May 11, 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 York Art Week Will Test the Market’s Momentum by Margaret Carrigan for Artnet. New York art week signals renewed market confidence, though collectors and dealers remain more cautious and intentional in their spending.
Airmail
Patricia Mears, Form over Function
Apollo Magazine
Nicole Rudick, How Marcel Duchamp invented modern art
From the Editors, Venice Biennale opens amid protests
Claire Barliant, The theatrical world of Martin Wong
Arjun Sajip, Frieze is building bridges in New York
Hettie Judah, The Venice Biennale’s excess baggage problem
From the Editors, Wallace Chan’s titanium titans
From the Editors, The Rolling Stones figure it out
Gillian Darley, Follies de grandeur: Portmeirion turns 100
Samuel Reilly, Wanted: permanent home for Glasgow’s perpetual motion machines
Art Asia Pacific
Emanuelle Richter, Venice Biennale’s Visitor Lions Face Artist Boycott
Louis Lu, Dozens of Pavilions Close During Strike at 61st Venice Biennale
Emanuelle Richter, Dian Suci Wins 10th Max Mara Art Prize for Women
Louis Lu, The Permanence of Refusal: Interview with Ding Yi
Art in America
Emily Watlington, Venice Diary Day 3: Offsite Highlights Include Fleshy Films and Vegetarian Videos
The Art Newspaper
Martin Bailey, Famous Cranach painting spotted in rare photograph of Hitler’s apartment
Gareth Harris, More than 70 Venice Biennale artists withdraw from awards
Pamela C. Samaniego, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit reopens, with the local community front and centre
Sarah Cascone, This month’s blockbuster auctions in New York could bring upwards of $2.5bn
Caroline Roux, Artist Bouke de Vries creates sculptural porcelain bottles for Dries Van Noten perfume
Anna Brady, New £5.5m record for Islamic glass leads London sales
Carlie Porterfield, Frieze New York marks 15th edition with expanded international reach
Melanie Gerlis, Comment | Flourishing markets beyond the big three will benefit the art ecosystem—and the planet
J. Cabelle Ahn, Exhibitions marking 250th anniversary of the US open in New York
Artforum
From the Editors, Strike Rocks Venice Biennale Ahead of Public Opening as Pavilions Close
From the Editors, Richard Lewer Wins 2026 Archibald Prize
From the Editors, Kader Attia to Curate 2027 Kochi-Muziris Biennale
From the Editors, 2026 Max Mara Art Prize for Women Goes to Dian Suci
Artnet
From the Editors, Best in Show: 6 Standouts at the 2026 Venice Biennale
Margaret Carrigan, France Passes Landmark Restitution Law for Looted Art
Margaret Carrigan, New York Art Week Will Test the Market’s Momentum
J. Cabelle Ahn, Why Contemporary Artists Are Raiding the Renaissance Toolkit
Min Chen, National Museum of Women in the Arts Director Susan Fisher Sterling to Retire
Richard Whiddington, Lost Copy of Earliest-Known English Poem Found in Roman Library
Sonia Manalili and Kate Brown, The Most Provocative Performance in Venice
ARTnews
Alex Greenberger, How Painter Akira Ikezoe Became This Spring’s Breakout Star in New York
Alex Greenberger, Bruno Bischofberger, Art Dealer of Stars Like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dies at 86
Alex Greenberger, Venice Biennale Artists Decline Consideration for Golden Lions Chosen by Public Vote
Anne Doran, Federal Panel Considers Plan to Paint Granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building White
Brian Boucher, Numerous Venice Biennale Pavilions and Artists Go on Strike in Protest over Israel’s Participation
Leigh Anne Miller, Rare Unlooted Grave Among 44 Roman Graves Uncovered in Eastern Croatia
Andy Battaglia, DOGE Cuts to National Endowment for the Humanities Were Unconstitutional, Court Rules
Harrison Jacobs, Who Owns the Megayachts Docked Outside the Venice Biennale?
Maximilíano Durón, In Venice, Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince Ask: What Is Appropriate to Appropriate?
Alex Greenberger, Artist Kader Attia Will Organize 2027 Edition of India’s Top Biennial
Alex Greenberger, Was Jeffrey Epstein’s Copy of a Modernist Painting Available for Sale on eBay?
