A 68-year-old American con artist has been arrested and charged with wire fraud for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate scheme to steal and sell a valuable 19th-century painting by French master Gustave Courbet. Thomas Doyle was taken into custody on November 14 by the FBI's Art Crime Team and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the single count of wire fraud.
The fraudulent scheme centered around Courbet's 1844 oil painting "Mother and Child on a Hammock," which London gallery owner Patrick Matthiesen had legitimately purchased at a French auction house in 2015. Court documents filed in a New York district court reveal that Matthiesen was actively seeking a buyer for the artwork and consigned it to Nicholas Hall Gallery in New York in 2023.
Nicholas Hall Gallery showcased the painting at the prestigious Tefaf Maastricht art fair with an asking price of $650,000. Although the work didn't sell at the fair, it remained on display at the gallery while they continued searching for potential buyers. It was during this period that Doyle contacted Matthiesen and began weaving his web of deception.
Over several years, Doyle maintained electronic communications with Matthiesen, presenting himself as the manager of an art collection for a family trust worth billions of dollars. This fabricated identity gave him credibility in the high-stakes art world and allowed him to gain Matthiesen's trust. In 2024, Doyle told the London dealer that he had found a buyer willing to pay $550,000 for the Courbet painting and generously offered to broker the sale without taking any commission.
However, instead of facilitating a legitimate sale, Doyle delivered the painting to his partner, Shalva Sarukhanishvili, who is described as an artist, art dealer, and business associate. Sarukhanishvili then sold the artwork to Jill Newhouse Gallery in New York for just $115,000 – significantly less than its market value. Within days of that transaction, Jill Newhouse Gallery resold the painting to prominent collector Jon Landau, who appears on ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list, for $125,000 in September 2024.
Both sales were accompanied by fraudulent documentation that falsely claimed Doyle had legitimately purchased the painting in 2019. This fabricated provenance was designed to hide the artwork's true ownership and recent theft. Meanwhile, Matthiesen received no payment from either transaction, despite being the rightful owner of the valuable Courbet work.
The scheme began to unravel when Doyle apparently felt remorse for his actions. In a March 4 email to Matthiesen, Doyle admitted that he had "betrayed and lied" to the London dealer. He advised Matthiesen to contact Sarukhanishvili directly to recover either the painting itself or the money from the fraudulent transaction. However, when Matthiesen attempted to reach out to Sarukhanishvili to discuss the situation, his partner in the scheme refused to respond.
Facing the loss of both his valuable painting and any proceeds from its sale, Matthiesen took legal action in late September by filing a comprehensive lawsuit in New York. The lawsuit named Doyle, Sarukhanishvili, Jill Newhouse Gallery, and collector Jon Landau as defendants, claiming that none of these parties had the legal right to consign or sell the painting.
The complaint specifically alleged that Jill Newhouse Gallery, as an active participant in the art market, "knew, or should have known" that Matthiesen had been offering the painting for $650,000 or more for several years. The lawsuit also argued that Landau was aware or should have been aware that Newhouse lacked the legal authority to transfer good title to the painting, particularly since Landau had previously viewed the artwork multiple times at various locations other than Newhouse's gallery and knew its retail price was $650,000 or higher.
Representatives for both Jill Newhouse Gallery and Jon Landau have vigorously denied the allegations. An attorney for Jill Newhouse Gallery stated that "the claims asserted against Jill Newhouse LLC are meritless and we will vigorously defend against them in court." Similarly, Landau's legal representation declared that "we view the lawsuit as wholly without merit and we will address it accordingly in court." Sarukhanishvili has not responded to requests for comment about the case.
This latest arrest represents a continuation of Doyle's long criminal career in art fraud. In September 2010, the Manhattan District Attorney's office charged him with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud for orchestrating the fraudulent purchase of "Portrait of a Girl" by Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot for $800,000. The painting had been valued at up to $1.35 million at the time, and Doyle eventually pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in that case.
During Doyle's 2010 sentencing hearing, the presiding judge noted that he had been convicted 11 times over the previous 34 years, establishing a clear pattern of criminal behavior. "You are a career criminal by any definition of the term," the judge told Doyle before sentencing him to six years in prison. "Society needs to be protected from you; you are a predator." This harsh assessment underscores the repeated nature of Doyle's fraudulent activities and his targeting of victims in the art world, where high-value transactions and trust relationships make dealers particularly vulnerable to sophisticated con artists.
