British painter imprisoned in art forgery case; duped experts

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This article was published 19/09/2006 (7048 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON (AP) – A British painter who sold his forgeries for tens of thousands of pounds has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Robert Thwaites, 54, fooled art experts – including one from the “Antiques Roadshow” television program – with paintings he claimed were by the Victorian artist John Anster Fitzgerald.

He had pleaded guilty to obtaining money by deception and was sentenced at London’s Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court on Monday. His brother, Brian Thwaites, 50, was given a one-year sentence for conspiracy to obtain money by deception, but it was suspended.

Robert Thwaites allegedly worked for nearly five years, between’99 and 2004, producing and selling paintings at his home in Herefordshire, western England, which he said were by Fitzgerald, who died in’06 and was known for his images of fairy scenes.

Robert Thwaites sold one to Rupert Maas, a gallery owner and art specialist for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s “Antiques Roadshow” program, for 20,000 pounds (about C$42,400). It was so convincing, prosecutors said, that Maas sold it for three times that price.

Gallery owner Christopher Beetles paid more than 100,000 pounds ($212,000) for another forgery, the prosecutors said.

A prospective buyer became suspicious and notified authorities when the Thwaites brothers tried to sell him a third painting Robert Thwaites had created.

Prosecutors said Robert Thwaites had given up his career as a graphic designer when his eyesight deteriorated in the late’90s. Under financial pressure, he began passing his own work off as that of Fitzgerald, they said.

In selling one work to Maas, he said that his family owned several valuable paintings his grandfather had accepted as payment for a debt.

Art historian Libby Sheldon, who examined the paintings after the Thwaites were arrested, said they were “very good forgeries” but that there were flaws suggesting they were not old enough to be by the Victorian artist.

A big hint, she said, was that titanium and acrylic compounds – not available until after Fitzgerald’s death – were used in the paintings.

Police who searched the Thwaites’ homes after the tip-off found a book called “The Art Forger’s Handbook” and Victorian newspapers, used for backing on the paintings.

Robert Thwaites’ lawyer, Stuart Denny, said Thwaites took full responsibility for involving his brother in the forgery scheme. He said Robert Thwaites had wanted to help his younger brother, who has health problems because of a spinal injury he suffered while in the military.

The two did not seek a lavish lifestyle, but were simply trying to make ends meet, the lawyer said.

He said it was a testimony to Robert Thwaites’ talent that the person who bought the forged painting from Maas liked it so much he wants it back.

A third defendant, Gordon Strong, 58, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice in the case and was sentenced to’0 hours of community service.