Law & Politics
Opera Gallery Wins $2.4 Million Decision Against Infamous Art Dealer
He was arrested last month in Belgium in a separate case.
Brian Boucher
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A case ongoing for more than a year has resulted in a win for Opera Gallery and its chairman, Gilles Dyan, along with Najell Investments, who got a $2.4 million judgment against Belgium-based art dealer Gailord Bovrisse.
According to the claim, Bovrisse sold Opera and Najell two paintings that he said were by Marc Chagall for a total of $800,000, but later withdrew them from the sale, noting that the paintings had turned out to be fakes. Bovrisse failed to return Opera and Najell’s money, and they sued.
The September 7 decision, by US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the US District Court, Central District of California, also includes over $123,000 in attorney’s fees.
Bovrisse was, according to Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure, arrested in Belgium on August 25. He reportedly made a deal for an Anish Kapoor sculpture with a French businessman, Pierre-Henry Caillavet; Bovrisse later told him that a truck containing the works in question ran off the road, crashed into a ravine, and burst into flames. The newspaper reports that Bovrisse further told Caillavet the truck and its contents were uninsured.
artnet News is currently unable to locate an attorney representing Bovrisse. Opera’s lawyers, Los Angeles firm Rome & Associates, told artnet News by phone that Bovrisse appears to be without representation.
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