In New York Court, Dealer Yves Bouvier Seeks Sotheby’s Records as Part of New French Criminal Case
Yves Bouvier is back in federal court in New York. The Swiss art dealer has asked a judge in the Southern District of New York to compel Sotheby’s to turn over records relating to the private sale of a Pablo Picasso painting, saying the documents are needed for a criminal case he recently launched in France against French art dealer Antoine Peretti. According to court filings, Bouvier purchased Picasso’s Intimité (Femmes et Enfants) from Peretti in April 2024 for $7.25 million. Under the parties’ agreement, Bouvier says he bought the work with the expectation that it would eventually be resold, with any profit above the purchase price split evenly between the two men. But Bouvier alleges that just weeks later the painting was resold through Milocci Limited, doing business as de Sarthe Gallery, to Sotheby’s for a net seller price of $9 million. According to the filing, Peretti never told him the painting had been re...