The Easel

30th June 2026

America 250: The Essential Paintings of Our Nation

Judith Dobrzynski | Judithdobrynski.com | 26th June 2026

Next week, on July 4, the US celebrates its 250th anniversary. As one might expect of a diverse nation, there is a pluriverse of celebrations. Multiple shows (some listed here) focus on the anniversary itself. Washington’s National Gallery has a show on what it means to be American. The linked piece highlights 25 “essential paintings” that touch on the spirit of 1776, westward expansion, industrial might, socioeconomic strife and automobile love. It’s an optimistic list for a celebratory moment.

The World’s First AI Art Museum Has a Strange Way of Honoring the Rainforest

Louis Bury | Art in America | 23rd June 2026

Anadol, a prominent AI artist, has opened the “world’s first AI museum”. Visitors register their biometric data so the show is personalised to them, even down to customised scents. Yet the digital pyrotechnics leave the reviewer unimpressed. The show’s “inaugural exhibition wants to have things both ways—a full-speed-ahead future that also mourns what’s being left behind. Its awkward compromises beget tepid innovations upon stale cultural products”.

23rd June 2026

Did we all get Orientalism wrong?

Ariella Budick | Financial Times | 20th June 2026

Orientalist art, painted by Europeans, has been scorned as colonialist fantasy. That’s true, but this type of art was just part of a complex two-way exchange between cultures. An acclaimed portrait by the French artist Gérôme portrays an Ottoman soldier with great respect. And Hamdi, the Ottoman artist, borrowed his theatrical stagings and architectural renderings straight from Paris. There was “a much richer and more human concoction than postcolonial polemics would suggest.“

What’s the Matter With Museums?

Daniel Grant | Observer | 19th June 2026

Can more art become too much art? It might if it requires a new museum. The US has about 35,000 museums, a number that has doubled since 1990. Local communities are now opposing new projects – especially so-called “vanity projects” – citing an absence of any public facilities, loss of public space or absorption of scarce public funds. Says one consultant “I’ve never known a community that was asking for a bigger museum. But many donors and collectors do,”

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