March 16, 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 Art Problems: How Do I Get Gallery Representation? by Paddy Johnson for Hyperallergic. Johnson argues that artists are more likely to gain gallery representation when they prove their work can sell and build momentum independently.
Airmail
From the Editors, The Making of Ai Weiwei
Tobias Grey, To Florence, with Love
Apollo Magazine
Rakewell, Wildlife vs Winston Churchill
From the Editors, UNESCO calls for ‘maximum restraint’ as US-Israeli bombing damages heritage sites in Iran
Art in America
Emily Cox, A Distinctly Nordic Sensibility Ignites a Quiet Craze
Emily Watlington, The Wild Ways Artists Have Made Their Livings, from the Renaissance to Today
Rhoda Feng, Can a Play Capture an Artist as Enigmatic as Henry Darger?
The Art Newspaper
Scott Reyburn, Can Tefaf Maastricht keep up with the experience economy?
Julia Halperin, Bye-bye to bogos: the rise and fall of ‘buy-one, give-one’ art sales
From the Editors, Damien Hirst offers his hot take on art dealers
Artnet
Annikka Olsen, Rising Artist Veronica Fernandez’s Uneasy Monument to Childhood Imagination
Katie White, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: Surrealist Lovers Who Defied the German Occupation
Jo Lawson-Tancred, David Hockney Takes on the Bayeux Tapestry With a 300-Foot iPad Epic
Vittoria Benzine, Strange Coin Used on U.K. Bus Turns Out to Be 2,000-Year-Old Relic
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Art Dealer Yves Bouvier to Stand Trial Over Missing Picassos—and More Art Industry News
Margaret Carrigan, Art Dealers Report More Sales in 2025—But Fewer Buyers
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger, King Charles Visited Tate Britain’s ‘Turner and Constable’ Show and Loved What He Saw
Daniel Cassady, Italy’s Culture Minister Calls For Resignation Over Russian Pavilion’s Return to Venice Biennale
Daniel Cassady, New York Academy of Art to Give Away Money Donated by Jeffrey Epstein
Daniel Cassady, Contemporary Art Market Declines For Fourth Straight Year, as Old Masters and Impressionist Works Rebound: Art Basel UBS Report
Daniel Cassady, Lawsuit Alleges DOGE Cancelled $349,000 HVAC Grant to Museum after ChatGPT Flagged It As DEI
Maximilíano Durón, South Carolina’s International African American Museum Officially Acquires Earliest Known Daguerreotypes of Enslaved Americans
Leigh Anne Miller, Thomas J Price, Artist Behind Viral Times Square Sculpture, Unveils New Bronze in London
Harrison Jacobs, Senators Whitehouse and Schumer Call for ‘Proactive Measures’ to Protect Philip Guston and Ben Shahn Murals
Andy Battaglia, Van Gogh Museum Acquires Only Third Painting by a Female Artist at TEFAF
Brian Boucher, Dealers at TEFAF Maastricht Report Robust Sales, Offering Works Ranging from Two Inches to Room-Size
ArtReview
From the Editors, Jürgen Habermas, philosopher famed for and within the public sphere, 1929–2026
From the Editors, ArtReview Podcast | Episode 3: Noémie Goudal
Will Ferreira Dyke, Before He Stole the Oscars, Timothée Chalamet Stole Ballet and Opera
The Brooklyn Rail
Susan Harris, Ursula von Rydingsvard
Valerie Mindlin, Jannis Kounellis: Labyrinth without Walls
Caitlin Anklam, Lotty Rosenfeld: Disobedient Spaces
Ann C. Collins, The Lost Beauty of Humankind
William Corwin, Joyce Pensato
Financial Times
Melanie Gerlis, Is Hong Kong’s art market (slowly) bouncing back?
The Guardian
Diane Taylor, Friendships, fishing and community clean-ups: the unseen kindness of life on the Bibby Stockholm barge
Donna Ferguson, Edvard Munch’s formative influence on Paula Rego revealed in unearthed painting
Ima Caldwell, Quick on the draw: the worldwide appeal of sketching 100 people in a week
Kate Connolly, ‘Negatives are photographic truths’: the collector who fled Russia with a haul of second world war images
Hyperallergic
Isa Farfan, A Visual Journey Through 150 Years of the Legal Aid Society
Megan Bickel, Beverly Buchanan’s Architecture of Care
Angela Harutyunyan and Ana Teixeira Pinto, On Curating Carnage
EDITOR’S PICK - Paddy Johnson, Art Problems: How Do I Get Gallery Representation?: Dreaming of showing at your favorite gallery? Paddy Johnson has the masterplan.
Sarah Bond, How Much Did It Cost to Paint a Pompeii Room Egyptian Blue?
Rhea Nayyar, 60% of Sudan’s National Museum Looted, Report Says
The New York Times
Zachary Small and Jennifer Schuessler, Why Did Trump Officials Award $2 Million to a Small Art School in Queens?
The New Yorker
Zachary Fine, What Egon Schiele Saw at the Hospital
Observer
Daniel Grant, One Work, Many Valuations: Why Pricing Art Is So Difficult
Elisa Carollo, The Masterpieces Not to Miss at TEFAF Maastricht
Tamar Lortkipanidze, Observer’s Guide to the Best Art Galleries in Malta
Elisa Carollo, The Mechanics Powering Heritage Brand Jewelry’s Secondary Market Appeal
Dan Duray, One Fine Show: Rana Begum’s “Reflection” at the Gallery at Windsor in Florida
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Why Reuters Shouldn’t Have Unmasked Banksy
Adam Schrader, Logitech Muse pencil gives artists the precision Apple Vision Pro lacked
Adam Schrader, Statue stolen from controversial ‘La Jornada’ monument honoring Juan de Oñate
Adam Schrader, Trump announces Richard Grenell has left the Kennedy Center
Adam Schrader, New York Transit Museum workers file NLRB petition seeking union recognition
The Wall Street Journal
Dominic Green, ‘Wright of Derby: From the Shadows’ Review: Candlelight Canvases at the National Gallery
Sarah Medford, 6 American Land-Art Sites That Challenge Our View of Nature and Art
From the Editors, Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of March 15
The Washington Post
Harrison Smith, Sculptor Thaddeus Mosley, who found international fame in his 90s, is dead
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.