UK Auction Info
An art forger who fooled an Antiques Roadshow expert into paying £20,000 for a fake painting was jailed for two years yesterday.
Robert Thwaites, 54, duped connoisseur Rupert Maas, using tips from The Art Forger’s Handbook. These included the use of genuine Victorian newspaper as backing paper.
He claimed the picture was a family heirloom and used the money to clear debts and pay his son’s school fees. Thwaites, whose eyesight had deteriorated, was struggling to make a living as a graphic artist, the court heard.
The forgery he said was The Miser by 19th century painter John Aster Fitzgerald was so good it later sold for £60,000.

Posted: 09|20|06 at 8:22 am. Filed under: Auction News.