May 20, 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 When Criticism Was Life and Death by Harmon Siegel for Artforum. Siegel argues that art criticism is inherently political because every act of describing art asks readers to share a moral and social understanding of the world.
Art in America
Emily Watlington, Malo Chapuy Reimagines Medieval Art on the Cover of our New Talent Issue
The Art Newspaper
Carlie Porterfield, Bidding battle for Matisse leads Sotheby’s $303.3m Modern art evening sale in New York
Benjamin Sutton, Sold-out Phillips auction in New York brings in $115.2m, more than double 2025 result
Nathan Eddy, Expansion plans for Rome’s Galleria Borghese draw fierce response
Aimee Dawson, Sainsbury Centre receives one of largest ever UK museum donations
Alison C. Meier, Stonewall monument targeted by Trump administration among the US’s most endangered historic places
Andrew Pulver, Tate Britain’s James McNeill Whistler exhibition aims to show he was more than just a combative ‘coxcomb’
Artforum
EDITOR’S PICK - Harmon Siegel, When Criticism Was Life and Death: On “Problems of Criticism” and judgment in times of crisis.
Glenn Adamson, Walking With Giants: The Return of the Totemic
Paul Chan, Paul Chan on ICE Whistles and the Politics of Sound
From the Editors, Christie’s Auction Rakes in $1.1 Billion as Pollock Sells For Triple Record Price
From the Editors, 98,000 People Rush to Defense of Arts Trustee Misan Harriman in Wake of Antisemitism Accusations
From the Editors, Architects for the Louvre’s Billion Dollar Expansion Announced
From the Editors, Edgar Calel Honored with $75,000 Sam Gilliam Award
Artnet
Katya Kazakina, Sotheby’s Hauls In $304 Million at Modern Art Auction, as Market Momentum Continues
Vittoria Benzine, Phillips Posts $115.2 Million ‘White Glove’ Sale, Big Gain Over Last Year
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Dubai Plans a Massive New Museum for Digital Art
Richard Whiddington, Six Artists Vie to Design Billie Holiday Monument in New York
Richard Whiddington, Identity of Pompeii Victim Revealed in High-Tech Scans
Vittoria Benzine, Ancient Treasures From Lost Egyptian City Head to San Francisco
Katya Kazakina, $1.1 Billion Christie’s Auctions Shatter Records for Pollock, Brancusi, Rothko
ARTnews
Daniel Cassady, Sotheby’s Pulls In $303.9 M. in a Solid but Subdued Modern Evening Sale Led by $48 M. Matisse
Julie Brener Davich, Phillips Modern & Contemporary Sale Nets $115.2 M., With Strong Results for Women Artists
Leigh Anne Miller, 1,200-Year-Old Limestone Lintel was Inadvertently Repatriated to Mexico Instead of to Guatemala
Tessa Solomon, Canadian Museum of Human Rights Threatened With Legal Action Over Palestinian Nakba Show
Brian Boucher, Hamburg Culture Prize Renamed After Namesake’s Nazi Ties Emerge
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, In Performance Series, Artists Tackle the Nature of Images, and Reality, in the Face of AI
George Nelson, Art Lender Accuses Maddox Gallery of Inflating Value of Art Used as Collateral—’Bizarre and Irrational’ Claim, Says Gallery
Daniel Cassady, Sotheby’s Launches Museum Partnership Series, Starting with Exhibition by New York’s Hispanic Society Museum & Library
Alex Greenberger, Cindy and Howard Rachofsky’s Dallas Home Could Be Yours at a Discount, for $17.5 M.
Andy Battaglia, Art in America’s Summer “New Talent” Issue Names 20 Artists to Watch
Maximilíano Durón, Edgar Calel Wins $75,000 Sam Gilliam Award
ArtReview
From the Editors, ArtReview Podcast | Episode 7: Zineb Sedira
From the Editors, Venice Biennale 2026 Highlights: Off-Site Exhibitions
From the Editors, Edgar Calel wins 2026 Sam Gilliam Award
From the Editors, Theme and title announced for Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu’s 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale
The Guardian
Tom Service, Fantastic visions and cosmic rhythms: how Whistler is making me see – and hear – differently
Andrew Lawrence, ‘These are artifacts from history’: exhibition celebrates objects of sporting victory
Olivia McEwan, Winston Churchill: The Painter review – We will daub them on the beaches
Dee Jefferson, ‘I can use it, I can abuse it’: Tony Albert spent decades collecting racist ‘Aboriginalia’. Now he wants to turn yours into art
Hyperallergic
Isa Farfan, Nicole Kidman’s Billion-Dollar Breakfast at Christie’s
Diba Mohtasham, A Persian Garden Blooms on Governors Island
Rhea Nayyar, “Gaza Love” Monument Unveiled in Paterson, NJ
Tara Anne Dalbow, The Painted Book Cover Is Back
Daria Simone Harper, The Black American Artists Who Dazzled Post-War Paris
The New York Times
Elly Fishman, For the Obama Center, Mark Bradford Paints a Fierce and Luminous Chicago
Observer
Merin Curotto, Letters to the Editor: Remembering Rex Reed
Elisa Carollo, At TEFAF New York, the Masterpiece Market Had Plenty to Celebrate
Andrew Goldman, Inside Rex Reed’s Dakota: An Afternoon of Unrepentant Opinions and Hollywood Tales
James Grissom, What Rex Reed Taught Me About Truth, Kindness and Writing
Elisa Carollo, Christie’s $1.1 Billion Night Confirms the Health of the Market’s Upper End
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Art teacher’s Charlie Kirk firing lawsuit quietly ends
Adam Schrader, Opera Gallery investor suit moves twice after venue fight
Adam Schrader, Art supply chain Michaels, Chicago artist Pose move to settle marketing lawsuit
Adam Schrader, Magistrate recommends limited Sotheby’s, Christie’s subpoenas in Yves Bouvier art dispute
Adam Schrader, Norton Museum settles dispute with Verity Partners
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.