June 26, 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 How to Solve the Art World’s Courage Problem by George Berges for Observer. Berges argues that the art world’s biggest problem is a lack of courage, with too many decisions driven by trends and consensus instead of conviction.
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Aruna D’Souza, Greater New York
Art in America
Kelly Presutti, 95 Percent of Museums’ Collections Are Hidden from View. Is “Open Storage” a Real Solution—or a Cop-Out?
The Art Newspaper
Dale Berning Sawa, Too hot to handle? European heatwave exposes museums’ lack of preparedness for climate extremes
Joe Ware, What Andy Burnham’s achievements in Manchester tell us about his views on the arts
Gareth Harris, What sold at Christie’s London auction of controversial Zabludowicz collection?
Laura Hertzfeld, Outrageous and outsized musical tribute to Claes Oldenburg takes the stage in Los Angeles
Garreth Harris, The Box in Plymouth, ‘a welcoming space’ which ‘reaches beyond its walls’, wins UK Art Fund’s Museum of the Year prize
Catherine Hickley, Ireland urged to create national panel to evaluate claims for Nazi-era and colonial loot
Nina Siegal, Manifesta 2026 asks what should happen to Germany’s unused churches
Martin Bailey, Van Gogh and the Dutch old masters: latest research reveals the links
Artforum
Zehra Jumabhoy and Nalini Malani, Blood, Salt, and Fury: Nalini Malani on her latest “Animation Chamber”
From the Editors, Sotheby’s London Masterpiece Sale Earns Record-Setting $392.6 Million
From the Editors, London Museum Announces November Opening of New Smithfield Market Galleries
From the Editors, Marc Dalessio Wins 2026 National Portrait Gallery Award
From the Editors, Courtenay Finn Appointed Chief Curator of Crystal Bridges
Artnet
Min Chen, The Nude Painting That Scandalized Fort Worth
Richard Whiddington, Norman Rockwell’s White House Paintings Go on View After Remarkable Journey
Nolan Simon, Take a Marathon Tour of the Met’s Raphael Show With Painter Nolan Simon
Richard Whiddington, Long-Forgotten Rembrandt, Revealed by Restoration, Comes to Auction
Sonia Manalili and Ben Davis, How to Make a Sculpture With Sound
Richard Whiddington, Massive Viking Age Textile Hub Emerges in Denmark
Vittoria Benzine, What Do Artists Daydream About? A New Book Collects 44 Answers
Vittoria Benzine, Zabludowicz Collection Nets $20M in Low-Key Christie’s Sale
ARTnews
Maximilíano Durón, Tokyo Gendai Names 63 Exhibitors for Upcoming 2026 Edition in September
Brian Boucher, A Rediscovered, Restored Early Rembrandt Comes to Sotheby’s at $15.9 M., Possibly Joining His Priciest Works at Auction
Maximilíano Durón, Crystal Bridges Museum Appoints Courtenay Finn as Chief Curator
Anne Doran, British Artist Tess Jaray, Known for Her Hard-Edge Abstractions, Has Died at 88
Tessa Solomon, Mayor Mamdani Teams Up with Whitney on World Cup Poster Project
Tessa Solomon, Judge Gives Trump Administration Deadline to Explain Tarp Covering Kennedy Center
Brian Boucher, A $5 M. Guston Leads the Zabludowicz Collection at Christie’s London in a $34 M. Postwar to Contemporary Art Sale
Alex Werpin, Art Basel’s Parent Company, MCH Group, To Launch New Miami Festival in October
Andy Battaglia, Laurie Anderson Talks About Fleeting Freedom and America Turning 250
Leigh Anne Miller, Paris Museums and Tourist Sites Continue to Limit Hours Amid Record-Breaking Heatwave
ArtReview
Beatrice Loayza, The Limits of Spielbergian Humanism
Henry Roberts, The Interview: Mark Cousins
Frieze
Andrew Hodgson, Suleman Aqeel Khilji’s Fires of Memory
From the Editors, Six 20th-Century Artists to Discover in ‘Spotlight’ at Frieze Seoul
The Guardian
Eddy Frankel, Jonathan Baldock: Held review – lick me, trap me, pull me in
Jonathan Jones, Ai Weiwei pushes Manchester’s buttons, a ceramicist makes it personal and frames get reframed – the week in art
Nadia Khomami, Plymouth’s the Box wins 2026 Art Fund museum of the year award
Dalya Alberge, Rembrandt painting was altered to erase turban from man’s head, restorers find
Hyperallergic
William Kentridge, A Natural History of William Kentridge’s Studio
Isa Farfan, What You Can’t Miss at Upstate Art Weekend
Valentina Di Liscia, Trump Is Coming for the Architecture Biennale
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Required Reading
AX Mina, Richard Tsao’s “Sanuk” Art
The New York Times
Thomas Rogers, For the U.S.’s 250th Birthday, a German Declaration of Independence Goes on Show
Observer
EDITOR’S PICK - Georges Berges, How to Solve the Art World’s Courage Problem: We constantly hear about galleries closing, retrenchment and an industry model broken beyond repair; what if the secret of survival lies in bravely recentering art as the language of a human experience that unites us all?
Christa Terry, From Mexico City to Kensington Gardens: Inside the 2026 Serpentine Summer Party
J. Cabelle Ahn, Inside the Business of Prints, Multiples and Editions
Elisa Carollo, Sotheby’s Lewis Collection Sale Powered a Record £393.4M Night in London
Christa Terry, Observer’s 2026 July Art Fair Calendar
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, ‘They wanted to steal my humanity’: Artist Hunter Biden blasts New York Post, Daily Mail
Adam Schrader, National Geographic opens its Museum of Exploration
Adam Schrader, Man avoids jail for forged Cycladic figures scheme at Sotheby’s
Adam Schrader, NASA slated Goddard library building for disposal before review
Adam Schrader, FOIA Documents: NASA’s Goddard consolidation briefings
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