Here’s what made a mark around the industry since late last year…

Art Fairs

– Art SG took off on a high note this week in Singapore. And when you consider that 89 out of last year’s 164 participating galleries—including David Zwirner, Pace, Galerie Perrotin, and Skarstedt—decided not to come back to the fair this year, the upbeat initial pace of sales was all the more impressive. (Artnet News)

– ArtNova, the cultural investment fund created by French entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset, has purchased Art Market Minds, the company behind the Art Business Conference, a series of annual one-day conferences in London and New York. (Artnet News)

– The India Art Fair returns to the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi from February 1 to 4 for its biggest edition yet, with 108 exhibitors and a new design section. (Press release)

Auction Houses

– Hindman and Freeman’s auction houses have merged to create a new middle-market heavyweight, dubbed Freeman’s | Hindman. (Artnet News)

– Phillips CEO Stephen Brooks stepped down in December after nearly three years at the helm, a tenure during which the house achieved record-breaking sales and expanded its reach across the globe. (Artnet News)

– Elizabeth Beaman has been appointed head of Southern California in Los Angeles, and Becky Heldfond has been appointed head of San Francisco at Sotheby’s. (Press release)

– Christie’s has appointed Sarah Wendell Sherrill as the West Coast head of business development. (Press release)

Galleries

– König Galerie will open a new outpost next month in Mexico City,marking its first branch in the Americas. (Artnet News)

– Pearl Lam Galleries now represents Alimi Adewale, Dianna Molzan has joined Various Small Fires, Kukje Gallery and Lehmann Maupin announced co-representation of Kim Yun Shin, Anat Ebgi now represents Jenny Morgan, New York’s James Cohan now represents Diane Simpsonwith Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, and Herald St., London. (Press releases)

– Matt Carey-Williams, an alumnus of Victoria Miro, Gagosian, White Cube, Christie’s, and more, will open his own space in London. He’s also launching a year-round program of artist presentations that will appear in collaborating galleries around the world. (Press release)

– International gallery and consultancy Heather James Fine Art has launched an art advisory business, dubbed Heather James Art Advisory. (Press release)

Institutions

– The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) has announced that the National Gallery of Ireland and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art are the recipients of this year’s TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund. (Press release)

– The Orlando Museum of Art in Florida is in dire financial shape after a 2022 raid by the FBI, which seized paintings purportedly by Jean-Michel Basquiat that were later revealed to be fakes. (New York Times)

– The Philadelphia Museum of Art has named Eleanor Nairne as the head of modern and contemporary art.  (Press release)

Tech, Legal & Crime

– The epic trial pitting Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev against Sotheby’s auction house lumbered into its second week, with testimony from two key witnesses managing to alternately both titillate and bore the many art-world observers with eyes fixed on the proceedings. (Artnet News; Artnet News)

– A Cuban man was arrested in Brazil for the alleged murder of Brent Sikkema, just days after the esteemed New York art dealer was found dead in his home in Rio de Janeiro. (Artnet News)

– A two-alarm fire that tore through an art gallery in Seattle destroyed works by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Francisco Goya. (Artnet News)

Paint Drippings is excerpted from The Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know 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.