Auction Fever, Digital Backlash, and Stolen Masterpieces

Show notes for today's episode of The Daily Art Download — your ten minute crash course in today's art world news. $392.6 M. Lewis Collection Sale Smashes Records at Sotheby’s, Led by $63.9 M. Modigliani https://news.artnet.com/market/392-6-m-lewis-collection-sale-smashes-records-led-by-63-9-m-modigliani-2783495 Crystal Bridges, fresh off major expansion, hires Courtenay Finn as next chief curator https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/24/crystal-bridges-hires-courtenay-finn-chief-curator Meta and YouTube’s recent losses in youth social media addiction cases may put artists and activists at risk https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/24/meta-youtube-legal-losses-put-artists-activists-risk Helen Cammock removes film criticising Winston Churchill from London's National Portrait Gallery following complaint https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/24/helen-cammock-video-work-criticising-winston-churchill-removed-from-national-portrait-gallery Picasso painting recovered in French drug raid was stolen ‘opportunistically’, police source says https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/06/24/picasso-painting-recovered-in-french-drug-raid-was-stolen-opportunistically-say-police-source Since the 1960s, Marilou Schultz Has Merged Diné Weaving and Digital Worlds https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/marilou-schultz-candice-hopkins-hessel-museum-dine-weaving-1234790145/ Pratt Manhattan Gallery Moves “Beyond Digital” in New Exhibition https://hyperallergic.com/pratt-manhattan-gallery-moves-beyond-digital-in-new-exhibition/ In Open Letter, Hundreds of Artists Urge Mayor Mamdani for Two-Year Ban on AI in Classrooms https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/letter-artists-zohran-mamdani-two-year-ban-ai-classrooms-1234790115/ Australian Artist Accused of Copying Work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nicholas Harding https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/jane-allan-copying-claims-jean-michel-basquiat-nicholas-harding-1234790157/ Inside the Mind of an Antiquities Looter https://hyperallergic.com/inside-the-mind-of-an-antiquities-looter/