Art News

Co-Owner of Missing Corot Painting Charged with Fraud

NEW YORK (AP).- A con man carried out an “inartful fraud” when he fooled an art collector into thinking they were partners in the $1.1 million purchase of a missing painting but was actually ripping her off, a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Thomas Doyle was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud in the dealings over a century-and-a-half-old painting by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot entitled “Portrait of a Girl.” Doyle took advantage of an investor’s enthusiasm for the painting by arranging in June for her to pay $880,000 for an 80 percent ownership share of a painting that was worth $500,000 to $700,000, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. “Doyle’s alleged efforts turned out to be an inartful fraud,” Bharara said. If Doyle decorates walls with fine art in the future, the walls “may be the inside of a prison cell,” said