Maximilíano Durón, As Her Venice Biennale Opens, Koyo Kouoh Foundation Launches in Memory of Late Curator
George Nelson, Controversial Painter Georg Baselitz Knew His Venice Show Would Be His Last. He Went Out Quietly.
ArtReview
Mikala Tai, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art 2026 Review: Up Close and Personal
From the Editors, 81 artists withdraw from Venice Biennale competition
Bloomberg News
Felix Salmon, The High-End Art Fair Where Everything Costs $0
BOMB
Allison Carey, Victoria Dugger by Allison Carey
The Brooklyn Rail
Dan Cameron, Katie DeGroot: The Arboreal Life
Ekin Erkan, Archie Rand: Heads
Andrew Paul Woodbright, Alex Carver: The Knot
Raphy Sarkissian, Sean Scully: The Nature of Art
Saul Ostrow, The Adventure of Domenico Gnoli
Cultured
Eve Eismann, The 17 Gallery Shows to See During Frieze Week in New York
Sam Falb, Who’s The Next Obsession? 12 European Collectors Reveal How They Discover New Talent
Sarah Cascone, Dale Chihuly Is Synonymous With Seattle. But Venice Gave Him a Medium, a Career Blockbuster, and a Son.
Family Style
Adriana Blidaru, The Full Picture
The Guardian
Chloë Ashby, Maracas in hand, my toddler wanders freely through a gallery of priceless ceramics
Agence France-Presse, Portrait looted by Nazis found in home of Dutch SS leader’s family
Hyperallergic
Rhea Nayyar, Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Withdraw From Awards En Masse
Hakim Bishara, Historic Strike Disrupts Biennale as Thousands March in Venice
Dan Schindel, The Making of a Maintenance Artist
John Yau, Mary Frank Creates Her Own Pantheon
From the Editors, 15 Artists Share the Best Advice They Got From Their Mother
Matt Stromberg, Getting Messy in the Archive at LA’s Art Book Fair
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, A View From the Easel
The New York Times
Catherine Hickley, In This Nazi-Era Restitution Dispute, the Focus Turns to a Missing Cow
Jane L. Levere, Maya Lin Connects Nature to a New Manhattan Skyscraper and Beyond
Ted Loos, Is the Art Market Fair, Flawed or Game-able? Depends Who You Ask.
Ted Loos, A Respected Artist Gains Wider Recognition
Lauren Gallow, A Monument to Chocolate Is Wrapped in Layers of Mexican History
Dale Berning Sawa, These Artisans, Showing at TEFAF New York, Push the Limits of Materials
Observer
Daniel Grant, Can Art Save Main Street? Some Small Towns Are Staking Their Futures On It
Mary Jane Edwards, Trust-Based Funding Works. So Why Are Artists Still Living in Precarity?
Alexa Yasemine Brahme, Author Alexa Yasemin Brahme’s Best Books to Read When You Don’t Know What the Hell You’re Doing
Jennifer Ashley Wright, The Newport Heiress Who Never Woke Up
Elisa Carollo, The Venice Biennale’s Most Powerful Pavilions Tune into Shared Consciousness
Dan Duray, One Fine Show: “Haegue Yang, Star-Crossed Rendezvous” at LA MOCA
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Tehran museum opens exhibit titled ‘Art and War’ with American artists
Adam Schrader, Reading room with printed copies of the Epstein files opens in New York
Adam Schrader, Student reaches $125K settlement after school erased her pro-Palestinian art
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Khan v. Half Hollow Hills Central School District
Adam Schrader, Photographer Nick Vedros sues Florida design firm for alleged copyright violation
Adam Schrader, Court Documents: Vedros v. Indigo Design
Adam Schrader, More artifacts tied to traffickers Subhash Kapoor, Nancy Wiener repatriated to India
Adam Schrader, More than 50 Venice Biennale artists withdraw from public vote awards
Adam Schrader, Bruno Bischofberger, dealer and champion of Andy Warhol, dies at 86
The Wall Street Journal
J.S. Marcus, Next Time in Paris, Skip the Louvre and Try These Lesser-Known Museums
Laura Jacobs, ‘Costume Art’ Review: Fashion and the Human Form at the Met
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