An art dealer who passed off cheap, modern imitations as genuine masterpieces by two renowned painters has been told he faces jail for the scam.
David Carter, who was based at a gallery close to the art hot spot of St Ives in Cornwall, bought imitations from websites and auctions and claimed they had been created by the local fisherman and artist Alfred Wallis and the pre-Raphaelite landscape artist John Brett.
Carter was caught after selling a picture – supposedly by Wallis – to a customer who became suspicious when she showed it to a fine art auctioneer in Penzance.
Trading standards were called in to investigate and found that Carter, 58, had been passing off fakes as genuine works by Wallis and Brett.
Carter had been due to stand trial at Truro crown court but on Wednesday admitted seven counts of fraud. Officers still do not know the identity of the artist behind the fake works and fear that there could be many more imitations hanging on the walls of art lovers who have been conned.
They have analysed some of the pictures Carter offered for sale scientifically and discovered that they date from the 1960s at the latest – at least 20 years after Wallis died and 60 after Brett.
The court heard that Carter bought paintings for as little as £300 from “unreliable sources”. He advertised them for sale through his gallery or via a website describing them as being by the well-known artists.
Alex Greenwood, prosecuting, said that suspicions were first aroused after one of his victims, Carol Gasser, bought what turned out to be a fake Wallis – Boats Leaving Newlyn Harbour – for £5,000 in March 2011.
Greenwood said: “She attended his gallery and the defendant directed her attention towards a piece of work by Wallis. The defendant represented the work as genuine and said he could prove its provenance. Two days later she bought it for £5,000.”
A few months later she showed the picture to an auctioneer who expressed doubts about its authenticity and she reported what had happened to trading standards.
Another fake that Carter offered for sale was a painted glass fishing float, which he claimed to be an Alfred Wallis original.
On his website, Carter described it as “a superb painted object, the most superb and tactile piece of work by Wallis we have ever seen” and set the price at £60,000.
It transpired that Carter had purchased the item at an auction, for just £316.17 and it was described as “marine bric-a-brac” by an expert consulted by trading standards. He also passed off a picture of sailing boats called The Fishing Fleet, St Ives as being by John Brett.
Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC, did not rule out sending Carter to prison. He said: “The defendant put the paintings up for sale at prices that would have been appropriate if they had been genuine paintings with provenance. I want you to understand that all sentence options remain open. The serious nature of this fraud is something I will have to take into account.”
Gasser, who was present when Carter admitted fraud, said after the case: “He never told me he thought the painting I bought wasn’t original. I wouldn’t have bought it if he did. I wouldn’t buy a fake.
“A couple of months later I showed it to a friend of mine who suggested it could be a fake. I was disgusted. I believed him as he said he had a letter proving its authenticity. Because of that I took him at face value.”
Nigel Strick, of Cornwall council trading standards, said: “We are delighted that the defendant has admitted guilt in this matter. The scale of the frauds was quite breathtaking at times.”
The case was adjourned until 16 July for sentencing.
