In March, the documentary festival CPH:DOX in Copenhagen hosted the premiere of the three-part mini-series “The Oligarch and the Art Dealer” by Andreas Dalsgaard and Christoffer Guldbrandsen. The first episode had already been shown at Sundance in January. The project follows the nine-year conflict between billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier.
The filmmakers describe a partnership in which Bouvier bought artworks for Rybolovlev, including pieces by Leonardo da Vinci and Mark Rothko. According to people around the businessman, their verbal agreement provided for a 2% commission on each transaction. Rybolovlev later accused the dealer of reselling paintings with markups of tens of millions of dollars, in some cases nearly doubling the price.
In the film, Bouvier argues that his actions reflected standard art-market practice. One of the series’ central themes is the freeport model linked to his business: duty-free storage zones for artworks that critics describe as an opaque part of the global art trade.
The series says little about Rybolovlev’s life in Russia and instead focuses on the period after his move to Switzerland. He later relocated to Monaco, where Bouvier was first arrested on fraud allegations. Rybolovlev filed nine lawsuits against him; counter-allegations of corruption were later brought against the businessman as well, but those accusations were eventually dropped.
In 2024, after proceedings in several countries, the two sides reached a settlement. Its terms were not disclosed. The film is continuing its festival run and is due to be shown in Nyon, Switzerland; no online release date has been announced.