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This commentary by Marion Maneker is available to AMMpro subscribers. (The first month of AMMpro is free and subscribers are welcome to sign up for the first month and cancel before they are billed.)

Long-Delayed Result of Oligarch’s Attempt to Have Art Intermediary Charged

Almost four years ago, Yves Bouvier was arrested in Monaco. In the time that has passed since, we’ve learned that Dmitry Rybolovlev had worked with Monaco’s Minister of Justice to get Bouvier arrested. Today, Rybolovlev was charged along with his lawyer and the former Minister of Justice’s family members with bribery, according to the Financial Times.

• “In addition to charging the Russian billionaire on Wednesday, police also charged Tatiana Bersheda, Mr Rybolovlev’s lawyer, and the wife and son of Philippe Narmino, Monaco’s former minister of justice, the people said. Mr Narmino, who was justice minister during Mr Bouvier’s arrest, took early retirement last year after cordial text messages between him and Ms Bersheda were published.”

The Sale You Really Want to Watch This Season

The evening sales get all of the attention but the Contemporary market has been witnessing strong growth in the day sales over the past several seasons. Christie’s PWC day sale will bulge this year because of the Anderson collection but the one that allows us to track that growth is Sotheby’s Contemporary day sale. It’s been a banner year for day sale growth at Sotheby’s. As the day sales morph into a mezzanine market during the marquee sales seasons, Sotheby’s has been busy integrating those sales with the mid-season events they call Contemporary Curated sales.