Daily Art Download — 2026-01-20

Show notes for today's episode of The Daily Art Download — your ten minute crash course in today's art world news. Artnet News - 3D Tech Reveals New Gladiator Graffiti in Pompeii: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/3d-tech-reveals-new-gladiator-graffiti-in-pompeii-2738381 - Prado Museum Moves to Curb Overcrowding: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/prado-museum-moves-to-curb-overcrowding-2738386 - South Africa’s Culture Minister Investigated After Venice Biennale Claims: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/south-africa-venice-biennale-investigation-2738242 - Sotheby’s Brings Rare Rembrandt to Saudi Arabia in Vote of Market Confidence: https://news.artnet.com/market/rembrandt-saudi-arabia-2738322 - The Forgotten Designer Who Created America’s First National Parks Posters: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dorothy-waugh-national-park-posters-2734817 - A $53.5 million Surrealist Trove Heads to Christie’s–and More Art Industry News: https://news.artnet.com/market/paint-drippings-art-industry-news-jan-19-2738212 - More Magritte Heads to Auction: https://news.artnet.com/multimedia/art-market-minute-jan-19-2738213 - Meet the Unknown Modernist Who Brought Georgia O’Keeffe to New Mexico: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rebecca-salsbury-james-2729784 The Art Newspaper - International art news and events - Remembering Gathie Falk, Canadian artist whose singular practice sparked comparisons to Surrealism and Pop art: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/gathie-falk-canadian-artist-obituary - Workers at the Metropolitan Museum vote to form union: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/metropolitan-museum-workers-vote-unionise-united-auto-workers - Louvre closes again due to staff strikes: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/louvre-closes-again-staff-strikes - National Endowment for the Humanities awards $75.1m to 84 projects across the US: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/national-endowment-humanities-awards-75m-grants - Ten artists receive €100,000 as winners of Chanel Next Prize 2026: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/ten-artists-winners-chanel-next-prize-2026 - Ten essential works of art to see in Graubünden, home of the Engadin valley: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/ten-essential-works-of-art-to-see-in-graubunden-world-economic-forum - Meet the global taskforce working to recover stolen cultural heritage: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/global-taskforce-recovering-stolen-cultural-heritage - London show of Lee Miller photographs is fundraising to save thousands of her negatives: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/london-show-of-lee-miller-photographs-is-raising-money-to-save-thousands-of-her-negatives - New London exhibition uses architecture to explore the experiences of Iran’s American diaspora: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/new-london-exhibition-architecture-experiences-iran-american-diaspora - UK government bans export of £9m rural ‘masterpiece’ by Claude Lorrain: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/uk-government-bans-export-of-£9m-rural-masterpiece-by-claude-lorrain - Inside the star-studded party celebrating 30 years of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/inside-the-star-studded-turin-party-celebrating-30-years-of-fondazione-sandretto-re-rebaudengo - Winslow Homer’s mountaineer and Bob Ross's valley view: our pick of the January auctions: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/19/winslow-homers-mountaineer-and-bob-rosss-valley-view-our-pick-of-the-january-auctions ARTnews.com - CHANEL Culture Fund Names Winners of Its 2026 Next Prize, with 10 Artists Awarded €100 K. Each: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/chanel-culture-fund-names-winners-of-its-2026-chanel-next-prize-with-each-artist-bagging-e100-k-1234770159/ Hyperallergic - Activists Fight to Salvage the “Sistine Chapel of New Deal Art”: https://hyperallergic.com/activists-fight-to-salvage-the-sistine-chapel-of-new-deal-art/ - What the Smithsonian Won’t Say About Grandma Moses: https://hyperallergic.com/what-the-smithsonian-wont-say-about-grandma-moses/ - Uman’s Diasporic Abstraction: https://hyperallergic.com/umans-diasporic-abstraction/ - This Is the Year We Redefine Art Institutions: https://hyperallergic.com/this-is-the-year-we-redefine-art-institutions/ - Lotty Rosenfeld Weaponized the Line: https://hyperallergic.com/lotty-rosenfeld-weaponized-the-line/ - Martin Luther King Jr. in Art and Memory: https://hyperallergic.com/martin-luther-king-jr-in-art-and-memory/