Sotheby’s Will Have to Provide Details on Sales to Bouvier That Ultimately Went to Rybolovlev

It’s hard to decide which is the greater revelation from the NY Post’s account of a hearing yesterday in New York about the Bouvier-Rybolovlev case, that Sotheby’s will be compelled to release deal transaction details or that 15 of the 38 transactions between the Swiss freeport magnate and the Russian oligarch were sourced through Sotheby’s. (That last detail, the number of works, may not ultimately stand up given the Post’s reporting style.)

[NB: Many will remember the recent case between Ron Perelman and Gagosian Gallery that produced a similar request of the Mugrabi family to provide the court with business records.]

Here’s the Post’s report:

Sotheby’s was drawn deeper into the global art battle when it quietly reached a deal with Rybolovlev on May 19 to allow him to conduct limited discovery of Bouvier’s buys if a judge approves it. […]

Bouvier’s lawyers were in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday to fight Rybolovlev’s request.

Lawyers for Sotheby’s said the auction house has not volunteered to turn over any documents.

“Sotheby’s will only produce documents in the event it is ordered to do so by the court,” the lawyers said.

Sotheby’s faces backlash after granting peek at its books (New York Post)