Art Spell

Texas art community responds to deadly flash floods Museums and commercial galleries in Austin and San Antonio have stepped up to support flood victims in the Texas Hill Country

As Texas continues to recover from catastrophic floods, its art community has stepped up in meaningful ways. Our top story this week was ‘We just wanted to do our small part’: how Texas's art community responded to deadly flash floods’ by Carlie Porterfield for @theartnewspaper.bsky.social.

How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts | Artnet News A random collection of art is being swept into the DHS's social feed, alongside Star Wars memes and mugshots. What does it mean?

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts' by @benadavis.bsky.social for Artnet. A critic’s take on the meaning behind recent social media posts of classic artworks from Homeland Security.

As censorship resurfaces in today’s art world, renowned artists of the past share their experiences with artistic suppression and how it inspired resilience.

What Happened When Their Art Was Banned

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'What Happened When Their Art Was Banned' by Kate Guadagnino, Nick Haramis and Coco Romack for @nytimes.com's T Magazine.

The art world’s age of empires might be over As growth-chasing dealers opt out of the market, Gen Z gallerists look to replace conquest with collaboration

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'The art world’s age of empires might be over' by @thegraymarket.bsky.social for @financialtimes.com. With certain top-tier galleries closing, a younger generation of gallerists step up to prioritize collaboration and intimacy with collectors over conquest.

Hito Steyerl: “Who Prompted All This Shit?” | Spike Art Magazine The artist, filmmaker, and author of “Medium Hot: Images in the Age of Heat” grapples with magical thinking, implication in military-industrial AI, and machine learning’s many roads not taken.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Hito Steyerl: “Who Prompted All This Shit?”' by Günseli Yalcinkaya for @spikeart.bsky.social. Steyerl explores the cultural impact of machine learning technology in the art world and society.

Senators Target the Art Market With New Anti-Money Laundering Rules “Art should be for art-lovers, not terrorists and criminals,” said Senator John Fetterman in a statement.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Senators Target the Art Market With New Anti-Money Laundering Rules' by Elisa Carollo for Observer. The new bill cracks down on loopholes that led to illegal dealings, but may make processes harder for art dealers and smaller businesses.

Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show, Citing Censorship

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show, Citing Censorship' by Robin Pogrebin for @nytimes.com. Sherald’s contention was the request to remove her portrait of a trans person posing as the Statue of Liberty from the exhibition.

In Defense of the Traditional Review Far from being a journalistic relic, as suggested by recent developments at the New York Times, arts criticism is inherently progressive, keeping art honest and pointing toward its future.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'In Defense of the Traditional Review' by Richard Brody for @newyorker.com. In response to a major critics switch-up at The New York Times, Brody advocates for traditional reviews and stresses the importance of criticism.

U.S. Exit From UNESCO Sparks Fears for Cultural Protections Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump undertaken moves and policy shifts that are drastically impacting the arts.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'U.S. Exit From UNESCO Sparks Fears for Cultural Protections' by @reallifemaggie.bsky.social and @brianboucher.bsky.social for Artnet. The Trump Administration plans to part from UNESCO in 2026, raising more concerns about its overbearing stance regarding the cultural sector

The Boom and Bust of Figurative Painting A critic confronts how politics and the market conspired to make a trend, then singles out standout painters, like Salman Toor and Jennifer Packer.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'The Boom and Bust of Figurative Painting' by Barry Schwabsky for Art in America. As one of the art world’s most prominent art critics, Schwabsky offers his opinion on figurative painting, its market history and enduring artistic integrity.

Visa Denials Create Hurdles for Artist Residencies Artists slated to participate in the Art Omi program in Upstate New York must stay back due to closed embassies or denied documents, an ongoing challenge expected to worsen under Trump.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Visa Denials Create Hurdles for Artist Residencies' by @mayapontone.bsky.social for @hyperallergic.com. Denied Visas and closed embassies continue to prevent international artists from accessing the vital experiences provided by residencies.

ADAA Cancels 2025 Edition of The Art Show: ‘A Strategic Pause’ ADAA won’t hold its signature New York fair in 2025, as the art world faces closures and legal battles.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'ADAA Cancels 2025 Edition of The Art Show: ‘A Strategic Pause’ by Daniel Cassady for ARTnews. Although it was slated to preview in October, this year’s edition of The Art Show will no longer be taking place, marking its first pause in decades.

Yale Art Gallery Withdraws Federal Grant Requests After Trump DEI Ban The university museum said it will self-fund an exhibition of African art instead of requesting NEA and NEH funding, which is subject to the president’s anti-DEI mandate.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Yale Art Gallery Withdraws Federal Grant Requests After Trump DEI Ban' by @mayapontone.bsky.social for @hyperallergic.com. In the wake of the DEI bans, the institution plans to fund an upcoming Southeast African art exhibition through alternative means.

