June 17, 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 At Liste Basel, Market Trends Give Way to Explorations of Contemporary Anxiety by Elisa Carollo for Observer. Liste Basel opened with emerging galleries showcasing perspectives on identity, memory, and contemporary anxieties.
The Art Newspaper
Senay Boztas, Mauritshuis able to keep its Rembrandts following legal dispute
Anni Irish, New documentary captures two art critics at a turning point
Angella d’Avignon, Getty launches art-focused meditation podcast
Annabel Keenan, Frankenthaler Foundation awards $4.5m across 83 institutions in latest round of climate grants
Carlie Porterfield, Buyers snap up blue-chip works at Art Basel’s opening day
Alexander Morrison, In Pictures: highlights from Art Basel’s Unlimited section, focused on monumental projects
Alexander Morrison, Uganda’s Umoja Art Gallery team forced to cancel attendance at Africa Basel fair after visas denied
Alexandre Crochet, Maze Design Basel fair returns for second edition with more exhibitors—and art
Shanti Escalante De Mattei, First Swiss edition of Zero 10, Art Basel’s digital art initiative, explores medium’s ‘historical arc’
Fred Voon, New York’s oldest museum votes for democracy with new wing
Artforum
Georgica Pettus, Controlling Time, Being Super Hot, and Walking Very, Very Fast: Georgica Pettus Names Her Fancies
Barry Schwabsky, Rococo Revival: Karla Black’s Ornate Minimalism Raids the Cosmetic Kit
From the Editors, Frankenthaler Foundation Awards $4.5 Million in Grants for Climate Action at Cultural Institutions
Artnet
Margaret Carrigan and Jo Lawson-Tancred, At Art Basel, Everyone Is Playing It Safe, Eying Market Recovery
Ann Hirsch, Refik Anadol’s Dataland Leaves Contemporary Art in the Dust
Andrew Russeth, Art Basel’s Unlimited Sector for Giant-Sized Projects: By the Numbers
Vittoria Benzine, Artist Accuses TikTok Star Devon Rodriguez of Copying His Knicks Artwork
Vittoria Benzine, Lost Roman Villa Uncovered After ‘Clandestine’ Excavation
Richard Whiddington, Martin Margiela’s Long-Hidden Personal Archive Hits the Auction Block
Jo Lawson-Tancred, In Basel, Art From Supported Studios Is Finally Getting Its Due
Margaret Carrigan, A Once-Withdrawn Schiele Gets a Second Chance
ARTnews
Devorah Lauter, Galleries Report Lots of Activity at Art Basel’s VIP Preview: ‘As Strong a First Day As We’ve Ever Had’
Maximilíano Durón, Soyoung Yoon to Lead Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program
Andy Battaglia, Christie’s to Open Wine Shop at Rockefeller Center in New York
Brian Boucher, See Obama Center’s Newest Artistic Commissions, Including Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Portrait of the Former First Couple
Tessa Solomon, D.C. Preservationists Sue to Halt Trump’s Sculpture ‘Garden of American Heroes’
Anne Doran, Two 1,700-Year-Old Roman Marble Statues Surface Inside an Ancient Wine Vat in Israel
Devorah Lauter, In Our Current Climate Crisis, Angelica Mesiti Asks How Can We Re-Tune Ourselves
Sarah Belmont, The Best Large-Scale Works at Art Basel Unlimited 2026, From a Deconstructed Airplane to Mounds of Hospital Bedsheets
Shanti Escalante De Mattei, The Performance Lecture Is the Perfect Art Form for the Influencer Age
Rachel Cormack, Phillips Just Had the Highest Grossing Watch Auction in US History at $75.8 M.
Rachel Cormack, Former Patek President Philippe Stern, One of the Watch World’s Most Influential People, Has Died
Brian Boucher, Trump’s Name Is Off the Kennedy Center. Why Is the Facade Still Covered with a Tarp?
Leigh Anne Miller, Ye, aka Kanye West, Spotted at Art Basel
ArtReview
Mark Rappolt, ‘Spectrosynthesis Seoul’ Defends Reading Art Through Biography
From the Editors, Soyoung Yoon appointed director of Whitney’s Independent Study Program
From the Editors, Florence Ostende goes to Guggenheim Bilbao
From the Editors, Russian artist gunned down in Poland
Financial Times
Caroline Roux, Art’s greatest subject? Death
Frieze
Lou Selfridge, Vibeke Tandberg Has the Last Laugh
Alastair Curtis, Andrew Heard’s Sly, Satirical Paintings
Susan Finlay, A Techno-Themed Show’s Generative Final Stop
The Guardian
Veronica Esposito, ‘There’s a kind of magic to her work’: Maren Hassinger’s one-of-a-kind sculptures
Hyperallergic
Hakim Bishara, Claire Valdez Wants to Be Your Artist in Congress
Isa Farfan, House Proposes Slashing Major Arts Education Grant
Aaron Short, Kaleidoscopic Subway Mosaics Celebrate Flatbush’s Theater History
Rhea Nayyar, Whitney Names New Director of Independent Study Program
Aruna D’Souza, “Helter Skelter” Can’t Look America in the Eye
The New York Times
Walker Mimms, In 30,000 Gallons of Water, Hundreds of Bowls Play Music of the Spheres
Travis Diehl, Bruce Nauman on How to Make Art: Don’t Try
The New Yorker
Rebecca Mead, David Hockney’s Hidden Depths
Observer
Elisa Carollo, New York’s Design Sales Offered a Clearer Picture of What Serious Collectors Want
Jasmine Lobe, Performa’s Broadway Benefit Brought Fresh Magic to an Old Format
EDITOR’S PICK - Elisa Carollo, At Liste Basel, Market Trends Give Way to Explorations of Contemporary Anxiety. The strongest response was seen in booths showcasing informed, materially engaged practices that felt urgent given current social conditions rather than merely aligned with a particular market moment.
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, New feathered dinosaur surfaces at a Chinese site famous for early birds
Adam Schrader, School of Visual Arts names interim president as deficits deepen
Adam Schrader, America’s Tapestry stitches the Revolution’s unsung figures
Adam Schrader, Njideka Akunyili Crosby paints the Obamas’ first official dual portrait
Adam Schrader, Artist Pablo Helguera wants your records to build a Latin music archive
The Wall Street Journal
Kelly Crow, The Must-See Artworks Inside the Obama Presidential Center
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