May 14, 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 What Does a Booth Cost at a New York Art Fair? by Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic. A new report on New York art fairs highlights the rising costs galleries face to secure booths, with prices ranging from a few thousand dollars to over six figures.
Art in America
Emily Watlington, 5 Art Novels to Read This Summer
The Art Newspaper
Melissa Gronlund, Greta Thunberg, Hugh Bonneville sign letter defending Southbank Centre chair Misan Harriman
Vincent Noce, Parliamentary report calls for major changes at French museums in the wake of Louvre heist
Senay Boztas, Nazi-looted painting discovered in home of Dutch SS commander’s heirs
Sarvy Geranpayeh, Still in ‘war mode’: Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art reopens with exhibitions about conflict
Sophia Kishkovsky, Gulag Museum rebrand marks latest phase in Kremlin’s assault on free speech
Claire Wrathall, ‘A work of conceptual art’: Belmond launches new Art Deco-inspired train dining car
Gareth Harris, New fund helps museums make purchases at Frieze New York
Shanti Escalante De Mattei, Latin American galleries dominate at Frieze New York
Gareth Harris, A reading room for the Epstein files opens in New York
Benjamin Sutton and Elena Goukassian, In Pictures: the best of Venice at Frieze New York
Elena Goukassian, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are given a voice by New York’s Metropolitan Opera
Tess Thackara, ‘The content, material and form support each other’: Sandy Rodriguez on her Hispanic Society Museum show
Carlie Porterfield, Dinosaurs roam New York’s Bowery
Sophia Kishkovsky, Esther fair goes out on top
Aimee Dawson, Tefaf New York wishlist: a Tiffany window and an Egyptian goddess with a nose job
J. Cabelle Ahn, Ten years on, Tefaf New York still stands out from the crowd
J. Cabelle Ahn, Garment, body and space merge in Iris van Herpen’s first major New York show
Artforum
Caroline Lillian Schopp, Bringing the Bodies: Florentina Holzinger Corrupts the Female Nude
Pablo Larios, Venice Biennale 2026: Florentina Holzinger’s Venetian Tableaux
From the Editors, Hirshhorn Museum Collection Tops 13,000 as Major 50th-Anniversary Acquisitions Announced
From the Editors, Iran’s Participation in the Venice Biennale Still Uncertain
From the Editors, Study Shows Engaging with Art as Effective as Exercise in Slowing Aging
From the Editors, Gozo Yoshimasu Named Inaugural Winner of $270K Serpentine x Flag Art Foundation Prize
Artnet
Margaret Carrigan, At Frieze New York, Business Plunks Along, Leonardo DiCaprio Alights
Vittoria Benzine, With New Tribeca Outpost, Gratin Gallery Doubles Down on Young Artists
Richard Whiddington, Trump’s Plan to Paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Blue Sparks Lawsuit
Vittoria Benzine, Performa Is Bringing a Star-Studded Variety Show to Broadway
Richard Whiddington, Tiny Cranach Painting That Vanished During WWII Returns to Dresden
Vittoria Benzine, Authorship Dispute Erupts Over ‘Hair Dress’ at the Met’s Costume Institute
ARTnews
Harrison Jacobs, Coco Fusco and Jeffrey Gibson’s Public Lectures, Free Admission at MCA Denver, and More: Industry Moves for May 13, 2026
Brian Boucher and Daniel Cassady, Frieze New York Kicks Off with Seven-Figure Sales and High Energy: ‘It’s a Fiesta’
Alex Greenberger, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Abstract Painter Who Refused to Conform, Dies at 84
Alex Greenberger, The Best Booths at Frieze New York, From Cindy Sherman’s Newest Photos to UFOs
Tessa Solomon, Israel Advances Bill Granting Sweeping Civilian Authority over West Bank Archaeological Sites
Lilyanna D’Amato, Artist Alleges Hair Dress in the Met’s ‘Costume Art’ Show Copies Her Design
Leigh Anne Miller, French Parliament Accuses Louvre of Prioritizing ‘Prestige And Influence’ Over Security Prior to Jewel Heist
Harrison Jacobs, Iran Pushes Back on Venice Biennale Withdrawal Reports: ‘We’re Still Coming’
Alex Greenberger, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: Artists Revisit the Nude in Shows Across New York
ArtReview
From the Editors, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, painter and activist, 1942–2026
From the Editors, Iran states intention to participate in 2026 Venice Biennale
The Brooklyn Rail
Amber Jamilla Musser, KING COBRA: Heathens
John Weber, Rick Bartow: Storyteller
Invar-Torre Hallaus, Paul Cezanne
Hearne Pardee, peter campus
Bartolomeo Sala, Luigi Ghirri: Polaroid ’79–’83
The Guardian
Nicole Douglas Morris, ‘It smells like my ranch!’ Diva of dirt Delcy Morelos and her amazing 30-tonne earthworks
Alice Fisher, Go big or go home: how The Lost Giants revived the ancient art of goliath-making
Peter Bradshaw, The Christophers review – Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel are the double act of the year
Dalya Alberge, Most famous image of JMW Turner not a self-portrait, says expert
Eddy Frankel, V&A Rising Voices review – can decades of stunning global art really be squished into three rooms?
Hyperallergic
EDITOR’S PICK - Valentina Di Liscia, What Does a Booth Cost at a New York Art Fair?: We asked 13 fairs to open up about booth pricing, and what they shared (and didn’t) revealed much about transparency and affordability in the art world.
Rhea Nayyar, At Brooklyn Creative Reuse, Art Supplies Get a Second Life
Gregory Volk, The Ukrainian Pavilion’s Deer Seen Around the World
Ed Simon, Genuflecting Before “Don Colossus”
Lisa Yin Zhang, Remembering Bruno Bischofberger, Manuela Hoelterhoff, and Steven Durland
Ido Nahari, IDF Soldiers Hide From Our Gaze
The Los Angeles Times
Julius Miller, Billboards celebrating peace will arrive in L.A. as part of the Broad’s Yoko Ono exhibit
The New York Times
Will Heinrich, Best Booths at Frieze, the Workhorse of Contemporary Art
Ségolène Le Stradic, Who Owns These Artworks? A Museum Hopes Visitors Can Help Find Out.
Jennifer Schuessler, How an Image of Washington at Prayer Became a Touchstone for the Right
Observer
Matthew Yokobosky, How Fashion Exhibitions Became Laboratories for Interdisciplinary Thinking
Adam Steiner, Violent Femmes: Must-Read Books by Women That Foreground Brutal Beauty
Elisa Carollo, Collector Jennifer Gilbert Is Selling Masterpieces at Sotheby’s to Fund a New Arts Nonprofit in Detroit
Elisa Carollo, As New York’s Art Week Kicks Off, Here’s What Not to Miss at Esther III
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Artists recruited for anti-ICE World Cup campaign
Adam Schrader, Iran disputes Venice Biennale statement it had withdrawn from the event
Adam Schrader, Brent Sikkema murder trial opens as disputed chart details alleged plot
Adam Schrader, Leonora Carrington sculpture show opens amid renewed scrutiny of late bronzes
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.