Restitution Reckonings and a Heat-Strained Art World

London’s auction scene just snapped back into focus. Sotheby’s sale of works from the collection of billionaire financier and former Tottenham Hotspur Football Club owner Joe Lewis brought in £249.3m—£296.3m with fees—making it the most valuable single-owner collection ever sold in the UK, and one of the strongest auction results globally this year, according to The Art Newspaper. Built over almost half a century by Lewis and his daughter Vivienne, the collection ranged from Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele to Pablo Picasso and Lucian Freud. Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu assis au collie (1917) led the night at £41.5m (£48.2m with fees). Sotheby’s also highlighted the importance of Asian bidding: collectors from the region bid on half the lots and accounted for around a third of the total.

Still in the United Kingdom, leadership news at one of London’s biggest cultural engines. Misan Harriman is stepping down as chair of the Southbank Centre after serving two terms, The Art Newspaper reports. Harriman drew public attention after media outlets accused him of antisemitism over social media posts he made following the Golders Green attack in North London in April; he has previously rejected the suggestion his posts were antisemitic. In an Instagram video posted Tuesday (23 June), he said his departure wasn’t connected to that dispute and that he had decided “way before this madness” to do two terms. A Southbank spokesperson said he confirmed in January he would not seek a third term and would step down in the autumn of 2026, with succession planning underway and more details expected after the AGM in July.

Across the Channel, the heat is rewriting museum logistics in real time. ARTnews reports that Paris museums and tourist sites are limiting hours amid a record-breaking heatwave. France logged its highest average temperature ever on Tuesday—about 86 degrees Fahrenheit—with highs in some places reaching 104. Several major destinations are changing schedules: the Louvre will close at 4 pm, with admissions ending at 2 pm, and advance booking during the heatwave is mandatory. The Musée de l’Orangerie, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Musée Rodin are also closing early for the next few days. Other sites are trimming access too: the Eiffel Tower is closing at 4 pm today and tomorrow, and the Arc de Triomphe is closing at 2:30 pm through Friday. Meanwhile, some newer or cooler buildings are staying open.

Back to Britain for an art-world farewell. ARTnews reports that Tess Jaray, the British artist, printmaker, and educator known for hard-edge abstractions, died on May 24 at age 88. Born in 1937 in Vienna, she fled to Britain with her parents after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, later studying at St Martin’s School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. By 1962 she was making carefully plotted hard-edge abstract paintings, often using masking tape for crisp edges and, later, computers for planning. She also produced major public commissions, including a floor at Victoria Station in London (1985), and the stone floor of St. Mary’s Church in Nottingham (2014), and was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1995. She ran the Slade postgraduate course from 1968 to 1999 and was elected a Royal Academician in 2010.

Staying in Europe, Ireland is being urged to build a more formal national system for restitution and repatriation claims. The Art Newspaper reports that an expert committee appointed by the Irish government recommended creating a national panel to evaluate claims for Nazi-era and colonial loot in public collections and called for state funding for provenance research. The Advisory Committee on the Restitution and Repatriation of Cultural Heritage, established in 2023, presented its final report to the Irish government earlier this month. Led by Donnell Deeny, chair of the UK Spoliation Advisory Panel, it urges new laws to establish a Restitution and Repatriation Advisory Panel of Ireland and proposes giving the minister of culture powers to direct or authorise restitutions even when current restrictions would prevent deaccessioning. Minister for culture Patrick O’Donovan said he’s giving the recommendations full consideration and will consult stakeholders before bringing a plan to government.

From policy to adaptive reuse: Manifesta is turning a spotlight on what happens to unused churches in Germany. The Art Newspaper reports that Manifesta 16 Ruhr focuses on 12 churches across the Ruhr valley, exploring how disused religious buildings could be revitalised through cultural and community projects. The biennial opened to the public on Sunday 21 June and runs through 4 October, spanning Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, and Bochum. In Essen’s St. Gertrude Church, Berlin-based artist Nasan Tur created Elevation, with pews turned upright and carved with phrases like “Keep door open” and “Love is freedom.” Other reimaginings include St. Josef’s in Gelsenkirchen used as a basketball court, and later transformed by architect Josep Bohigas with a giant blue balloon and sand. Manifesta director Hedwig Fijen says the project offers “12 different models” for reuse and pushes politicians to keep asking what these spaces can become.

Now to Colombia, where a long-delayed museum project is moving forward again, even as politics add uncertainty. The Art Newspaper reports that work has resumed on Bogotá’s Museo de Memoria de Colombia after more than three years on hold, with the building more than 70% complete when construction restarted a few months ago. The museum confronts the legacy of Colombia’s internal armed conflict and honours victims of violence spanning more than seven decades. But the recent narrow election victory of right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, who begins his term on 7 August, has raised concerns among human-rights groups about institutions linked to peace and historical memory, including the Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica, which the museum depends on. Museum director Adriana María González Maxcyclak says it’s expected to open in part in 2027 and be completed by 2029.

Switching to the United States, a federal judge is demanding answers about a very visible cover-up in Washington. ARTnews reports that U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper has given the Trump administration until July 31 to explain why a tarp still obscures the facade of the Kennedy Center, days after the president’s name was removed from the building by court order. Cooper said the administration must report “the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding” now covering the institution’s full name, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Workers put up the scaffolding and tarp in the early hours of June 13 as they prepared to comply with the order. The words “The Donald J. Trump And” were added to the facade in December, triggering lawsuits. The May 29 ruling also blocked a proposed two-year closure of the institution.

Down in Florida, Art Basel’s parent company is pushing into a new kind of event. The Hollywood Reporter says MCH Group is backing a new venture called Jupiter Festival, slated for Miami this October at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The speaker list includes Tribeca Enterprises CEO Rebecca Glashow, Fox One chief Pete Distad, Inside the NBA host Kenny Smith, YouTube’s Brian Albert, and former 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens. Jupiter Festival CEO and co-founder William Mellis describes it as a delegate-focused event built around networking and debates about the future of video content, with some voices intended to “challenge and provoke the industry.” MCH Group CEO Andrea Zappia frames the move as adjacent to Art Basel’s “thought leadership moments.” MCH Group’s largest individual shareholder is James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems.

Finally, a story about art made from vibration and resonance. Artnet News spotlights “How to Make a Sculpture With Sound,” focusing on composer and artist Tarek Atoui. The piece presents Atoui’s approach to treating sound as material—something that can be shaped into a sculptural experience rather than used as mere background. It frames the idea as a practical way of thinking about sound’s physical presence, where listeners encounter texture, form, and space through what they hear. Instead of prioritizing the eye, the story emphasizes sound as a medium that can define structure and experience in its own right, inviting audiences to engage with a work through the auditory dimension as the main event. It’s a reminder that contemporary practice can build meaning through what’s heard, not just what’s seen.

That’s your download for today—links to every story are in the show notes. Come back tomorrow for more art world news, and until then: Chinga la migra

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