Rybolovlev
There is a new twist in the case between Rybolovlev and Bouvier. According to Steve Bird’s article in The Telegraph, Lawyers for Sotheby’s are preparing for Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian fertiliser and potash salesman, to use the British courts to claim the international auction house helped an art dealer inflate prices of a number of masterpieces he subsequently bought. Uh Oh!
Rybolovlev purchased over 40 works from Bouvier at what he claims were extremely inflated prices. Recently, a New York court ruled that classified documents between Sotheby’s and Bouvier can be used in the British courts. If nothing else, we are going to get a peek into the backroom deals that go on at the upper end of the art market. It will be interesting to see if Sotheby’s fights (which, at this point, they claim they will), or makes a deal.
Source: Sotheby’s prepares to be dragged into international art world legal row