Record Sales, Restored Masterpieces, and War’s Shadow

Show notes for today's episode of The Daily Art Download — your ten minute crash course in today's art world news. Vaccine billionaire buys $17.9m Raja Ravi Varma, setting new record for Indian painting at auction https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/02/vaccine-billionaire-buys-179m-raja-ravi-varma-setting-new-record-for-indian-painting-at-auction Stolen Van Gogh Back on View at Dutch Museum After Dramatic Restoration https://news.artnet.com/art-world/van-gogh-parsonage-garden-groninger-restoration-2761471 Cecily Brown Turns Pastoral Visions Into Painterly Chaos in Her London Museum Debut https://news.artnet.com/art-world/cecily-brown-picture-making-serpentine-2760846 Paul Pfeiffer will be inaugural artist-in-residence at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center arena https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/02/paul-pfeiffer-artist-residence-barclays-center-arena-brooklyn Unesco grants enhanced protection to 39 Lebanese heritage sites as war escalates https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/02/unesco-grants-enhanced-protection-to-39-lebanese-heritage-sites Frieze New York to Include Whitney Biennial Commission and New $50,000 Acquisition Fund https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/frieze-new-york-2026-highlights-whitney-biennial-commission-1234779686/ Lebanese Artist Ali Cherri Files War Crimes Complaint Against Israel After 2024 Beirut Bombing https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/lebanese-artist-ali-cherri-files-war-crimes-complaint-against-israel-after-2024-beirut-bombing-1234779773/ Trump’s White House Ballroom Plan Stalls as Congress Balks https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/trump-white-house-ballroom-halted-congress-1234779783/ Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Arena Launches Art Program, with Paul Pfeiffer As First Artist-in-Residence https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/barclays-center-brooklyn-art-program-1234779742/ Melvin Edwards, Who Sculpted a New Vocabulary for Political Art, Dies at 88 https://hyperallergic.com/melvin-edwards-who-sculpted-a-new-vocabulary-for-political-art-dies-at-88/