NEW YORK – A Russian billionaire art collector misplaced a prison struggle with Sotheby’s on Tuesday, when a U.S. jury sided with the public sale space in a lawsuit over claims that the businessman was ripped off whilst assembling a trove of works that integrated a famous painting known as “the lost Leonardo.”
A New York federal jury deliberated for a couple of hours prior to attaining a call in Dmitry Rybolovlev’s case against Sotheby’s, The New York Times reported. The fertilizer titan alleged that the public sale space helped a Swiss art broker cheat him out of over $160 million by means of quietly enforcing massive markups on works that he bought. Tearing up when he testified previous this month, he stated he’d no longer simplest misplaced cash however agree with.
Sotheby’s maintained it knew not anything of any misconduct and stated it had adopted all prison, monetary and business requirements. It forged the verdict Tuesday as a mark of overall vindication.
“Today’s ruling reaffirms Sotheby’s long-standing commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity, ethics and professionalism in all aspects of the art market,” the auction house said in a statement after the verdict.
However, Rybolovlev lawyer Daniel Kornstein said that “secrecy made it difficult to prove a complex aiding and abetting fraud case.”
“This case achieved our goal of shining a light on the lack of transparency that plagues the art market,” the attorney said, calling for reforms that “must be made outside the courtroom.”
Rybolovlev, 57, spent $2 billion from 2002 to 2014 to build a prime art collection featuring works by such giants as Picasso, Rodin, Modigliani, Klimt, Magritte and Leonardo da Vinci. For help finding and acquiring art, he turned to Swiss broker Yves Bouvier.
The collector testified that he trusted Bouvier “like family,” even inviting him to small birthday parties — before coming to believe that the art dealer was cheating him. He alleged that Bouvier hugely padded the prices that Rybolovlev was paying and pocketing the difference, along with his agreed-upon 2% commission.
Bouvier and Rybolovlev settled in December for undisclosed phrases, in line with Bouvier’s legal professionals. They stated this month that he “strongly objects to any allegation of fraud.”
In private transactions, Sotheby’s sold Bouvier some works that he then resold to Rybolovlev. The billionaire’s lawyers argued that the auction house either knew — or should have known — that Rybolovlev was getting cheated and notified him.
“So it’s not an issue of money. Well, not only of money,” Rybolovlev said, through a court interpreter on the witness stand. “It’s important for the art market to be more transparent. Because … when the largest company in this industry is involved in actions of this sort, you know, clients don’t stand a chance.”
Sotheby’s legal professional Sara Shudofsky argued that the businessman was once “trying to make an innocent party pay for what somebody else did to him.” She stated that Rybolovlev did not ask sufficient questions of Bouvier or take sufficient steps to protect against being conned.
Rybolovlev accused Bouvier of fraud involving 38 artistic endeavors. Only 4 had been at factor within the trial, together with da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi, ” a portrait of Jesus Christ. Its whereabouts had been unknown for hundreds of years.
Rybolovlev’s legal professionals stated Bouvier purchased it from Sotheby’s for $83 million, then bought it directly to the billionaire an afternoon later for over $127 million.
In 2017, Rybolovlev bought it thru Christie’s for a ancient $450 million and it turned into the most expensive painting ever bought at public sale.
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