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 Wednesday, June 1.

NEED TO READ

Dealer Loses Bid for Nazi-Looted Works – Two works by Egon Schiele are expected to go on sale at Christie’s this fall after the London-based dealer Richard Nagy failed to win his appeal in a case that forced him to return the paintings to the heirs of Austrian Holocaust victim Fritz Grünbaum. The decision from the New York Court of Appeals ends a seven-year legal battle over the works. (New York Post)

Fayez Sarofim, Houston Financier and Museum Benefactor, Dies at 93 – The Egyptian-born billionaire died on May 28 at his home in Houston, his family confirmed. Last year, Sarofim presented highlights of his collection, which encompasses works by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Robert Motherwell, and Pablo Picasso, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He told Money magazine in 1999 that he has the same rule of thumb for both investing and art collecting: “Never sell.” (Bloomberg, Barrons)

A New Report Ranks the Top American Art Cities – New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami are the five American cities that contribute most to the international art market, according to a new report by the art economist Clare McAndrew. The U.S. accounted for nearly half of all art sales in 2021. Here’s a fun fact about New York plucked from the data: institutions in the city mounted 36 percent of all exhibitions staged nationwide between 2017 and 2021. (ARTnews)