May 22, 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 Museums in England largely oppose proposal to charge admission for foreign tourists by Gareth Harris for The Art Newspaper. Museums are pushing back against a proposal to charge foreign tourists admission fees, arguing it could harm cultural accessibility while offering limited financial benefit.
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Alex Kitnick, Marcel Duchamp
Apollo Magazine
Ivan Day, How to party like it’s 1769
Owen Pritchard, Merthyr Tydfil à la mode
From the Editors, Four things to see: Flowers
From the Editors, Acquisitions of the month: April 2026
Art in America
Emily Cox, Two of Modernism’s Lesbian Icons Get the Novel Treatment
Andy Battaglia and Emily Watlington, Your Summer Guide: 20 Art World Highlights Not to Miss
The Art Newspaper
EDITOR’S PICK - Gareth Harris, Museums in England largely oppose proposal to charge admission for foreign tourists: A storm of opinion is raging in the arts world on whether an admission fee is needed, with some museums arguing the income would be offset by a loss of other revenue
Gareth Harris, Chanel gives Centre Pompidou financial boost with new five-year partnership
Helen Stoilas, US Commission of Fine Arts approves Trump’s Washington, DC arch despite public opposition
Gabriella Angeleti, New residency in upstate New York will give Indigenous artists access to neon fabrication studio
Anny Shaw, London exhibition explores untold history of how homelessness was criminalised
Rowland Bagnall, Shoot and branch: new photography book highlights the enduring majesty of trees
Ben Luke, New York auctions, James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain, Edvard Munch—podcast
Martin Bailey, Why did Van Gogh sign his paintings as ‘Vincent’?
From the Editors, Mexican film-makers to co-host Serpentine Summer Party
Cyrus Naji, India’s Kiran Nadar Museum to take over Christie’s London headquarters this summer
Artforum
Susan Best, In Rememory Of: Histories Lost and Found at the 2026 Sydney Biennale
Pauline J. Yao, Edge Conditions: The Restless Video Art of Hong Kong’s Ellen Pau
From the Editors, Krakow’s MOCAK Sacks Director Adam Budak, Angering Artists
From the Editors, Chanel and Centre Pompidou Announce 5-Year Strategic Partnership
From the Editors, Thomas J. Price and Tavares Strachan Make Shortlist for Billie Holiday Monument Designs
From the Editors, Wassan Al-Khudhairi Appointed Artistic Director of 2027 Art Basel Qatar
Artnet
Richard Whiddington, Christie’s Posts ‘Rock Solid’ Contemporary Sale, Led by Marian Goodman’s Gerhard Richters
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Tracey Emin, Katharina Grosse, and More Rally to Raise $2.7 Million for South London Gallery
Jo Lawson-Tancred, Chanel Expands Support for Centre Pompidou Amid $535 Million Renovation
Min Chen, The New Costume Institute Show Gets Under the Skin
Vittoria Benzine, Robert Mnuchin’s Storied Art Gallery Townhouse Lists for $35 Million
Katya Kazakina, Sotheby’s Buoyant $303.4 Million Modern Art Evening Sale: By the Numbers
Sonia Manalili and Andrew Russeth, How Is Arts Patronage Changing?
ARTnews
Leigh Anne Miller, Chanel Renews Financial Support of Centre Pompidou During Long-Term Renovation
Andy Battaglia, Eternal Flame, Burning for 1,200 Years, Survives Blaze at Buddhist Hall in Japan
Daniel Cassady, Spain Threatens to Oust Reina Sofía Director Over Missing Artworks and Finances
Tessa Solomon, Citing Epstein Ties, Wexner Union Demands Leslie Wexner’s Name be Dropped from Art Center
Brian Boucher, Trump Officials Cite a Century-Old Report As Congressional Approval for 250-Foot DC Arch, in a Move Called ‘Tortured’ and ‘Laughable’
Maximilíano Durón, A New Residency Aims to Give Indigenous Artists the Tools to Make Art in Neon
Alex Greenberger, Zohran Mamdani Visited MoMA PS1’s Greater New York—and Loved It
Tessa Solomon, ‘Woman Impressionist’ No More: A New Catalogue Raisonné Restores Eva Gonzalès’s Legacy
ArtReview
David Terrien, The Interview: Amar Kanwar
Financial Times
Jay Cheshes, Inside the technicolour world of Jack White
Kitty Grady, Photographer Walter Pfeiffer: ‘Everyone else my age is already in an asylum’
Frieze
Ira Sachs and Angel Lambo, ‘Truth Is Essence, Not Fact’: Ira Sachs on Peter Hujar’s Day
Ivana Cholakova, Natasha Tontey Recasts the Heroine on Her Own Terms
The Guardian
Skye Sherwin, Near death experiences, ‘crip memes’ and the tyranny of the DWP: the new exhibition powered by illness and disability
Jonathan Jones, Lo-fi sci-fi, hollow metal people and Churchill’s big guns – the week in art
Eddy Frankel, Hulda Guzmán review – lizards and ghosts gather for an art freakout in the rainforest
Hyperallergic
Valentina Di Liscia, Art Movements: Larry Gagosian Heads to the Big Screen
Elizabeth Ferrer, I’m a Chicana Curator. This Is Why I Removed Cesar Chavez From My Show
Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Required Reading
Dan Schindel, A New Richard Avedon Documentary Lets Him Down
Rhea Nayyar, Stonewall Monument Named Among Most Endangered Sites in the US
Isa Farfan, Robert Lugo’s Colossal Ode to Puerto Rico Rises in Madison Square Park
MOMUS
Najrin Islam, New Geographies of the Sacred: Shahana Rajani at Nottingham Contemporary
The New York Times
Julia Jacobs, Women’s Museum Bill Sinks Amid Dispute Over Trump and Trans Issues
The New Yorker
Max Norman, August Sander’s Enormous Attempt to Capture a Lost World
Observer
Michaela Zee, Shaggy, a Perfect Sunset and $6.3 Million: Inside the 2026 Whitney Gala
Stephen Garrett, Nicolas Winding Refn On the Genesis of ‘Her Private Hell’
Madeleine Seidel, Barry X Ball Connects the Secular and Sacred in “The Shape of Time”
Elisa Carollo, Christie’s Wednesday Sales Achieved $162.7 Million as Bonhams’ 20th & 21st Century Evening Sale Topped $22 Million
Gillian Harvey, 10 Books Worth Reading Even After You’ve Seen the Movie
Sculpture
Maureen Sullivan, Nature’s Order: A Conversation with Leandro Erlich
Maria Carolina Baulo, Sociedades microscópicas: Una Conversación con Adriana Antidín
The Wall Street Journal
Chris Cornelis, Ittai Gradel, Who Discovered Massive Thefts at the British Museum, Dies at 61
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.