March 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 New Report Suggests AI is Widely Used in Commercial Galleries, But Mostly Without Oversight by George Nelson for ARTnews. A new report finds 84% of galleries use AI for operations, though its creative role and market value remains uncertain.
Art in America
From the Editors, American Art History from A to Z
The Art Newspaper
J.S. Marcus, The Met’s blockbuster Raphael exhibition looks beyond the artist’s idealised Madonnas
Gareth Harris, British artist Simon Fujiwara’s new Luxembourg exhibition tackles Guernica, syphilis and the death of a Japanese pornstar
Gareth Harris, Art Fund launches new fellowship scheme for Global Majority curators
Artforum
Theo Belci, Direct to Market: New York’s March Shows, On and Offline
Jan Tumlir, Forever Acid
From the Editors, Calvin Tomkins, Master Profiler of the Contemporary Art World, Dead at 100
Artnet
Maya Kotomori, The Fashion-Art Collective Captivating New York, One Furry Bridge at a Time
Kate Brown, Prussian Porcelain, Techno, Cabaret! Inside Berlin’s First-Ever Art Gala
Min Chen, Brooklyn Museum Treasures, History-Making Guitars—and More Collectibles to Watch
Ben Davis, ‘New Humans’ and the Strange End of Contemporary Art as We Know It
Vittoria Benzine, Monet and Van Gogh Masterpieces Hit the Shampoo Aisle
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Never-Before-Seen Paintings Reveal Anthony Van Dyck’s Formative Italian Period
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Art Basel’s Parent Company Plans New ‘Ideas Festival’—and More Art Industry News
Margaret Carrigan, What the Art Market Still Gets Wrong About Next-Gen Collectors
Eileen Kinsella, This Sam Doyle Painting May Mark a New Price Peak for the Self-Taught Artist
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, The Rise of Tech-Funded Art Spaces in China
Vittoria Benzine, Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ Portrait Makes Its Museum Debut
Richard Whiddington, Met Acquires Long-Lost Work by Mannerist Master Rosso Fiorentino
ARTnews
Hok-Hang Cheung, Hong Kong Readies for Art Week With Optimism for a Rebound—and a Healthy Dose of Caution
EDITOR’S PICK - George Nelson, New Report Suggests AI is Widely Used in Commercial Galleries, But Mostly Without Oversight: The findings are based on interviews with 103 gallery professionals around the world, including owners, directors, and staff working primarily in the UK, Europe, and the US.
Brian Boucher, An Orientalist Painting Central to the Penn Museum’s History To Be Offered for $4 M. at Bonhams
Alex Greenberger, Artist Qualeasha Wood Says Viral ‘BedRot’ Performance Copied Her Work
Alex Greenberger, Agosto Machado, Artist and Activist Whose Shrine Sculptures Kept Queer History Alive, Has Died
Daniel Cassady, Cesar Chavez Mural Painted Over in San Francisco Amid Growing Fallout from Abuse Allegations
Harrison Jacobs, James Murdoch and Art Basel’s Parent Company Are Working on a Big Ideas Festival to Launch in 2028
Alex Greenberger, Czech Culture Minister Dismisses Director of Prague’s National Gallery, Generating Scrutiny
Anne Doran, This Year’s Outsider Art Fair Is More Wide-Ranging Than Ever In Its Definition of ‘Outsider’
Andrew Russeth, Calvin Tomkins, Who Chronicled Generations of Vanguard Artists, Dies at 100
Alex Greenberger, Jordan Wolfson’s Newest Provocation Is a Creepy Prada Ad Campaign
ArtReview
Yuwen Jiang, Yang Fudong’s Memory Palace
From the Editors, Art Dubai 2026 rescheduled in response to Iran War
The Guardian
Chloë Ashby, Cecily Brown: ‘I was too shy to talk to all these super cool kids like Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst’
David Jays, Vincent in Brixton review – a radiant portrait of the artist as a young romantic
Laura Bannister, ‘On the threshold of a new age’: inside the New Museum’s $82m expansion and landmark new exhibition in New York
Hyperallergic
Hakim Bishara, The Whitney Biennial Is for the Faint-Hearted
Bryan Martin, New Ways of Seeing at the Outsider Art Fair
Matt Stromberg, Artists Grapple With Cesar Chávez’s Legacy After Abuse Allegations
Isa Farfan, Israel Reportedly Considers Banning Artist and NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji
AX Mina, Hyperallergic’s Art Tarotscope for the Spring Equinox
Aaron Short, What’s So New About the New Museum Building?
The Los Angeles Times
Jane Horowitz, Just outside Joshua Tree, this art fair set in a desert motel is building something you can’t get in L.A.
Laurie Kellman, The media may have unmasked Banksy — again. That’s angered some fans, but not art dealers
The New York Times
Blake Gopnik, The Genius of Raphael in Three Works of Art
Travis Diehl, Why Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s Go-Go Dancer Piece Remains Subversive
Julia Jacobs, Christopher Columbus Statue Is Installed on White House Grounds
Bonnie Tsui, These Curators Inject Energy and Dialogue Into the Art Fair Experience
Farah Nayeri, From Bottle Caps and Seals Has Come Colorful, Cascading Art
Ted Loos, A Navy Veteran Finds His Niche in the Art World
William Grimes, Calvin Tomkins, Who Profiled Giants of Modern Art, Dies at 100
The New Yorker
Hilton Als, Under the Influence at the Whitney Biennial
David Remnick, Remembering Calvin Tomkins, a Master of the Profile
From the Editors, Elaine Reichek’s Needlepoint Revolution
Observer
Elisa Carollo, At the Outsider Art Fair, Artists at the Margins Become the Market Stars
Christa Terry, Our Favorite Looks from the Frick Collection’s 2026 Young Fellows Ball
Christa Terry, A Night in Berlin: Inside the “Creative Cacophony” of Hamburger Bahnhof’s Landmark Inaugural Gala
Dan Duray, Curators Dieter Buchhart and Anna Karina Hofbauer Want to Reintroduce You to Keith Haring
Elisa Carollo, Why Hong Kong’s Pearl Lam Will Never Stop Betting On Flexibility Over Scale
Olivia Empson, Society On the Slopes: Inside the Art Production Fund’s 2026 Après Ski-Inspired Gala
T Magazine
Kate Guadagnino and Nick Haramis, New Yorkers, Have You Found Your Microscene?
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Law professor ‘verified with Grok’ before sharing photo of mural critical of Mamdani’s wife
Adam Schrader, Magnum Photos launches ‘Odyssey’ print sale, including posthumous Martin Parr work
Adam Schrader, Bank of America settlement talks could halt Leon Black deposition; Judge declines to pause Epstein-related suit
Adam Schrader, Nevelson paired with overlooked Slobodkina in show on early U.S. abstraction
Adam Schrader, NYSWA’s ‘Courting Challenges’ exhibit brings social justice themes to federal court
The Wall Street Journal
From the Editors, Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of March 22
Brian P. Kelly, ‘New Humans: Memories of the Future’ Review: The New Museum’s Maximalist New Chapter
Michael J. Lewis, The New Museum’s Elegant Expansion by OMA
Robert L. Pincus, ‘The Lawrence Tree’: Georgia O’Keeffe’s Wondrously Painted Pine
The Washington Post
Michael S. Rosenwald, Calvin Tomkins, who narrated the rise of contemporary art, dies at 100
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