bouvier

In the Globe-Spanning Battle Between Dimitry Rybolovlev and Yves Bouvier, Singapore Says Go Back to Switzerland

April 19, 2017 by Marion Maneker

The Art Newspaper covers the judgment of a Singapore court in the case that seems like it will never go away. That case is, of course, Dmitiry Rybolovlev’s long-running vendetta against Yves Bouvier, the intermediary in Rybolovlev’s art transactions who benefitted enormously from the Oligarch’s overly-trusting nature.

Since discovering that he had made deals through Bouvier that were over market prices, Rybolovlev has tried a number of tactics to put Bouvier in some form of jeopardy. Rybolovlev’s attacks have been made in Monaco, France, the press in the UK and US and crucially in Singapore where Bouvier is a resident as well.

So far, Rybolovlev’s strategy has worked no better in the courts than it did in the art market. This week, a Singaporean court ruled that business dealings between the two men are governed by Swiss law and should be sorted out in a Swiss court.

Here’s The Art Newspaper’s summary:Continue Reading

In a Hurry to Put His Bad Deals Behind Him, Rybolovlev Sells at a Loss

February 23, 2017 by Marion Maneker

The Rybolovlev-Bouvier blood feud won’t go away as Katya Kazakina details Rybolovlev’s disposal of his art collection. Bloomberg’s reporter remarks upon the attractive estimates Christie’s has put on the art works which provokes this response from the Russian’s representatives:

“The gulf between Christie’s estimates and the original purchase prices of the works is a further illustration of the unprecedented scale and audacity of the fraud that the plaintiffs allege was perpetrated by Mr. Bouvier,” Sergey Chernitsyn, a representative of the Rybolovlev Family Office, said in an e-mailed statement.

That may be the case but it is unclear why Ryboloblev is so eager to advertise his market malpractice. The upcoming sales in London have the fertilizer liquidating a substantial number of works. It looks like Christie’s is estimating the works aggressively to attract buyers; however, at these estimates bidders will have to go to war on all the works to make Rybolovlev close to whole: Continue Reading

It Is No Longer Easy for Bouvier to Buy Works of Art

February 7, 2017 by Marion Maneker

Mark Rothko, No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) the work that proved the final straw in Bouvier's dealings with Dimitry Rybolovlev

Yves Bouvier still doesn’t seem to understand what’s been at issue with his art dealing. Bloomberg sat down with him to review the state of his battle with Dimitry Rybolovlev.

Bouvier’s lawyers believe a new prosecutor in Monaco will mean the original charges will be dropped. None of the other cases have gone forward.

One might think Bouvier would recognize that he made the most—maybe too much—of the opportunity presented to him. Yet here he is lamenting his lost access:Continue Reading

What’s At Issue in the Salvator Mundi Dispute

November 30, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Bloomberg has an interesting close reading of the complaint in the case between Sotheby’s and the sellers of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi which has broken out into a public dispute because of Sotheby’s filing. Read the whole thing to get a sober take on what’s going there.

Here is the nub of the issue if you don’t want to read the whole story:Continue Reading

What Did Sotheby’s Know And When Did They Know It

November 28, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Perhaps you’ve heard of this lawsuit where the dealers who bought a $10,000 painting and sold it for $80m are upset that the buyer was representing another buyer who sold it for almost $50m more?

Such is the trouble that Yves Bouvier’s dealings with Dmitry Rybolovlev have caused. Bouvier, acting in the interest of Rybolovlev, bought works of art that he then sold on to the Russian at huge markups. The whole scheme fell apart a few winters ago in St. Barth’s when an art advisor clued Rybolovlev in to the prices Bouvier was actually paying.

The New York Times has a story going into further detail. The dealers who sold Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi feel that Sotheby’s, which sourced a dozen of the works Bouvier sold to Rybolovlev, should have helped them get around Bouvier so they could make the higher sale to Rybolovlev themselves.

Here’s what the Times says is the dealer’s evidence:Continue Reading