Welcome to Art Spell, a daily, comprehensive roundup of art news and reviews for the visual arts community. Today’s Editor’s Pick is Comment | An open letter to Pope Leo XIV in defence of AI-generated art by Sarp Kerem Yavuz for The Art Newspaper. Kerem Yavuz writes an open letter responding to Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of AI-generated art, examining questions of human creativity and the role of emerging technologies in contemporary art.
Apollo Magazine
Matthew Sperling, Impersonal effects: the crowded visions of L.S. Lowry
From the Editors, Lost worlds: Old Master shows to see in November
From the Editors, Apollo’s Agenda: museum shows to see in November
Lauren Kane, Inside the Grolier Club, a book lover’s paradise in Manhattan
Tom Hardwick, Beyond Bayeux: the complex history of art and diplomacy
Edward Behrens, The French restaurant that really does turn food into art
From the Editors, The halcyon days of China’s jewellery workshops
Stephen Patience, Henry Grant: the photographer who recorded the changing face of London
Michael Delgado, How the Hamburger Bahnhof became Berlin’s leading contemporary museum
From the Editors, In full bloom: Asian art shows to see in November
Isabella Smith, Top of the pots: inside Osaka’s world-class collection of ceramics
Zachary Ginsberg, What drove the first couple of Abstract Expressionism?
Irina Dumitrescu, The animal passions of Franz Marc
The Art Newspaper
Gabriella Angeleti, New $2.7m Getty grant initiative supports museums’ accessibility and engagement efforts
Allison C. Meier, ‘Encounter the unexpected’: Harry Houdini exhibition commemorates the famed illusionist on the centenary of his death
Riah Pryor, UK art market growth lags behind competitors, new report finds
Karen Chernick, Painting by overlooked Abstract Expressionist Anna Walinska gets key role in television series Best Medicine
Ben Luke, David Clack, Aimee Dawson, A brush with... Sung Tieu—podcast
EDITOR’S PICK - Sarp Kerem Yavuz, Comment | An open letter to Pope Leo XIV in defence of AI-generated art: The pontiff has been outspoken in his criticisms of artificial intelligence, particularly as it relates to human creativity
Artforum
From the Editors, V&A Workers Call Off Strike
Jordan Cronk, The Living and the Dead: Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love
From the Editors, AD-WO Wins Commission To Reimagine The Heinz Architectural Center
From the Editors, Art Basel Qatar Names Participants for 2027 Edition
From the Editors, Irini Papadimitriou Tapped to Lead 14th Seoul Mediacity Biennale
From the Editors, Odilon Redon Wall Sketches Discovered in French Abbey
Artnet
Gabi Vidal-Irizarry, Wet Paint Goes to Paris: Inside Rick Owens’s Concrete Palace, the Grand Palais, and More!
Richard Whiddington, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Sculptor of Sublime Wooden Totems, Dies at 84
Richard Whiddington, Jodi the Nanotyrannus Nets $47.3M at Auction, Crushing Its Estimate
ARTnews
Leigh Anne Miller, 2,500-Year-Old Mesoamerican Observatory Discovered in Sierra Norte Mountains of Mexico
Maximilíano Durón, A Painting Owned by Dutch Jewish Collector Once Hung in Hitler’s Home, New Research Finds
Brian Boucher, Even German Bidders Can Now Pitch In to Support US Public Television, with the Country’s First Auction of a Bob Ross Painting
Andy Battaglia, Researchers Trace Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ to a Specific Dark Sky in 1889
Harrison Jacobs, Christie’s First Abu Dhabi Art Auction to Be Accompanied by Exhibition of 60M.–80 M. Kandinsky
Devorah Lauter, Auction of Nazi-Looted Torah Fragment Canceled After Outcry and Israeli Government Intervention
Anne Doran, Dutch Art Historian and Curator Rudi Fuchs Dies at 84
Hikmat Mohammed, Pace Gallery Reports Losses of 35.5 Percent for 2024 With ‘Real Change’ Underway
