Dmitri Rybolovlev, who used fertilizers to make billions in assets, a soccer team from Monaco and Donald Trump's real estate, claims that a well-known art dealer cheated him many times.
in New York the long-awaited trial began on Monday, which is believed to shed light on the shady practices of art stores worth billions of euros.
A Russian oligarch and billionaire enriched with potash, i.e. potassium carbonate Dmitry Rybolovlev is suing traditional auction house Sotheby's, which it says was aided by an art broker and dealer Yves Bouvier in pranks.
They tell about it, for example The New York Times and The Guardian.
Tangle dates back more than ten years.
In 2013, Bouvier allegedly bought for himself first Modigliani sculpture for half the price of what he sold it to Rybolovlev, claiming that he is only a broker in the deal.
In another case, according to the email, Bouvier said he knows the person who is selling by Gustav Klimt painting for 190 million euros, but Bouvier could negotiate a lower amount. On the same day, Bouvier himself bought the work for $126 million and billed Rybolovlev $183.8 million for its sale.
The most amazing – and profitable for both – deal was made Leonardo da Vinci named after Salvator Mundi -painting, the authenticity of which has sometimes been doubted.
According to the oligarch, Bouvier said that the “seller” of the work would agree to a purchase price of $127 million. However, Bouvier himself had bought the work for $83 million before selling it to Rybolovlev for more than $40 million more, court documents allege.
In any case, the deal was also good for the potash billionaire, as he resold the work through Christie's, making it the world's most expensive work of art auctioned at $450 million.
The buyer was reportedly a strong man from Saudi Arabia, a prince Muhammad bin Salman.
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi painting was presented at Christie's auction house in London in October 2017.
Hundreds the profit of millions of dollars in the da Vinci deal does not seem to have appeased the oligarch.
As such, he does not lack a little money. After selling a fertilizer company in 2010 to oligarchs close to the Kremlin, he has bought, for example, a Monaco soccer club, an island in Greece, a majority stake in a Cypriot bank and real estate in Florida From Donald Trump.
But in ar
t shops, he feels betrayed. The result has already been several lawsuits against Bouvier.
Sotheby's according to the auction, there was no way to know what Bouvier confided to Rybolovlev.
Bouvier, on the other hand, claims that he always told openly when he was the owner of the work and when he was an intermediary between the owner and Rybolovlev.
Rybolovlev has never had Bouvier convicted despite several attempts. However, some of the cases were agreed behind the scenes and were taken out of court by joint decision.
According to the experts interviewed by The New York Times, the lawsuit can at best have an effect on improving the transparency of the art trade.
Read more: The fraud thread connected to the Russian owner of AS Monaco is strange and continues to swell – Dimitri Rybolovlev believes he was cheated, even though he bought top art at a lower price and sold it at a higher price (from 2018)
#Art #Russian #oligarch #sued #wellknown #auction #including #world39s #expensive #work #art
