A court in New York rejected the claim of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev against the Sotheby’s auction house. About it reports Bloomberg.
In the lawsuit, Rybolovlev claimed that the auction house helped its former art dealer Yves Bouvier inflate prices for paintings. Allegedly, Bouvier set hidden markups on masterpieces when reselling paintings. Initially, the statement referred to 16 transactions; by the time the process was completed, only four remained on the list.
As part of the transactions, the paintings “Savior of the World” were acquired, the authorship of which is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci ($127.5 million), “Possession of Arnheim” Rene Magritte ($43.5 mln), Water Snakes II Gustav Klimt ($183.8 million) and Tete sculpture Amadeo Modigliani ($62.5 million) between 2011 and 2013. According to Rybolovlev, Bouvier inflated prices by more than $1 billion when reselling works of art.
The billionaire’s legal battle with Bouvier lasted about 9 years in the courts of Great Britain, Monaco, Singapore, the USA and Switzerland. The process in Monaco was completed in 2019, and the art dealer was cleared of all charges of fraud and money laundering. The court in Geneva at the end of 2023 also rejected Rybolovlev’s claims against Bouvier. The billionaire’s lawyers then said that “the parties have entered into a confidential agreement regarding all their differences and no longer have mutual claims.” Bouvier declared “the end of a nine-year nightmare.”
“Salvator Mundi,” long considered a lost masterpiece, was bought at a sale in 2011 for $10,000. The Bouvier company bought the painting in 2013 for $83 million. Rybolovlev, who bought the masterpiece for $127.5 million, sold it at Christie’s in November 2017 for $450 million, making the painting “the most expensive painting in the world.” For the billionaire, this deal became the most successful in his life. Presumably, the current owner of the “Savior of the World” is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman.
“Savior of the World” Photo: Beeld/AFP
A jury of 10 people, after deliberating for six hours, rejected the billionaire’s claim against the auction house.
“Today’s decision reaffirms Sotheby’s long-standing commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity, ethics and professionalism in all aspects of the art market. “We are grateful to the jury for their verdict, which fully exonerates Sotheby’s of any alleged wrongdoing,” Sotheby’s said in a statement following the trial.
Rybolovlev, who teared up at one of the court hearings when he talked about how much he trusted Bouvier, stated after the verdict was announced: “That’s life”.
“This case achieved our goal of shining a light on the lack of transparency that plagues the art market. This secrecy made it difficult to try the complex case of aiding and abetting fraud. This verdict only underscores the need for reforms that must take place outside the courtroom,” said the billionaire’s lawyer. Daniel Kornstein.
Note that according to Forbes estimates, in 2023 Rybolovlev took 26th place in the ranking of Russian billionaires with $6.4 billion.
2024-01-31 18:14:00
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