Auction Fever, Restitution Fights, and Workers Rising

Show notes for today's episode of The Daily Art Download — your ten minute crash course in today's art world news. Robert Mnuchin's $85.7m Rothko leads Sotheby's $407.5m auction in New York https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/05/15/robert-mnuchins-857m-rothko-leads-sothebys-4075m-auction-in-new-york Es Devlin Is Creating a Living Portrait of the Entire U.K. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/es-devlin-national-portrait-gallery-2773867 A Delayed Art Dubai Opens With Fewer Galleries—but Buyers Abound https://news.artnet.com/market/art-dubai-report-2773646 Valie Export, Avant-Garde Icon and Feminist Trailblazer, Dies at 85 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/valie-export-obituary-2773624 Borghese Gallery Faces Pushback Over New Building Plan https://news.artnet.com/art-world/borghese-gallery-backlash-expansion-2773658 Catalonia Sues Aragón for €791,000 for Repayment Over Restitution of 56 Artworks https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/catalonia-sues-aragon-restitution-1234785790/ More Than 100 Seattle Art Museum Workers Plan to Unionize https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/more-than-100-seattle-art-museum-workers-plan-to-unionize-1234785795/ Independent Art Fair Trades Downtown for the World https://hyperallergic.com/independent-art-fair-trades-downtown-for-the-world/ London’s Wellcome Collection to Transfer 2,000 Manuscripts to Jain Community, But They Will Stay in UK https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/wellcome-collection-jain-manuscripts-transfer-1234785772/ Frieze New York Is an Assembly-Line Salad https://hyperallergic.com/frieze-new-york-is-an-assembly-line-salad/