June 2, 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 Is the art market ruining art? by Jane Morris for Apollo Magazine. Exploring whether major biennials can truly exist outside the art market, despite efforts to spotlight artists beyond its commercial mainstream.
Apollo Magazine
Lauren Kane, Frederic Church’s miracle home on the Hudson
Irina Dumitrescu, The furious creativity of Matisse’s final years
Edward Behrens, The quiet radicals of the Singapore art scene
Michael Delgado, Summer is here and so is Treasure House
Hettie Judah, The Venice Biennale’s excess baggage problem
Michael Delgado, Howzat! The fine art of cricket at Lord’s
EDITOR’S PICK - Jane Morris, Is the art market ruining art?: The death of Koyo Kouoh, the artistic director of the Venice Biennale, in May 2025 – a year before the exhibition’s opening last month – raised many questions about how the show, ‘In Minor Keys’, would be realised. But one thing was certain: it was not going be a survey of the titans or fast-rising stars who power the contemporary art market.
Peter Parker, Art and the invention of the homosexual
Emma Crichton-Miller, What makes early English embroidery so valuable?
Noah Margulis, Can the Dutch masters help us imagine New Amsterdam?
Christopher Turner, A forgotten modernist masterpiece in Vienna reopens
Conrad Landin, Connoisseurs: the experts who shaped our taste in art
Damion Searls, El Anatsui’s haunting driftwood sculptures
Lloyd De Beer, The forgotten collectors of Britain’s Gilded Age
Art Asia Pacific
Annette Meier, Khaled Sabsabi: Splintered Worlds
Reiko Tomii, Arakawa Visits Arakawa [sic and sic]
Yuqian Fan, French Artists Call for Boycott of Centre Pompidou Hanwha
Kalani Ko, Kazakhstani Art Community Demands Reinstatement of Censored Venice Work
Art in America
Emily Watlington, 5 New Books to Transport You Elsewhere This June
The Art Newspaper
Gareth Harris, Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, American artist and satirist, has died at age 40 in São Paulo, local media reports
Gareth Harris, Dawn Airey announced as new chair of Arts Council England
Constanza Ontiveros Valdés, Chichén Itzá reopens after dispute with vendors that led to 13-day closure
Scarlet Cheng, Inside the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s major expansion
Anni Irish, New art fair focused on community and accessibility launching in Philadelphia
Philippa Pham Hughes, Comment | Opportunists are to blame for the Kennedy Center’s downfall
Artforum
From the Editors, “Jerry Gogosian” creator Hilde Lynn Helphenstein Found Dead in Brazil
From the Editors, British Museum Draws Criticism for Postponing Lecture on “Ancient History of Israel and Judah”
From the Editors, Maurizio Cattelan’s Banana Stolen from Centre Pompidou-Metz
Artnet
Jo Lawson-Tancred, What Will Art Basel’s No-Preview-Allowed ‘Basel Exclusive’ Initiative Offer?
Richard Whiddington, A Dystopian ‘Black Mirror’ Experience Lands at the Shed
Richard Whiddington, Milan’s Beloved Bull Mosaic Gets Restored—and Locals Have Thoughts
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Pioneering Kinetic Artist Julio Le Parc Dies at 97—and More Art Industry News
Vittoria Benzine, Maurizio Cattelan’s Infamous Banana Vanishes. Again
Richard Whiddington, Mondrian Estate Teams With One-Time NFT Sensation Doodles
ARTnews
Brian Boucher, Sotheby’s Offers Art and Design From Estate of Revered Dealer Barbara Gladstone, Led by Richard Prince and a Jean Prouvé Sideboard
Brian Boucher, Chinese Archaeologist Liu Bin, Known for Work at Liangzhu Site, Pleads Guilty to Corruption and Misappropriation Charges
Tessa Solomon, DuSable Museum President Responds to Whistleblower Lawsuit in New Filing
Brian Boucher, Art World Commentator Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, Better Known as Jerry Gogosian, Found Dead in São Paulo
Andy Battaglia, Richard Neutra House in LA With Creek Beneath It Hits Market for $6 M.
Daniel Cassady, Burial Cache Found at Ancient Cemetery in Egypt Offers Clues to Funeral Customs
Daniel Cassady, Brazilian Police Believe They Have Identified Architect of Matisse Theft at Biblioteca Mário de Andrade
Devorah Lauter, Someone Stole Maurizio Cattelan’s Banana, and the Centre Pompidou-Metz Is Pressing Charges
ArtReview
From the Editors, Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, artworld satirist behind Jerry Gogosian persona, 1985–2026
BOMB
Robert Longo, Clifford Ross by Robert Longo
Cultured
Sarah Cascone, Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, Who Memed the Art World as Jerry Gogosian, Is Dead
Frieze
Sam Moore, Lewis Hammond’s Figures Linger at the Threshold
Galerie
Lane Nieset, Tadashi Kawamata Transforms Ruinart’s Storied Estate with Nature-Inspired Installations
Paul Lester, 8 Must-See Solo Gallery Shows in June
The Guardian
Kevin Rawlinson, Media veteran Dawn Airey to take over as chair of Arts Council England
From the Editors, ‘An endless silent scream feeling’: artist Roni Horn on horror, hope and landing in a lake in Iceland
Lanre Bakare, Early portrait denied by Lucian Freud shown for first time after authentication
The New York Times
Leo Sands, Was Churchill a Serious Artist? This Exhibition Says, ‘Yes.’
Michael Kimmelman, Obama Center’s Two Sides: A Lovely Park and a Forbidding Tower
Observer
Christa Terry, Inside El Museo del Barrio’s 2026 Gala: J Balvin, $1 Million and a Packed House
Elisa Carollo, The Frick Collection’s Louis Vuitton Partnership Is Luxury’s Latest Cultural Power Move
Elise Morton, Manuel Mathieu’s Venice Biennale Debut Asks How We Carry the Past
Elisa Carollo, Annie Taylor On Collecting as Cultural Stewardship
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Art-world satirist Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, known as Jerry Gogosian, found dead in Brazil
The Washington Post
Philip Kennicott, The Obama Center opens as a time warp to an old political order
Art Spell is a subscription-based daily roundup of art news and reviews to help you stay current with what’s being reported on in the visual arts community. The profits from Art Spell are donated to organizations supporting art journalists and writers.