June 30, 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 The Venice Biennale’s Record African Participation Comes With Caveats by Joseph L. Underwood for Art in America. African participation at the 2026 Venice Biennale highlights progress but also exposes persistent inequities in representation and support.
Art in America
EDITOR’S PICK - Joseph L. Underwood, The Venice Biennale’s Record African Participation Comes With Caveats: The past century has seen both enormous progress and chronic concerns.
Maximilíano Durón, Chyrum Lambert’s Paper Cutouts Open New Dimensions
The Art Newspaper
Catherine Hickley, Hew Locke, Oscar Murillo among artists who will take part in Skulptur Projekte Münster 2027
Constanza Ontiveros Valdés, Pre-Hispanic archaeological discovery in western Mexico
Kabir Jhala, Latin American commercial art space to launch in London this October
Benjamin Sutton, New York’s Swiss Institute buys permanent home on the Bowery
From the Editors, London Library, a favourite haunt of the art and literary crowds, celebrates its 185th birthday
Gareth Harris, UK government leaving museums vulnerable with ‘hands-off approach’, parliamentary report says
Artforum
Jeremy Lybarger, Giddily Toward Oblivion: Gladys Nilsson Paints the Human Comedy
David Altmedj, DAVID ALTMEJD ON SURREAL TELEVISION, REAL REALITY, AND AURAL SEDUCTION
Alana Frances Baer, Car Wash Blues: Michael E. Smith’s Exhausted Sculptures Take a Break
From the Editors, Terry Winters Gifts Works to Menil in Lead-Up to Solo Exhibition
From the Editors, Vatican Launches Five-Year Restoration of Raphael’s Fabled Loggia
From the Editors, Gwangju Biennale Announces Open Call for its Next Artistic Director
From the Editors, After 40 Itinerant Years, Swiss Institute Puts Down Roots on the Bowery
Artnet
Judd Tully, An eBay Seller Was Offering Bargain Rates for Major Artists. Our Reporter Investigated
Margaret Carrigan, Nari Ward Tackles the Immigrant Experience at Deste Foundation’s Hydra Fete
Vittoria Benzine, Man Admits Fraud in Sale of Courbet Painting to Bruce Springsteen’s Manager
Vittoria Benzine, Entire Herculaneum Scroll Deciphered by A.I. for the First Time
Richard Whiddington, Norway Unveils Memorial to 2011 Terror Attack
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, London’s Summer Sales Heat Up
Vittoria Benzine, What Is the Raphael Loggia, the Vatican Masterpiece Being Restored After 500 Years?
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger, 2027 Skulptur Projekte Münster Will Include ‘Communal Cooking,’ Examinations of Power
Tessa Solomon, Three Swiss Museums Return Trove of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
Harrison Jacobs, Refik Anadol to Stage Monumental AI Installation on Smithsonian Castle in DC
Leigh Anne Miller, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Announces Replacement for Long-Toppled Lenin Monument in Kyiv
Andy Battaglia, National Museum Cardiff in Wales May Close for Repairs to Address ‘Deteriorating Condition’
Andy Battaglia, 70-Ton Statue of Lionel Messi Appears in Argentina Amid World Cup Fervor
Tessa Solomon, As the California African American Museum Celebrates 50 Years, Its Leader Looks Ahead
Devorah Lauter, Heir of German Jewish Collector Seeks Return of Van Gogh Painting from Musée d’Orsay
Alex Greenberger, What the Hell Is That Weird Painting Donald Trump Just Posted?
Daniel Cassady, Man Pleads Guilty in Fraud That Swindled Bruce Springsteen Manager
ArtReview
J.J. Charlesworth, Rose Wylie’s Bad Paintings
From the Editors, Skulptur Projekte Münster 2027 first artists announced
From the Editors, Swiss Institute buys new premises
Frieze
Claire Shiying Li, ‘Threads of Kinship’ Foregrounds Women’s Autonomy
The Guardian
Veronica Esposito, From card game to a tool of divination: the artistic history of tarot
Jonathan Jones, Never mind the Bayeux! Here’s some other great medieval art – and it’s free
Kate Connolly, ‘We were broke, but fascinated by freedom’: exhibition showcases East German artist Gabriele Stötzer
Jane Egginton, Don Egginton obituary
Hyperallergic
Taliesin Thomas, At Upstate Art Weekend, Cars and Barns Are Galleries
Ariella Shannon, See Photos From a Sweltering, Joyous NYC Pride March
Isa Farfan, Texas Tattoo Artist Gets 30-Year Sentence Over “Anti-Trump” Zines
Clara Maria Apostolatos, The Artists Countermapping the World
Rhea Nayyar, The World’s Tallest Messi Statue Is Also Its Most Salacious
Steel Stillman, Nancy Shaver’s Beloved Store in Hudson to Close After 30 Years
The New York Times
Julia Jacobs, Warrior, Hero, Villain or Fool? 150 Years of Reassessing Custer
Observer
Christa Terry, A Rare Declaration of Independence Broadside Printed by a Secret British Loyalist Is Up for Auction
Elisa Carollo, At Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, NOMAD’s First U.S. Edition Found an Ideal Stage
Megan Fox Kelly, The Frick Legacy: Taste, Ambition and a Collector’s Monument
Jorden Riefe, Why People Still Get Worked Up About Jasper Johns’s ‘Flag’ Painting
Daniel Grant, Why Americana Is the Only Collecting Category of Its Kind
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Auctions boost the art market’s image — but does the money trickle down?
Adam Schrader, I bet on Kalshi whether a dead man’s painting would clear $24 million. It did.
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