June 23, 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 ‘Artists need to be able to advocate for their own work’: new guide advises artists on navigating censorship by Emma Riva for The Art Newspaper. The National Coalition Against Censorship has released a free guide to help artists navigate and respond to censorship.
Art in America
Louis Bury, The World’s First AI Art Museum Has a Strange Way of Honoring the Rainforest
The Art Newspaper
Alexander Herman, Ten years after Brexit vote, art market rules remain as messy as ever
Gareth Harris, London Museum announces opening date for new Smithfield location
Scarlet Cheng, Lacma’s inaugural art parade celebrates new building and Los Angeles creative community
Annabel Keenan, Guerrilla-style museum tours reveal the history of climate change through art and heritage in Philadelphia
EDITOR’S PICK - Emma Riva, ‘Artists need to be able to advocate for their own work’: new guide advises artists on navigating censorship: The free digital resource, from the National Coalition Against Censorship, comes as artists navigate an increasingly censorious cultural landscape.
Emma Crichton-Miller, Mexican chef brings spirit of Frida Kahlo to Tate Modern pop up restaurant
Caroline Roux, From the Hamptons to Saint-Tropez: design fairs PAD and Nomad follow the sun
Artforum
Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, Paul McCarthy and Mara McCarthy, Misfit’s Paradise Lost: Paul and Mara McCarthy on the life and times of LA’s The Box
Pujan Karambeiji, In Defense of Myth: On Daniel Spaulding’s Joseph Beuys and History
From the Editors, Embattled National Trust for Historic Preservation Has A New President
From the Editors, Paris Drug Bust Nets Pilfered Picasso Worth Up to $17 Million
From the Editors, Restoration of Parthenon’s Western Facade Is Unveiled
From the Editors, Just Two Mourners Attend David Hockney’s Funeral
Artnet
Kenny Schachter, Kenny Schachter on Dueling Dealers, Shadowy Art Agent Joe Hage Managing Hockney Estate, and More
Gabi Vidal-Irizarry, Wet Paint Barnstorms Art Basel: All the Fairs, All the Players, and One Risqué Bar, All in One Column
Vittoria Benzine, Botticelli’s ‘Venus’ May Hold Clues to a Fatal Illness, Researchers Say
Vittoria Benzine, Rediscovered Amber Portrait of Elizabeth I Heads to Auction
Richard Whiddington, Newly Unearthed Artifact Could Change What We Know About Sutton Hoo
Richard Whiddington, Stolen Picasso Turns Up During Paris Drug Bust
Jo Lawson-Tancred, $627 Million London Museum Gets Opening Date—and More Art Industry News
ARTnews
Harrison Jacobs, The Top Sales at Art Basel 2026, From a $2.3 M. Yves Klein to a $35 M. Picasso
Leigh Anne Miller, The Netherlands and Germany Agree to Return 2,000 Artifacts to Ghana
Andy Battaglia, Kennedy Center Tells Court It Won’t Reschedule Cancelled Shows, Even as Two-Year Closure Is Blocked
Anne Doran, Israeli Artist Yaacov Agam, Known for His Optical and Kinetic Artworks, Has Died at 98
Harrison Jacobs, Sotheby’s Is Offering Knicks Star OG Anunoby’s NBA Finals Game 4–Winning Basketball
Brian Boucher, Tate Modern’s Frida Kahlo Exhibition Has Already Sold a Record 41,000 Advance Tickets
ArtReview
From the Editors, Wulf Herzogenrath, champion of video art, 1944–2026
Frieze
Christina Catherine Martinez, The Chic, Ominous Collages of John Sparagana
The Guardian
Lanre Bakare, Artwork removed from National Portrait Gallery after row over Churchill’s role in Bengal famine
Hyperallergic
Barbara Pollack, Marc Spiegler Got It All Wrong
Isa Farfan, Historic Brooklyn Church Destroyed by “Devastating” Fire
Danielle De Jesus, Capturing New York Pride at the Historic Knicks Parade
Isa Farfan, Happy AlgaeBTQ+ Month From Trump’s Reflecting Pool Memes
Natalie Weis, vanessa german’s Shrine to Forgotten Black Girls
From the Editors, In a New Documentary, Artists Get Candid About AI
Alexis Clements, By the Force of Flavia Rando’s Presence
The New York Times
Alex Williams, Charles Hinman, Who Brought New Dimensions to Painting, Dies at 93
Observer
Nicolas Vamvouklis, The Gallery Shows Not to Miss in Zurich
Fred Garratt-Stanley, The V&A East Opens With an Exhibition That Reconsiders Britain’s Musical History
Olga Samofalova, In Alison Chernick’s ‘House of Criticism,’ Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith Step Out From Behind Their Bylines
Elisa Carollo, Where to Find the Best Contemporary Art in Rome Right Now
Elisa Carollo, Zero 10 in Basel Contextualized Digital Art Within a Broader Historical Framework
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Tracking U.S. museum and cultural sector labor
Adam Schrader, Denver Art Museum workers ratify first union contract at a Colorado museum, union says
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