May 19, 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 A Monumental Pollock and a Miniature Brancusi Each Sell for Over $100 Million by Kelly Crow for The Wall Street Journal. Christie’s Newhouse estate sale signaled renewed strength at the top of the art market.
Apollo Magazine
From the Editors, Four things to see: Flight
From the Editors, The butterfly effect in art
Tara Contractor, How Whistler showed his metal
From the Editors, New York’s Neue Galerie to merge with Met
Art Asia Pacific
Yuqian Fan, Park Chan-wook Awarded France’s Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
From the Editors, Weekly News Roundup: May 18, 2026
Christina Shen, Where Parts Meet: Yu Ji’s “Origin of the Tiger”
Art in America
Sarah Douglas, Art in America’s Summer Issue Features 20 “New Talent” Artists, Juicy Art Heist Stories, and More
Rhoda Feng, The Met’s Frida & Diego Opera Imagines Feminist Revenge from Beyond the Grave
The Art Newspaper
Judd Tully, Christie’s nets $1.1bn from back-to-back S.I. Newhouse and 20th century evening sales in New York
Anny Shaw, British artist says the Met ‘should take responsibility’ for dress copyright dispute
Lisa Movious and Jaeyong Park, Seoul’s new Centre Pompidou Hanwha museum opens next month—can it live up to expectations?
Gareth Harris, M+ and Centre Pompidou announce multi-year partnership
Mercedes Ezquiaga, Guatemala stakes claim to stone lintel by ‘the Michelangelo of the pre-Columbian era’ that was repatriated to Mexico
Gareth Harris, Tate Britain previews new garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Garry Shaw, Migrants were a continuous feature of medieval Britain, archaeological study shows
Florence Hallett, ‘Entertainment is often violence shrouded in a fun disguise’: Marianna Simnett on being tickled for hours and having Botox injected into her throat
Artforum
From the Editors, Smithsonian Restores Mention of Trump’s Impeachments at National Portrait Gallery
From the Editors, Rothko Sells for $85.8 Million, Almost Surpasses Auction Record
From the Editors, Hong Kong’s M+ And Centre Pompidou Announce Strategic Partnership
From the Editors, Seattle Art Museum Workers Announce Unionization
Artnet
Katya Kazakina, $1.1 Billion Christie’s Auctions Shatter Records for Pollock, Brancusi, Rothko
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Louvre Reveals Architects for $1 Billion Expansion
Katya Kazakina, Pace Gallery Lands Brancusi Estate on Eve of Potential $100 Million Sale
Katya Kazakina, Consignors Revealed: The Mystery Sellers Behind the $1.8 Billion May Auctions
Vittoria Benzine, British Museum Unveils Elaborate Display for Bayeux Tapestry
Vittoria Benzine, John Chamberlain Estate Launches Star-Studded New Interview Series
Richard Whiddington, Rare Centuries-Old Notebook Discovered in Medieval Latrine
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Rare ‘Ocean Dream’ Diamond Sells for Record $17.3 Million at Christie’s
Sonia Manalili and Margaret Carrigan, A $433 Million Boost for the Market
ARTnews
Sarah Belmont, 15 Van Gogh Masterpieces that Set Auction Records
Julie Brener Davich and Harrison Jacobs, Christie’s Double-Header Totals $1.1 B., With Several Trophy Works Notching New Records
Angelica Villa and Alex Greenberger, The Most Expensive Works by Mark Rothko Sold at Auction
Harrison Jacobs, Mark Rothko Painting Agnes Gund Hung in Her Living Room Sells for $98 M., Setting a Record
Harrison Jacobs and Julie Brener Davich, Christie’s S. I. Newhouse Sale Totals $630.8 M., Bringing Cumulative Total to $1 B.
Daniel Cassady and Alex Greenberger, The 16 Most Expensive Artworks Ever Sold at Auction
Harrison Jacobs, S.I. Newhouse’s 11-Foot-Wide Jackson Pollock Drip Painting Sells for Record-Breaking $181.2 M.
