A New York jury rejected Rybolovlev’s claim against Sotheby’s – Kommersant
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A New York jury rejected the claim of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev against the Sotheby’s auction house, writes Bloomberg. In his lawsuit, Mr. Rybolovlev claims that the auction house helped the art dealer Yves Bouvier inflate prices when selling works of art. The claim against Yves Bouvier was also rejected, the agency notes.
“This is life,” Dmitry Rybolovlev said after the jury’s decision. The Bloomberg story says that Mr. Rybolovlev followed the progress of the case through a Russian translator and “did not show much reaction” when the lawsuit was considered by the court.
Russian billionaire’s lawyer Daniel Kornstein in conversation with RBC stated that the legal proceedings initiated by Mr. Rybolovlev “shed light on a critical lack of transparency in the art market.” “Such secrecy has made it extremely difficult to prove a complex case of aiding and abetting fraud. This verdict only underscores the need for reforms outside the courtroom,” said Mr. Kornstein.
Dmitry Rybolovlev filed a lawsuit against Yves Bouvier in 2015, when the art dealer came to the billionaire’s house in Monaco to complete a deal for a painting by Mark Rothko. Then Mr. Rybolovlev accused Yves Bouvier of inflating prices for works of art purchased by the billionaire by $1 billion. Bloomberg notes that in 2013, a dealership company controlled by Yves Bouvier bought the painting “Salvator Mundi,” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, for $83 million, and later sold it to Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million in two days. In 2017, the Russian billionaire sold the work for $450.3 million at Christie’s auction.
Read more about Dmitry Rybolovlev’s lawsuit against Sotheby’s in material “Ъ”.
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