Synopsis
In terms of the raw market value and importance of the art they contain, only the world's greatest museums and private collections can rival the storage facilities in Geneva, Zurich, Basel and Lugano. These tax-neutral zones store billions in masterpieces under ultra-discreet conditions, far from the public eye. "I remember the first time I went to a Swiss freeport, in Lugano," recalled New York art advisor Darlene Lutz. "It was like the final scene of Citizen Kane, where you see all those miles of crates in Xanadu's warehouse." Epilogue: My guide through the buildings was owner Yves Bouvier, the freeport magnate whose multi-country endless lawsuit with a former client, Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, became an artworld furore.