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Daniel Cassady, The Wild Nine-Month Journey that Led to Nathaniel Mary Quinn Designing the Rolling Stones’ New Album Cover
Leigh Anne Miller, M+ in Hong Kong and Centre Pompidou in Paris Plan New Five-Year Partnership
Tessa Solomon, Rene Matić Awarded 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize
Alex Greenberger, Pace Gallery Takes Representation of Brâncuși Estate Ahead of $100 M. Sculpture Coming to Auction
Brian Boucher, Artist Outraged After His Conservationist Mural in Dallas Is Painted Over to Allow for FIFA Promo
Daniel Cassady, Billionaire Collector Fred Eychaner Sued Over Chicago Museum Expansion
Andy Battaglia, Trump Picks Park for Planned Sculpture Garden in D.C.
ArtReview
From the Editors, ArtReview Podcast | Episode 7: Zineb Sedira
From the Editors, Adam Budak dismissed as director of MOCAK amid controversy
BOMB
Chris Becker, David McGee by Chris Becker
Cultured
Sam Falb, Here Are the Seven Booths We’re Beelining to at NADA’s 2026 New York Edition
Sarah Cascone, 7 Artists to Watch at the New York Fairs This Weekend
Family Style
Tara Anne Dalbow, Fire Followers
Salome Asega, Smoke and Mirrors
Greta Rainbow, From Ruins
Meka Boyle, Context Clues
Frieze
From the Editors, Diane Lima’s Top Picks from Frieze Viewing Room
Peter Schmidt, Ariel West Probes Our Desire for Oil
Tom Morton, Wilhelm Sasnal and the Intimacy of History
Galerie
Rena Gross, Brancusi, Miró, Pollock See Record Highs at Christie’s S.I. Newhouse Sale
Osman Can Yerebakan, In Venice, Wallace Chan’s Titanium Sculptures Offer Introspection and Reckoning
The Guardian
Kat Lister, ‘This is mine, I own it’: how Tracey Emin and Frida Kahlo inspired me to make meaning out of pain
From the Editors, ‘Her crotchless trousers are etched in my brain for ever’: Valie Export remembered by the artists she influenced
Jonathan Jones, James McNeill Whistler review – a luscious, seductive blockbuster for the painter who scandalised Britain
Hettie Judah, ‘How can nudity be so provocative?’ Florentina Holzinger on rocking Venice with naked jetskiers, human bells and urine divers
Hyperallergic
Aaron Short, A Contemporary Art Haven Just a PATH Ride Away
Brian Karl, Martin Wong’s Brick Monument to Popeye
Rhea Nayyar, Seattle Art Museum Workers Move to Unionize
Isa Farfan, Who’s That Nude Figure on a Washing Machine Outside the New Museum?
Rhea Nayyar, Thousands Decry Right-Wing “Smear Campaign” Against Misan Harriman
From the Editors, 12 Art Books to Kick Off Summer
Aruna D’Souza, Gabrielle Goliath Sounds a Call to Action in Venice
The New York Times
Julia Halperin, Tim F. Schneider, and Zachary Small, Pollock and Brancusi Join the $100 Million Club at Auction
Observer
Stephen Garrett, Screening at Cannes: Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’
Elisa Carollo, At the Guggenheim’s 2026 YCC Party, Artist Diane Severin Nguyen Created Breathing Room
Anthony Paletta, A Major Martin Puryear Retrospective Reveals an Artist Who Has Never Stopped Evolving
Elisa Carollo, Artists to Watch: Future Fair and 1-54’s Best Discoveries
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Liu Shiming Foundation to pair sculptor’s abstract works with grant recipients
Adam Schrader, Work in Progress art fair to open first New York edition
Adam Schrader, NEA claimed records request could be ‘voluminous.’ It released 12 files
Adam Schrader, FOIA Documents: NEA release on Mary Anne Carter, CFA and White House ballroom records
The Wall Street Journal
EDITOR’S PICK - Kelly Crow, A Monumental Pollock and a Miniature Brancusi Each Sell for Over $100 Million: A blockbuster Newhouse estate sale signals renewed confidence at the top of the art market, with works by abstract painter and sculptor leading a night of records for Mark Rothko and more
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.