"Hall presented the work at that year's Tefaf Maastricht fair with an asking price of $650,000. It did not sell, but remained on display at Nicholas Hall Gallery while they continued to seek a buyer-at which point Matthiesen was contacted by Doyle. Over the next several years, Doyle and Matthiesen communicated electronically regarding Doyle's purported art dealings; the con artist claimed to manage the "art side" of a family trust with assets worth billions of dollars, investigators stated."
"Last year, Doyle told Matthiesen that he had found a buyer willing to pay $550,000 for Mother and Child on a Hammock and offered to broker the sale without taking a commission. He then delivered the painting to his partner, artist, art dealer, and business partner Shalva Sarukhanishvili, who sold it to Jill Newhouse Gallery in New York for $115,000. Within days, that gallery resold the work to ARTnews Top 200 Collector Jon Landau for $125,000 in September 2024."
"The painting was accompanied in both sales by a false provenance stating, among other details, that Doyle had legitimately purchased it in 2019. Matthiesen Gallery received no proceeds from the sales, and in a March 4 email, Doyle admitted that he had "betrayed" and "lied" to Matthiesen. He advised Matthiesen to contact Sarukhanishvili to recover either the painting or his money from the transaction."
Thomas Doyle, 68, was arrested by the FBI Art Crime Team and charged with one count of wire fraud carrying up to 20 years in prison. Patrick Matthiesen bought Gustave Courbet's 1844 oil Mother and Child on a Hammock at a French auction in 2015 and consigned it to Nicholas Hall Gallery in 2023. The painting was shown at Tefaf Maastricht with a $650,000 asking price. Doyle contacted Matthiesen claiming control of an art-focused family trust, brokered a purported $550,000 sale, then diverted the work into lower-priced transactions accompanied by false provenance. Matthiesen received no proceeds.
Read at ARTnews.com
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