Brian Boucher, Christie’s Will Offer $8 M. in Works from Mickey Cartin’s Collection, from Netherlandish Painting to Contemporary Art to Rare Books
Alex Greenberger, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Sculptor of Gigantic Cedar Forms, Dies at 84
Maximilíano Durón, In a New Video, Mayor Mamdani Touts the Met Museum as an Early Voting Site
Devorah Lauter, Tatiana Trouvé’s Art Is All About Getting Lost and Found and Lost Again
Brian Boucher, A Women’s HBCU Will Sell a Record-Smashing Aaron Douglas Painting of Harriet Tubman to Support Women’s Health Programs
Daniel Cassady, Gagosian to Sell Works from Mr. Chow’s Art Collection, Including Paintings by Warhol, Basquiat, Hockney, and More
ArtReview
Alexandra Symons-Sutcliffe, Jason Hirata, Park McArthur, A Porous Dialogue
From the Editors, Rudi Fuchs, former director of Stedelijk Museum, 1942–2026
Oliver Basciano, ‘The Death of the Clinic’ by Benoît Loiseau, Reviewed
Mark Rappolt, How to Conceal and Reveal with Arpita Shah
From the Editors, More departures at National Gallery Singapore
The Boston Globe
Mark Feeney, Somerville as state (and city) of photographic mind
Frieze
Christopher Whitfield, Bhenji Ra Learns to Dance in the Flames
Morgan Bassichis and Terence Trouillot, Morgan Bassichis and the Art of Necromancy
Mariana Fernández, Portia Zvavahera Paints What Dreams Remember
Wong Kit Yi, Frieze DJ in Residence: Wong Kit Yi
Wendy Vogel, Wong Kit Yi’s Outstanding Balance
Shiv Kotecha, Ana Vaz’s Camera Is a Body
Mira Dayal, How Howardena Pindell Set the Grid Free
Elizabeth Wiet , Yoo Hyun Mi and the Puzzle of Reality
Lou Stoppard, Why Are Novelists So Fascinated by Art?
Taous Dahmani, David Campany, Nadine Isabelle Henrich and Hoda Afshar, What Comes Next for Photography?
The Guardian
Adria R Walker, ‘Deceptively simple’: Gullah Geechee art exhibition illustrates that beauty lies in the details
Cheena Kapoor, How rebuilding old mosques is bringing Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims together in Punjab
Hyperallergic
From the Editors, Remembering Ursula von Rydingsvard
Rhea Nayyar, The Artsiest Halloween Party in Town
Matt Stromberg, 10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This November
Rhea Nayyar, Artist Sneaks His Work Into the Met Museum
Armando Pulido, How Mexican Photographers Made a Nation
Cristiana Grigore, In Battle Over Auschwitz Watercolors, Roma Victims Are Getting Left Behind
Anna Lee, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Who Sculpted Monuments of Cedar, Dies at 84
Dyani White Hawk, Layli Long Soldier’s Poetic Lifeblood
The New York Times
Michael Kimmelman, Can We Make a Dent in the Housing Crisis? Two Projects Say Yes.
Ivan Nechepurenko and Michael Kimmelman, Rare Wartime Dissent in Moscow Over Plans to Dismantle Russia’s ‘Eiffel Tower’
John Hanc, The Photographers Who Helped Turn Marilyn Monroe Into a Global Star
Rebecca L. Davis, The Foundational Feminist Marianne Wex Takes Her Place at MoMA
Ted Loos, Rural Get-Togethers Celebrate Art and America’s 250th Anniversary
Hilarie M. Sheets, Alex Da Corte Takes On Roy Lichtenstein and Marisol
Sam Lubell, How a Walmart Heir Is Transforming Rural Arkansas Into a Design Powerhouse
Tas Tóbiás, In Vienna, a Celebration of Handmade Ceramics and Iconic Austrian Design
Suleman Anaya, Su Wu Celebrates Her Book “Mesoamerican Modern” at Mexico City’s Casa Möbius
Observer
Elisa Carollo, Sotheby’s Sells “Jodi” the Nanotyrannus for $47.3 Million, Reigniting the Fossil
Tamar Lortkipanidze, Horror’s Lost Masterpieces Are Ready for a Revival
Elisa Carollo, How the Bangkok Art Biennale Helped Shape Thailand’s Expanding Scene
Siddhant Adlakha, Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ Considers the Afterlife in the Context of Digital Memory
Urgent Matter
Adam Schrader, Museum of Sex brings show on sex, life and death to Miami
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