go beyond glass and steel to serve modern audiences by Joshua Niland for The Art Newspaper. An argument that museum expansions should prioritize accessibility and community use, not just more gallery space.
Art in America
Jackson Arn, Why We Can’t Get Enough Juicy Art Heist Stories
Cat Dawson, A Standout 250th Show Confronts Centuries of American Contradictions
The Art Newspaper
EDITOR’S PICK - Joshua Niland, Comment | American museum expansions must go beyond glass and steel to serve modern audiences: While increasing their built footprints, US museums also need to expand their accessibility to the public. By failing to do so they risk blowing a chance to democratise new spaces at a critical time
Georgina Adam, Can a Riga fair foster a new generation of collectors in Latvia?
Gareth Harris, National Gallery in London adds to its collection of women artists with Angelica Kauffman donation
Artforum
Noelle Bodick, Fight Night: Hirshhorn vs. UFC
Artnet
Margaret Carrigan, New White House Report Alleges ‘Anti-White’ Bias at Smithsonian
Richard Whiddington, British Museum Recasts America’s Founding Through Indigenous Eyes
Ben Davis, The Almost-Canonized: A Closer Look at the Artists Museums Are Showing Now
Min Chen, Frank Gehry Changed the Face of Museums. A Potent Survey Shows How
Vittoria Benzine, Le Corbusier Vandalized This House. An Artist Is Reclaiming Its Memory
Jo Lawson-Tancred, On the Hunt for the Best Art in Ibiza
Min Chen, Did This Large Animatronic Bear Inspire Jeff Koons? It’s Heading to Auction
Margaret Carrigan, There’s New Money in Old Masters
Jo Lawson-Tancred, British Museum Rakes in $3.3M in Bayeux Tapestry Ticket Sales
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, New Money in Old Masters
Sonia Manalili and Min Chen, How Doug Aitken Thinks in Music
ARTnews
Anne Doran, Tens of Thousands Try for Tickets to See Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum
ArtReview
From the Editors, The Interview: Shirin Neshat & Shahrnush Parsipur
Adeline Chia, Raving with Priyageetha Dia
From the Editors, The 12 Exhibitions to See in July 2026
From the Editors, Shahrnush Parsipur, Persian literature’s uncompromising voice, 1946–2026
From the Editors, Artist alleges plagiarism at Manifesta 16
The Brooklyn Rail
Tobias Wofford, Washington, DC and Struggles over History
Sarah Archer, Bicentennial Women: Feminism, Antifeminism, and Craft
Kirk Savage, Cherokee250+
Connie Young Yu and Amy Kahng, Keeping Our Stories Alive
Elise Armani and Katy Siegel, Exhibitions for the Semiquincentennial
Financial Times
Roula Khalaf, The best art exhibitions to see in London right now
The Guardian
David Smith, ‘Flight originated from the imagination’: how artists have captured space travel
Peter Bradshaw, Shoot the People review – a powerful portrait of a talented yet controversial photographer
Hyperallergic
Sofia Thiệu D’Amico, Akira Ikezoe’s Frogs and Bears Have Something Urgent to Tell Us
John Yau, Charles Seliger Painted Nature’s Invisible Architecture
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, A View From the Easel With Arghavan Khosravi
Isa Farfan, Revisiting 35 Years of an Iconic Newark Artist-Led Space
The New York Times
Jason Farago, The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See
Emily LaBarge, Natural Bedfellows: Frida Kahlo’s and Tracey Emin’s Parallel Blockbusters
Graham Bowley, Robin Pogrebin, and Jennifer Schuessler, White House Criticizes Smithsonian Museum for ‘Extreme Political Activism’
Derrick Bryson Taylor, On America’s 250th, Smithsonian Museums Offer Respite and Reflection
Alex Marshall, A One-on-One Date With a Museum’s Treasures
Observer
Emily Zemler, ‘Challengers’ and the Best Movies About Tennis
Elisa Carollo, As the Semiquincentennial Approaches, Collectors Are Rethinking What American History Is Worth
Siddhant Adlakha, In Paweł Pawlikowski’s ‘Fatherland,’ Thomas Mann’s Divided Germany Is a Study of Artistic Compromise and Family Rupture
Dan Duray, With the Taipei Biennial Ahead, Cecilia Alemani Reflects On What Makes an Exhibition Feel Alive
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Evacuated Trump supporters shelter from thunderstorm in African American museum
Adam Schrader, Brooklyn gallery sued over Jay-Z figurines loses separate eviction fight by default
Adam Schrader, Urgent Matter launches digital ‘print’ edition for paid subscribers
The Wall Street Journal
From the Editors, Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of July 5
David McCullough, An Icon’s Secret
From the Editors, 10 Masterpieces to Celebrate the Nation’s 250th Birthday
Brian P. Kelly, ‘Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States’ Review: A Sketchy View of National Pride
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