Daily Newsletter An intimate profile of the body painter, Hungary's art world post-Orbán, and Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury's life amid war. April 20, 2026 — 4 min read “I never started out to be an inspiration. I started out to just do what I’ve tried to do,” Joan Semmel said during a recent visit to her Manhattan studio. Wiser words have never been spoken, and at 93, with hundreds of portraits painted and demand for her works on the rise, Semmel has quite a bit of wisdom to share. Aaron Short profiles the artist with exquisite photos by Hyperallergic's Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian. After the Tisza opposition party defeated Viktor Orbán in a landslide election, ending 16 years of authoritarian rule over life and culture in Hungary, artists and art workers are finally allowing themselves to hope. The New York-based Hungarian curator Veronika Molnár traces the extended period of silence and censorship in her country and imagines a path forward in a must-read opinion piece today.…