Prominent Art Advisory Implodes After 37 Years, as Ex-Partners Fire Off Lawsuits | Artnet News Art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher are locked in a $20 million legal fight, with explosive claims of fraud, and abuse.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Prominent Art Advisory Implodes After 37 Years, as Ex-Partners Fire Off Lawsuits' by Katya Kazakina for Artnet. The storied blue-chip art advisory Guggenheim Asher Associates falls to internal conflict and legal disputes.

“Everyone Deserves to Live With Art:” Decommodifying Art at Zero Art Fair – SURFACE Following its 2024 Upstate Art Weekend debut, the revolutionary art fair concept has teamed up with FLAG Art Foundation to bring its unprecedented model to would-be collectors in New York City.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is “Everyone Deserves to Live With Art:” Decommodifying Art at Zero Art Fair' by Jenna Adrian-Diaz for Surface Magazine. Founders of @zeroartfair.bsky.social, where the art is free, discuss the upcoming fair and how its model shifts the public’s perception of art.

Following news of the Bayeux Tapestry’s return, Spero explores the complex relationships between institutions and emphasizes the need for solidarity in the face of political and economic uncertainty.

Museums should collaborate, not compete, in a hostile world Hosting the Bayeux Tapestry in London is a big win, but rivalry between institutions has a cost

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Museums should collaborate, not compete, in a hostile world' by @joshspero.ft.com for @financialtimes.com.

Why Is L.A.’s Top Gallery Closing? Let the Owner Tell You.

Big news out of LA: Tim Blum is closing his gallery, and Art Spell readers want to know why. This week’s most-read article was ‘Why Is L.A.’s Top Gallery Closing? Let the Owner Tell You.’ by @zacharyhsmall.bsky.social for @nytimes.com.

A critique of the climate policies that overlook the complexities of preservation, calling for more thoughtful regulations tailored to institutions and their collections.

Why ‘devastating’ climate control rules for museum collections need a rethink Researchers and conservators have found one-size-fits-all standards to be both ineffective and inefficient—and now they're looking for better ways to preserve works

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Why ‘devastating’ climate control rules for museum collections need a rethink' by Annabel Keenan for @theartnewspaper.bsky.social.

The inaugural edition marks a significant shift in the fair’s design, placing artists at the forefront and signaling major changes to the conventional art fair structure.

Art Basel Qatar Prepares to Upend the Traditional Fair Model With a New Artist-Led Format The format, already explored in Panorama and set to be adopted by Art Basel in Doha, allows galleries and artists to engage with collectors more deeply.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Art Basel Qatar Prepares to Upend the Traditional Fair Model With a New Artist-Led Format' by Elisa Carollo for Observer.

When Does a Painting End? | The Brooklyn Rail In 1993, the Getty Museum decided to purchase a fourteenth-century gold-ground painting, with one caveat: the acquisition was contingent upon the removal of a large painted baby from the work’s surfac...

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'When Does a Painting End?' by Annika Svendsen Finne for The Brooklyn Rail. Exploring the idea of artworks being changed instead of remaining finished and challenging traditional notions of how valuable art must be made.

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Every morning, the best of art market reporting and criticism, and all in one place. We gather stories from the art world’s most trusted media sources, including @theartnewspaper.bsky.social, @artforum.com, @artreview.bsky.social, @financialtimes.com, @theguardian.com, @hyperallergic.com;

A thorough report on the art market analyzes buyer behaviors and cultural factors influencing the “slowdown” of the international art market—and reconstructing our metrics and expectations.

The art market bites back as estimates fail to score A landscape that includes economic volatility, generational movement and new technology is changing the rules of engagement

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'The art market bites back as estimates fail to score' by Scott Reyburn for @theartnewspaper.bsky.social.

Zohran Mamdani Is Artist-Approved. The Collector Class Has Its Reservations The Democratic mayoral candidate’s surprise victory last week has cast a long-running art world division into starker relief—and everyone’s posting through it.

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'Zohran Mamdani Is Artist-Approved. The Collector Class Has Its Reservations' by @natefreeman.bsky.social for @vanityfair.com. The discourse surrounding New York City’s political underdog has put a pre-existing gap between two sides of the art world on full display.

The Blumquake & The Next Shoes to Drop Tim Blum’s shocking-but-not-surprising decision to call it quits is a signal of bigger changes afoot—not just the apparent anhedonia of the collector class, but the profound effects of financializatio...

Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'The Blumquake & The Next Shoes to Drop' by Marion Maneker for @puck.news. Following the major news Blum Gallery’s closure, Maneker dissects Blum’s decision and its reflection of rising industry trends and the financialization of the art market.