May 1, 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 Venice Biennale Jury Resigns Amid Tension Over Awards Ban by Alex Marshall for The New York Times. The prize jury for the Venice Biennale resigned just days before opening after backlash over its decision to exclude artists from countries accused of war crimes.
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Reinaldo Ladagga, Paul Klee
Art in America
Emily Watlington, After His Untimely Death, Rutherford Chang’s Survey Rewrites What a Square Can Do
Louis Bury, Trevor Paglen’s New Book Says AI Is Rewriting What Images Do
The Art Newspaper
Mercedes Ezquiaga, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá’s director departs amid accusations she harassed staff
James Imam, Venice Biennale’s jury resigns
Matthew Holman, Georg Baselitz, German artist who turned figurative painting on its head, has died, aged 88
Alton Yan, US National Gallery of Art receives $116m gift to continue nationwide lending programme
Gareth Harris, Botticelli under UK export ban purchased by Klesch Collection
Maria Luisa del Río, Oldest astronomical observatory in the Americas discovered in Peru
Benjamin Sutton, The curator awakens: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art reveals inaugural exhibition lineup
Annabel Keenan, US exhibition unearths the Etruscans and their enduring cultural influence
Ben Luke, Zurbarán in London, the Carnegie International, Walter Sickert’s Ennui—podcast
Martin Bailey, Rare early photographs reveal lost sites featured in Van Gogh’s paintings
Georgina Adam, Under new ownership, Art Monte Carlo voices ‘global ambitions’
Maev Kennedy, Rare pigment worth more than its weight in gold found in Roman infant burials in York, UK
Kabir Jhala, Gallery Weekend Berlin opens ranks as city faces identity crisis
Artforum
Olivia Kan-Sperling, Queen of Kitsch: Carlotta Champagne and the Art of Being Otherwise
Daniel Wenger and Rachel Wetzler, Vital Acts: On the Public Work of Criticism
Meg Onli, Remembering Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), Contemporary Griot
Erin Christovale, Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), A Black Radical Imagination
From the Editors, Portland’s Converge 45 Triennial Announces Participating Artists
From the Editors, Entire 2026 Venice Biennale Jury Resigns
From the Editors, Embattled US Venice Biennale Pavilion is Seeking Donations
Artnet
Ben Davis, The Artists Who Ruled the Biennial Circuit Over the Last Four Years
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Isabel Nolan’s Work Challenges Everything We Think We Know About Creativity
Vittoria Benzine, Georg Baselitz, Neo-Expressionist Pioneer Who Upended German Art, Dies at 88
Richard Whiddington, Venice Biennale Jury Resigns in the Wake of Controversial Prize Ban
Richard Whiddington, Lucas Museum Aims to Tell the History of Storytelling via 1,200 Objects
Vittoria Benzine, U.S. Returns Hundreds of Looted Antiquities to Italy
Ben Davis and Sonia Manalili, What Biennials Reveal About the Art World
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger, Zoe Leonard Departs Hauser & Wirth for New York’s Maxwell Graham Gallery
Daniel Cassady, Auctioneer Kimberly Pirtle Leaves Sotheby’s to Launch Hybrid Art-Philanthropy Advisory
Brian Boucher, Philadelphia Is Rich With Museums and Galleries. ‘Elsewhere’ Aims to Find Out If It Can Support an Art Fair
Tessa Solomon, Georg Baselitz, Pioneering German Postwar Painter, Dies at 88
Brian Boucher, Texas Man Who Orchestrated $20 M. Crypto Scam Based on Fictitious Van Gogh and Picasso Masterpieces Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison
Anne Doran, Timm Ulrichs, Pioneering Conceptual Artist, is Dead at 86
Andy Battaglia, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Calls on King Charles to Return Treasured Diamond to India
Leigh Anne Miller, Family of Nonagenarian Sculptor Is Fighting to Halt Demolition of Iconic Brutalist Fountain in Downtown San Francisco
Brian Boucher, Picasso Painting That Cost S. I. Newhouse a MoMA Board Position Heads to Christie’s for $55 M.
Maximilíano Durón, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Appoints Essence Harden as Senior Curator
Brian Boucher, Montclair Art Museum Hires Esteemed Curator Kate Kraczon After Layoffs at Brown University
Tessa Solomon, Italian Culture Minister Launches Inspection of Venice Biennale’s Russian Pavilion
Maximilíano Durón, Venice Biennale Jury Resigns En Masse, Organizers to Award “Visitors’ Lions” in November
Maximilíano Durón, Lucas Museum Reveals First Set of Exhibitions Curated by Founder George Lucas
ArtReview
Taro Nettleton and Noriko Yamakoshi, The Interview: Ei Arakawa-Nash
Jenny Wu, Notes from New York: The World in a Convex Mirror
From the Editors, Venice Biennale 2026 International Jury resigns, competition criteria changes
From the Editors, Georg Baselitz, artist who turned painting upside down, 1938–2026
From the Editors, Converge 45 announces list of artists for 2026 edition
From the Editors, Changes at Manifesta as Hedwig Fijen steps down
Frieze
Jiwon Yu, Must-See: Rosa Loy Finds a Durable Form of Togetherness
From the Editors, German Painter Georg Baselitz Has Died Aged 88
Amina Ahmed, Nikita Kadan Questions Whether War Ever Ends
Andrew Durbin, Behind the 2026 Venice Issue Cover
The Guardian
Jonathan Jones, A mind-bending Spaniard, an imagistic Puerto Rico and a lush Latvian – the week in art
Philip Oltermann, German artist Georg Baselitz dies aged 88
Angela Giuffrida, Venice Biennale jury quits amid row over participation of Russia
Jonathan Jones, ‘In every slurp of paint, you see the Holocaust’: the genius and torments of Georg Baselitz
Hyperallergic
Valentina Di Liscia, Tania Bruguera on Why Today’s Art Must Be Political
Rhea Nayyar, An Art Fair for the “Global Majority” Debuts in Brooklyn
Isa Farfan, Historic Monument Honors New York’s First Arabic-Speaking Community
Ela Bittencourt, Georg Baselitz, Purveyor of the Tortured Male Genius Myth, Dies at 88
Hakim Bishara, Banksy Erects Anti-Imperialist Monument in Central London
Lisa Yin Zhang, Required Reading
Valentina Di Liscia, Art Movements: Curators Named for El Museo’s Latine Art Survey
Rhea Nayyar, Venice Biennale Jury Resigns
The Los Angeles Times
Jessica Gelt, Lucas Museum unveils inaugural exhibitions curated by George Lucas himself
The New York Times
EDITOR’S PICK - Alex Marshall, Venice Biennale Jury Resigns Amid Tension Over Awards Ban: The jury of the world’s most important art exhibition had said it wouldn’t consider artists from countries whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity.
Walker Mimms, The Prince of Italian Pop Art Smiles Again
Robin Pogrebin, The Audacity of Art at the Obama Presidential Center
Observer
Sarah Moroz, Marina Abramović Brings Psychodrama to Copenhagen’s Cisternerne
Sarah Moroz, In Warsaw, “The Woman Question” Dismantles Art History’s Greatest Myth
Suzaan Boettger, What’s Left to Learn from Marcel Duchamp?
Dan Duray, Curator Adriana Farietta On Why CONDUCTOR Is the Fair the Art World Needs Right Now
Dian Parker, The Metamorphic Wonder of Edmund de Waal
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.