Our weekly news roundup is an extension of Paint Drippings, which drops first in The Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribe now to receive this in your inbox every Friday. 

Art Fairs

– Frieze is “assessing” whether to go ahead with its February fair edition in Los Angeles following widespread wildfires that have killed at least 24 and left hundreds of thousands displaced. Listen to this week’s Art Market Minute for the latest. (Art Market Minute)

– This summer, 70 exhibitors will take part in London’s Treasure House Fair at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from June 26 to July 1. (Press release)

– Artissima, Italy’s only art fair dedicated to contemporary art, will run from October 31 to November 2 at the Oval Lingotto in Turin. (Press release)

Auction Houses

– Sotheby’s has named veteran luxury exec Masumi Shinohara as its new managing director for Asia. (Artnet News)

– There’s a new king atop the list of 500 artists at auction that Artnet compiles annually. Welcome René Magritte, the Belgian Surrealist, who dethroned Pablo Picasso with the highest auction total for 2024: $312.3 million. (The Art Detective)

René Magritte’s Empire of Light (1954), which sold for $121 million at Christie’s last year.

– Preservationists are seeking a landmark designation for the former home of the Whitney Museum in New York, the Breuer Building, which is set to become Sotheby’s new headquarters. The fight for the designation began soon after the auction house bought the property, as preservation groups fear its interior could be altered. (Artnet News)

– Christie’s will offer two works discovered through the house’s new online appraisal “price on estimate” service. At a sale in New York on January 24, the auction house will present a rare double-sided portrait by 18th-century artist Ammi Phillips with an estimate between $40,000 to $80,000. A watercolor attributed to JMW Turner will go under the hammer for between $300,000 and $500,000 at an Old Master and British drawings sale in on February 4. (Artnet News, The Art Newspaper)

Galleries

– Galerie Thomas, the Munich-based blue-chip firm founded 60 years ago, is the subject of a criminal investigation. Munich prosecutors confirmed probes into Raimund Thomas and his daughter Silke Thomas for alleged insolvency delays, fraud, and breach of trust. The illustrious gallery, a regular at art fairs such as TEFAF and Art Basel, filed for bankruptcy in a German court last July. (Handelsblatt, Artnet News)

– Many L.A. galleries, including Night Gallery, Sean Kelly, Various Small Fires, Lisson Gallery, and Jeffrey Deitch, closed as wildfires continue to ravage the region. Gagosian postponed the opening of Alex Israel’s “Noir” exhibition, originally scheduled for January 9, until further notice. (Artnet News)

Palazzo Belgioioso. Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery. Photo: Adriano Mura.

– In the fall, Thaddaeus Ropac will open a new space in central Milan, on the first floor of the historic Palazzo Belgioioso, which has over 3,000 square feet. Former Lévy Gorvy Dayan senior director Elena Bonanno di Linguaglossa will serve as the executive director of the outpost, which is the gallery’s seventh. (Artnet News)

– Amanita will open a second New York gallery space, at 1 Freeman Alley, formerly home to a branch of Salon 94. (Press release)

Museums and Organizations

– A $1 million gift from the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum‘s board chair, Diana Bowes, will endow its chief curator position for the next 10 years. Amy Smith-Stewart, who joined the Ridgefield, Conn. museum in 2013, has held the role since 2022. (The Back Room Exclusive)

– The Andy Warhol Museum hired Mario R. Rossero as its new director. Rosario is currently executive director of the National Art Education Association, and will join the Pittsburgh museum on March 31. (Press release)

– The Dedalus Foundation, founded by Robert Motherwell, appointed Katy Rogers as its next president and CEO. She started working at the foundation in 2003. (Press release)

Photo: Michael Cannon/National Art Education Association Press.

– An exhibition at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth has become the subject of controversy for including artworks by photographer Sally Mann that show her children. The images have reportedly been “secured as potential evidence and will not be visible to the public while the investigation is pending.” (Artnet News) 

– The Svane Family Foundation is starting a $5 million grant program called Culture Forward that will support arts and cultural projects in an effort to revitalize downtown San Francisco. It will run from 2025 to 2027. (Press release)

Tech and Legal News

– Brian Boucher looked at the apparent decline of Chicago dealer Kavi Gupta’s gallery, as he deals with two lawsuits—one against his firm for allegedly failing to pay an artist, and one that alleges he redirected funds from a business loan for his own use. He has denied the allegations. (Artnet News)

– Belgian artist Christian Silvain won a €650,000 (about $670,000) plagiarism case against artist Ye Yongqing in a Chinese court. (ArtDependence)

– The German government has signed off on a controversial reform plan for the process of returning art looted by the Nazis that will see an advisory commission replaced with an arbitration court for restitution claims. Some victims’ families and lawyers have objected to aspects of the initiative, saying that its rules could prevent some rightful claimants from taking legal action. (Barron’s)

Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Officer James Rorimer supervises U.S. soldiers recovering looted paintings from Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany at the end of World War II. The portrait of the woman, by Nicolas de Largillièrre, is now being sold by Christie’s. Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

– Hephaestus Analytical, an A.I. art authentication company, has merged with ArtDiscovery, a scientific analysis firm specializing in the technical study of artworks. (Press release)

People

– Former Art Basel chief Marc Spiegler has launched a new web-based education initiative in collaboration with Art Market Minds. The program, called the Academy, will offer live online courses that explore industry dynamics and foster entrepreneurial innovation.  (Artnet News)

– Savannah College of Art and Design’s founder and president, Paula Wallace, was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Biden for transforming “how we think about professional education.” (Press release)