Over the course of three weeks, the art world watched as a Russian oligarch pursued a lawsuit in an American court in which he accused Sotheby’s of abetting a fraud.
Sotheby’s, he said, was in on it.
But after only a few hours of deliberation on Tuesday, the jury found differently, voting unanimously that Sotheby’s had not played a role in any fraud.
The dealer, Yves Bouvier, who was not a defendant in the case, said he felt vindicated too.
Bouvier has long insisted that he did nothing wrong and that he was always clearly acting as a dealer, free to charge Rybolovlev whatever price the Russian would pay.
Persons:
Russian oligarch, Dmitry Rybolovlev, Sotheby’s, Yves Bouvier, Bouvier
Locations:
Russian, New York, Swiss