Russian billionaire and Sotheby’s fight over ‘The Lost Leonardo’

Seeking damages: Rybolovlev claims that Sotheby’s has defrauded him out of tens of millions of dollars, and that he knew nothing of wrongdoing by an art buyer who advised him. — AP

NEW YORK: Sotheby’s abused its “privilege, power and reputation” to help dupe a Russian billionaire out of millions of dollars as he amassed a world-class art collection, a lawyer for the businessman argues in a closely watched trial here.

But the auction house said billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev partly has himself to blame for allowing his old friend and Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier to overcharge him for four rare works, including “Salvator Mundi”, a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that set a record for the most expensive artwork ever sold in 2017.