Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know this Monday, October 15.

NEED-TO-READ

Marfa Gets an Upgrade – The Judd Foundation is renovating six of its 21 buildings in Marfa, Texas, at the behest of Donald Judd’s children, Rainer and Flavin, and in accordance with the late artist’s wishes. The revamp will increase the space available to the public by 16,000 square feet. Fundraising for $2 million to complete the first phase of the project is already underway. (New York Times)

Museums Reassess Saudi Ties – In the wake of the disappearance and possible murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi government, many museums are re-evaluating the funding they receive from Saudi Arabia. In New York, however, the Guggenheim, the Met, and MoMA are going ahead with Saudi-funded efforts to show more art from the Middle East to foster a greater understanding between the US and the Arab world. “We do not disengage with artists based on the actions or policies of their respective governments,” a spokesperson for the Guggenheim said. (NYT)

Mark Bradford Featured in the Other Royal Wedding – The star-studded wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on Friday had a high-art accent. Fabric based on Mark Bradford’s painting Here (2018) was used for the sashes for the flower girls and the cummerbunds for the page boys, who included Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Eugenie is a director at Hauser & Wirth, which represents the artist in London. Scroll down to see a few more shots of the artistic accessories and the painting that inspired them. (The Express)

Why Is Salvator Mundi Being Kept Offstage? – Following last month’s mysterious cancellation of the Leonardo work’s grand unveiling at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, some have wondered what is really causing the holdup. The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones suggests that the museum’s staff might be getting cold feet over the work’s much-discussed condition. “Is the Louvre Abu Dhabi taking a closer look at what it has?” Jones writes. “I think it should.” (Guardian)

ART MARKET

Another Hefty Hockney Comes to Market – David Hockney’s Montcalm Interior With 2 Dogs (1988) will go on sale at Sotheby’s New York on November 14. The large-scale painting, one of several pricey works by the artist hitting the block this season, comes from the collection of the television producer Steven Bochco. It will be shown in Los Angeles before it is sold with an estimate of $9 million to $12 million. (Press release)

Sotheby’s Breaks Wine Record Twice in One Sale – Two bottles of 1945 Romanée Conti smashed the previous record, set in 2007, for a single bottle of wine sold at auction. At Sotheby’s in New York on Saturday, the rare bottles—both from the personal cellar of winemaker Robert Drouhin—sold for $496,000 and $558,000. (Press release)

Christie’s Japan Names Managing Director – Katsura Yamaguchi has been promoted from the role of senior vice president and international director at the auction house’s Asian art department. Yamaguchi, who has been with Christie’s since 1992, is now the managing director of the auction house in Japan. (ARTnews)

Michelle Stuart Now Represented by Lelong – The American multimedia artist known for her photo collages has joined the roster of the New York gallery. Galerie Lelong will give Stuart her first solo show at its New York space in February 2019. (ARTnews)

COMINGS & GOINGS

UK Returns Two Etruscan Objects to Italy – Last week, UK authorities returned two Etruscan objects recovered by the Metropolitan Police from an antiques dealer in London. The bronze statuette of Lares was stolen from Siena’s archeology museum in 1988, while the terra cotta drinking vessel passed through the hands of convicted ancient art dealer Giacomo Medici. The UK dealer selling them is being treated as a cooperating witness. (ARCA)

Carnegie Prize Winners Announced – British-Ghanaian artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye won the Carnegie Prize for her room of tender portraits at the 57th Carnegie International, while the indigenous art collective Postcommodity took home the Fine Prize for its expansive installation of crushed steel, glass, and coal in the Carnegie Museum’s atrium. Both prizes, awarded by a jury to top participants in the International, are worth $10,000. (ARTnews)

Painter Eduardo Arroyo Has Died – The Spanish artist died at his home in Madrid at the age of 81. Arroyo was celebrated for his pioneering work in the realm of critical realism. The Spanish royal family paid tribute to him on Twitter, writing, “Spain today loses one of its distinguished painters. But Eduardo Arroyo’s work will continue to be present in museums all over the world, with us and for our future generations.” (Monopol)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Leonard Cohen Clears the Record on Kanye From the Grave – “Kanye West is not Picasso” is the title of a previously unknown, 21-stanza poem by the late singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist. The poem, written in 2015, surfaced amid Kanye’s recent visit to the White House and has now gone viral on Twitter. The poem begins: “Kanye West is not Picasso / I am Picasso” and later continues, “I am the Kanye West of Kanye West / The Kanye West / Of the great bogus shift of bullshit culture / From one boutique to another.” (Monopol)

Revolutionary War Statue Vandalism Goes Viral – Police in Savannah are looking for information after a prankster added googly eyes to the Nathanael Greene Monument in the city’s Johnson Square. The incident went viral after an outraged official posted on the city’s official Facebook page, writing, “Who did this?!” and “It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it’s a crime.” (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Artists Hold the Key to the Cryptocurrency Craze – How to make sense of the wild world of cryptocurrency? The podcast On the Media turns to a variety of economists and anthropologists—and some artists—to answer that very question. Among those discussed are the artists J.S.G. Boggs and Kevin Abosch, who is most famous for offering up crypto-tokens for himself with contracts backed by his own blood. (On the Media)

And more pictures of the Mark Bradford cummerbunds…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo1PZwYHKEX/?tagged=markbradford