Yves Bouvier surfaces Swiss testimony in $100M art trove battle

Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier has told a New York federal court that a key figure in a dispute over 91 artworks he says are worth roughly $100 million previously testified under oath in Switzerland that he acted only as an intermediary in the transactions.

In a sworn declaration obtained by Urgent Matter, Bouvier pointed to 2022 testimony given by art-world intermediary Jean-Marc Peretti to a Geneva prosecutor during a Swiss criminal investigation connected to Bouvier’s long-running dispute with Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Bouvier included as exhibits the original French transcript of Peretti’s testimony in French, as well as excerpts from that testimony translated into English and certified by a New York attorney.

“It seems to me that I acted for Mr. Yves Bouvier as a business introducer for paintings that had been entrusted to me for sale,” Peretti told Swiss prosecutors. “It is also possible that I sold paintings for him as well. I also had the opportunity to give my opinion on numerous works of art.”

Paid subscribers can read the full documents.

Documents: Yves Bouvier §1782 Filing, Swiss Testimony Exhibit

Records from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Urgent MatterAdam Schrader

Bouvier argued in his court declaration that those statements contradict the position now advanced in the dispute over the artworks, which he values at roughly $100 million.

The Swiss dealer alleged that the pieces disappeared after he transferred them between 2015 and 2017 to Hong Kong dealer Pascal de Sarthe under an informal arrangement meant to preserve and grow the collection’s value during Bouvier’s feud with Rybolovlev.

As Urgent Matter first reported, Bouvier has filed a lawsuit against de Sarthe in Hong Kong and has asked a New York federal court for judicial assistance to obtain records from U.S.-based banks and auction houses. He argued those records could help trace the location of the artworks or any proceeds generated from their sale.

The discovery request, brought under a federal statute allowing foreign litigants to obtain evidence from U.S. entities, seeks records from more than a dozen financial institutions as well as Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

De Sarthe’s lawyers have challenged Bouvier’s request, arguing that the application was premature because the Hong Kong court had not yet determined who owns the artworks.

According to filings by de Sarthe’s attorneys, the works were not Bouvier’s property but were instead consigned by Peretti. They argued that introducing U.S. discovery before ownership was resolved could interfere with the proceedings in Hong Kong.

Bouvier’s latest filing directly addresses that claim. In the declaration, he said Peretti’s testimony in the Swiss proceedings described a role consistent with that of a commission-based intermediary rather than an owner of the artworks.

“He never claimed to be the owner of the artworks,” Bouvier wrote, referring to the Geneva testimony.

Bouvier said Peretti also testified that their professional relationship had never been formalized in writing, which Bouvier described as common practice in parts of the art trade where deals are often arranged through oral agreements and profit-sharing arrangements.

The filing outlines Bouvier’s account of how the arrangement began. He said he met Peretti in the mid-2000s and supported him professionally after he relocated to Geneva, including helping establish a company called Nelombos and introducing him to contacts in the art world.

Peretti later introduced Bouvier to de Sarthe around 2009 or 2010.

Bouvier said that in 2015, amid the intense publicity surrounding the Rybolovlev dispute, he sought ways to protect and manage his collection during the legal fight. After being detained by Monaco police that year in connection with the affair, Bouvier said he met with Peretti in Geneva to discuss safeguarding the artworks.

According to Bouvier, Peretti suggested entrusting the works to de Sarthe during that period.

Bouvier said the parties reached an oral agreement under which the artworks could be marketed or sold, with profits split evenly — half to Bouvier and half divided between Peretti and de Sarthe.

“All agreements between [Peretti], Mr. de Sarthe, and I were exclusively oral,” Bouvier wrote.

The declaration also references a 2025 criminal conviction in France in which Peretti was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison and fined €750,000 for offenses that prosecutors said included money laundering, extortion and criminal conspiracy.

Peretti’s testimony also touches on negotiations surrounding Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, another high-profile transaction involving Bouvier.

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