Oligarchs v. Art Advisors, Round 2? Artnet’s habit of having its news operation rewrite stories from other publications often leaves the context of the story far from the reader’s grasp. A good example is yesterday’s recap of a Tribune de Genève story about another Russian collector suing a Swiss dealer over fees. The story echoes the Dmitry Rybolovlev’s long-running battle against Yves Bouvier:

• An unnamed Russian billionaire and his son have launched a lawsuit against their art dealer, who helped them build a collection worth an estimated CHF 600 million ($607 million). The family is alleging that the dealer inflated prices to defraud them of millions. The collector, a Baltic industrialist living in Geneva, Switzerland, is accusing the dealer, also based in Geneva, of committing fraud while brokering sales of works by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Breugel the Younger, Joan Miró, and Francis Bacon, according to an investigation by the Tribune de Genève. The dealer in question, who has yet to be named in the press, is apparently not well known to local gallerists. According to documents the Tribune obtained from the Geneva Courts, he says he only received a five percent commission on the artworks, totaling CHF 30.8 million ($31 million).

That prompted art market writer Georgina Adam to muse on Twitter:

Am wondering if this is a Mr Sherbakov: A Billionaire Is Suing His Art Dealer in Switzerland for Allegedly Marking Up the Prices of Art and Pocketing the Extra | artnet News https://t.co/o2smKhtJoI

— Georgina Adam (@georginaadam) July 10, 2018

But Adam wasn’t really going far enough. Vladimir Scherbakov has been engaged in a long-running lawsuit with Yves Bouvier that followed the Rybolovlev accusations and Bouvier’s 2015 arrest in Monaco (which turned out to be the product of Rybolovlev’s meddling with the Monagasque justice system.) Earlier this year, Australian journalist and Russian resident, John Helmer published some of the details of Scherbakov’s fight with Bouvier:

• “One of the richest Russian businessmen in Kaliningrad where he controls Avtotor, an auto import and assembly business, Scherbakov is suing Bouvier in Geneva for allegedly defrauding him in sale and purchase deals for  forty artworks. There is no reporting of this case in the Geneva press; it is mentioned in the Paris business paper Les Echos in this report of April 24, 2017.  According to Les Echos, Bouvier was reportedly acting behind an art commission agent employed by Scherbakov; Bouvier allegedly controlled several front companies  in southeast Asia through which the art deals were done.  Scherbakov and his son Sergei live in Geneva but they are not talking to the Swiss press.  The affair is “delicate”, according to a Geneva investigator. Scherbakov’s claims against Bouvier were filed in court in Geneva at the end of 2015.”

Kaliningrad is, of course, a Baltic port which would fit with Scherbakov being the litigant in the Tribune de Genève’s report. But Bouvier is only witness in these proceedings, not the subject of the lawsuit. According to artnet’s report, the suit involves the use of shell companies that Bouvier set up for his deals with Rybolovlev. So the case may by a continuation of the earlier suit with a different target from Bouvier but one associated with him. …

David Smith Estate Now Run By His Daughters: David Smith died unexpectedly when his daughters Rebecca and Candida were quite young. His estate was established as a trust with Clement Greenberg, Robert Motherwell and Smith’s lawyer as in charge before the work owned by the artist was eventually distributed to the daughters. From there, the estate’s role was to support scholarship, including a long-running catalogue raisonné project to replace Rosalind Krauss’s 1977 catalogue, preserve Smith’s archive and promote his reputation as an artist through exhibitions. Although ownership of most of Smith’s work, few of his pieces were sold during his lifetime, passed to his daughters, neither felt that Greenberg or Motherwell were doing much to promote the artist’s legacy. As a consequence, Rebecca’s husband, Peter Stevens, took over running the estate in the early 1980s. Along the way, Rebecca and Peter divorced.

Today, ARTnews reports that the estate is making a change in leadership:

• “The estate of sculptor David Smith is undergoing a leadership change through which executive director Peter Stevens, who has worked on the late artist’s legacy for 35 years, is stepping down while Smith’s daughters—Rebecca and Candida Smith—move into a more active role as co-presidents.” …

Jho Low Watch: We mistakenly suggested that Jho Low was speaking with Malaysian investigators looking into the 1MDB scandal. The South China Morning Post‘s excellent Enid Tsui reports that Low Taek Jho and his family left Hong Kong quietly last week in favor of Macau. The Chinese backed international man of mystery has been on the move since the surprise election in Malaysia that brought former president Mahathir back to power to address the handling of the 1MDB bank’s losses and the financial repercussions for the nation. He watched the election returns on a yacht off the coast of Thailand before going to ground in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong. Now SCMP reports:

• “Fugitive Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho and his family were allowed to slip out of Hong Kong to Macau last week because neither Malaysia nor Singapore formally requested his arrest, the Post has learned. He and his entourage were hiding in plain sight in Admiralty, on Hong Kong Island, occupying multiple rooms at the upscale Pacific Place Apartments before leaving for the casino hub, a source with knowledge of Low’s recent movements said.” …

Drew Gilpin Faust Joins Getty Board: Shortly after the announcement that she would join the board of Goldman Sachs, Harvard’s former president and distinguished American historian has been named the Getty Museum’s newest board member. She will start in September:

• “Drew brings extensive experience to the board,” said James Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust. “Her contributions to the humanities are of the greatest distinction and I look forward to working with her to further the Getty’s mission in the service of the world’s cultural heritage.” …

The New Museum Sets Its Triennial in Motion: Robin Pogrebin reported in the New York Times yesterday that two curators—Margot Norton of the New Museum and Jamillah James of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles—have been selected for the 2021 triennial at the New Museum in New York:

• “Both Norton and James have consistently committed to supporting and exhibiting emerging artists, and have an extraordinary track record in identifying the most interesting artists at work today,” said Massimiliano Gioni, the museum’s artistic director, in a statement. “We are excited about this new bicoastal pairing of curators. I look forward to the new perspective they will bring.” …