July 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 Interest in art’s benefit to health grows as Wales and Greece take major steps by Gareth Harris for The Art Newspaper. Wales, Greece, and the UK are increasingly embracing the arts as a tool to improve public health and wellbeing.
Apollo Magazine
Robert Rubsam, Who gets to be an American artist?
Anna Brady, Old Masters show their muscle in London
From the Editors, Mexican government faces lawsuit to stop modern masterpieces leaving country
Samuel Reilly, In search of Ghana’s looted Asante gold
Art Asia Pacific
Joyce Lee, Abu Dhabi Welcomes New Frank Gehry-Designed Performing Arts Center
Sabrina Hau, Canadian Minister Criticizes Palestine Exhibition at National Museum
The Art Newspaper
EDITOR’S PICK - Gareth Harris, Interest in art’s benefit to health grows as Wales and Greece take major steps: Government awareness is increasing globally as the emphasis shifts from treatment towards prevention
Hadani Ditmars, Experts blame extensive earthquake damage in Venezuela on decades of government neglect
Scarlet Cheng, Raven Halfmoon brings her giant doubles to Ballroom Marfa
Daniel Grant, When two become one: the complex dance of museum mergers
Hadani Ditmars, Experts blame extensive earthquake damage in Venezuela on decades of government neglect
Daniel Grant, When two become one: the complex dance of museum mergers
Scarlet Cheng, Raven Halfmoon brings her giant doubles to Ballroom Marfa
Gareth Harris, The worst of us: a philosopher’s guide to the world’s most depraved art
Chloë Ashby, How novelists continue to be inspired by artists
José da Silva, An expert’s guide to Gustave Courbet: five must-read books on the French painter
Eileen Kinsella, Sotheby’s partners with the Virgil Abloh Estate to sell a set of rare prints to fund university scholarships
Riah Pryor, Man jailed as Sotheby’s due diligence foils antiquities fraud
Artforum
From the Editors, White House Attacks Smithsonian for “Extreme Political Activism”
From the Editors, London’s National Gallery Gifted Angelica Kauffman Painting of Achilles
From the Editors, Plagiarism Dispute Emerges Over Installation At Manifesta 16 In Germany
From the Editors, Estonia’s Tallinn Art Hall Will Reopen Following Five Year Restoration
Artnet
Gabi Vidal-Irizarry, In Chloe Wise’s ‘Extrasensory’ Basel Show, UFOs Meet Scripture
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Businessman Fined in U.K.’s First Russia Art Sanctions Conviction
Vittoria Benzine, Le Corbusier Vandalized This House. An Artist Is Reclaiming Its Memory
ARTnews
Maximilíano Durón, Jonathan Anderson Takes Inspiration from Sculptor Lynda Benglis for Dior’s Latest Haute Couture Collection
Daniel Cassady, Former Marlborough Gallery Space in Chelsea Sells for $7.5 M.
Karen Chernick, The Frida Kahlo Effect: Why the Mexican Artist Is Still a Pop-Cultural Icon Today
Tessa Solomon, Amid Its Own Copyright Controversy, Midjourney Asks Court to Reveal How Disney Uses AI
Andy Battaglia, 2,000-Year-Old Gold Rings Found in Thailand by Human Bones
Maximilíano Durón, Portrait of Spanish Count-Duke Is Newly Attributed to Velázquez by Detroit Institute of Arts Director
Anne Doran, Archaeologists Uncover a Well-Preserved Byzantine-Era City in Egypt’s Western Desert
Tessa Solomon, Yemen Identifies 28 Looted Artifacts at British Museum, London Auction Houses
Alex Greenberger, Yervant Gianikian, Artist Who Helped Win Armenia the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion, Dies at 84
Daniel Cassady, Oregon Estate Sale’s $45 Chinese Paintings Could Be Worth Millions, Lawsuit Claims
Devorah Lauter, Jewelry Heist at French Decorative Arts Museum Is Latest in Spate of Thefts
Alex Greenberger, Artist Sues Downtown New York Gallery, Alleging That He Wasn’t Paid for Sold Artworks
Sheryl Nance-Nash, Meet the Founders of Black Crown, the Only Active Black-Owned Fine Art Auction House in the US
Harrison Jacobs, In New Report, White House Accuses Smithsonian Museum of Abandoning Scholarship for Extreme ‘Political Activism’
ArtReview
Marcus Civin, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Is Awfully Nice
From the Editors, Shahrnush Parsipur, Persian literature’s uncompromising voice, 1946–2026
BOMB
Yutong Shi, Kainoa Gruspe by Yutong Shi
The Brooklyn Rail
Phong H. Bui, Willem de Kooning: The Insatiable Master
Rebecca Allen, Women Across America: 1945–1979
Sarah Barash, Circa 1776: Jews in Colonial America
Rosa Boshier González, David Hockney: Works from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
Ann McCoy, Anselm Kiefer: The Women Alchemists
Frieze
From the Editors, Frieze London Artist Award Winner Theo Triantafyllidis Is Creating a Giant Spider
Nicholas Gamso, Oliver Osborne Asks How We Picture Childhood
Oriane Durand, Shuang Li Enters the Eye of the Digital Storm
The Guardian
Cath Slessor, Ushida Findlay review: the mighty culture clash that gave us the dazzling Soft and Hairy House
Nino Bucci, ‘Pam the Bird’ has become a divisive fixture on Melbourne landmarks – but is it art or vandalism?
Lanre Bakare, ‘I’ve always used my voice online’: the rapid rise of photographer Misan Harriman – and what happened next
Dee Jefferson, ‘Charged with horror and anguish’: Arthur Boyd’s nightmarish Nebuchadnezzar series opens in major new Bundanon show
Hyperallergic
Isa Farfan, Trump Accuses Smithsonian of “Anti-White Activism” in Draconian New Report
Anna Lee, The Met Museum’s Staff Have Some Thoughts About the Art
Natalie Haddad, Carmelita Tropicana Was Born Out of the Closet
Rhea Nayyar, Thieves Steal Over $4.5M in Jewelry From French Museum
Laura Zornosa, In Two Chicago Exhibitions, Liberation Takes the Floor
Michael Glover, The Ruthless Portraits of Elizabeth I’s Reign
The Los Angeles Times
Steve Peoples, White House report brands Smithsonian leadership as radical activists who can’t be trusted
The New York Times
Zachary Small, Another Smithsonian Director Faces the White House’s Wrath
Jennifer Schuessler, The History at the Smithsonian That the White House Finds Unpatriotic
Richard Sandomir, Richard H. Glanton, Combative Head of Barnes Foundation, Dies at 79
Observer
Daniel Grant, When Art Forgeries Are Exposed, the Fakes Don’t Simply Disappear
Caleb Anderson, Six Rare Rolexes That Explain the Top of the Brand’s Vintage Market
Elisa Carollo, Anoushka Mirchandani On the Body as Personal and Familial Archive
Elisa Carollo, In London’s Classics Week Sales, Old Masters Were Back, But Only the Best of the Best
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, White House says Smithsonian ‘cannot be trusted’
Adam Schrader, Nantucket artist fired by arts association for letting autistic teen take figure drawing class
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Congdon-Pinto v. Artists Association of Nantucket
Adam Schrader, David Hines says art sales can distort artists’ work
The Wall Street Journal
J.S. Marcus, ‘Matisse: 1941-1954’ Review: A Career’s Vibrant Conclusion
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