Tom Keating

Thomas Patrick Keating (1 March 1917 – 12 February 1984) was an English artist, art restorer and art forger. Considered the most prolific and versatile art forger of the 20th century, he claimed to have faked more than 2,000 paintings by more than 160 different artists of unprecedented scope—ranging from the Renaissance (Holbein, Titian, Tintoretto) to Modernism, Expressionism and Fauvism (Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse)—with heavy emphasis on English landscape Romanticists and the French Impressionists.

He claimed his aim was not material gain, but rather a crusade against art dealers he believed were only interested in fine art as a commodity, for which an impressive provenance, often dubious or wholly invented, always trumped the masterful artistry and intrinsic beauty of any particular drawing or painting.

He began flooding the London art market in the early 1950s with hundreds of consistently convincing fakes, often by giving them to friends and acquaintances, with tacit expectation that many would soon end up in a posh Bond Street auction house, or gallery. As a result of these sales, both Keating and Kelly ended up on trial, in 1979, at the top criminal court in Britain, charged with art fraud. Kelly pleaded guilty and received an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years. After two days giving evidence, Keating ended up in hospital for a motorbike injury. He returned for a third day in court, during which he collapsed in the witness box, and was taken back to hospital. He was released without charge two weeks later due to failing health.

In 1982, he starred in an award-winning Channel 4 television series in which he instructed viewers in the intricately detailed painting techniques of his favourite Old Masters. A followup series, focusing on the Impressionists, began airing two days after his death, in 1984.

Early life

Keating was born into a working-class family in an overcrowded flat in Forest Hill, South London. As a youth, living hand to mouth on his father's shilling-and-sixpence hourly wage as a house painter, he helped his mother make ends meet by collecting and selling horse manure, running errands for neighbours, and taking parcels to the local pawn shop. Growing up he worked as a delivery boy, lather boy, lift boy and bellboy before finally joining the family business as a house painter.

Art classes

He discovered his love and early talent for picture-making at Eltham College primary school in Kent. Having run away from home to visit his grandmother seven miles away, he ended up staying for three years, trading persistent poverty and grim prospects for regular home-cooked meals and a headmistress who was also an art teacher, who encouraged him to spend as much time as he liked drawing and painting owls, foxes, badgers, and a sailing ship. When his grandmother died, he returned to Forest Hill.

Navy tour

Keating was called up to the Royal Navy in the spring of 1940, finishing his training in time to face combat at Dunkirk, before setting off for Singapore He soon married his wife Ellen, with whom he had two children, Douglas, and Linda. They separated in 1952. He divined their secrets by spending countless hours scrutinising and sketching examples of their work in Britain's greatest museums, especially the National Gallery, The Royal Academy and the Tate. In his autobiography published the following month, he credited some of the training he received there with getting him started on a career.

While working in a small shop for a man called Fred Roberts, he was asked to replace a herd of grazing cattle––that had been obliterated by the repair of a large tear in a 19th-century painting by Thomas Sidney Cooper––with laughing children dancing around a maypole, dramatically enhancing the picture's charm. So impressed was he with several of Keating's "repairs", Roberts framed them, added a forged signature, and put them up in a nearby showroom for hundreds, even thousands of pounds, he was so disgusted he dashed back, gave Roberts an earful of expletives and quit on the spot, hurling a palette at him as a parting gesture.

Crusade against the art world

Keating never got rich off the fakes he produced, rather he often gave them away as gifts, bartered them for food, booze, and rent, or sold them for a pittance to friends and acquaintances, even the local gas man.

Keating's main objective was a vendetta against corrupt, predatory art dealers whom he believed victimised both artists and the buying public. Not long after finding a number of old pictures that he had been ordered to "enhance" were on sale nearby for inflated prices, he was taken in by an even more perfidious employer. Keating would often stay after hours painting pictures in the styles of other artists he admired, to study their techniques. One evening his boss discovered him finishing a pastiche of a wintry Canadian scene, à la Cornelius Krieghoff. The man offered to purchase it, and asked him to do another, for which he paid him $15 each. Keating later learned they were sold at a London Gallery for more than $3,000.

thumb|[[Cornelius Krieghoff: Trappers on the frontier.]]

He retaliated by disseminating quantities of fakes of sufficient quality to fool the experts, hoping to destabilize the system. At one point in the 1950s, so many "newly-discovered" Krieghoffs had come on the market that prices were acutely depressed, over fears many were fake, neatly achieving two of Keating's goals: to reduce the profits of greedy art dealers, and to make beautiful pictures from one of his favourite artists more affordable to the buying public. He would also use modern acrylics and varnishes on paintings supposedly from previous centuries. Contemporary copyists of old masters use similar practices to guard against accusations of fraud.

Techniques of the old masters

To create his many Samuel Palmer fakes he would often mix sepia with glutinous tree gum, apply thick coats of varnish, then heat them to develop craquelure, to make them appear old. For his Rembrandt drawings he would use 18th-century paper and make walnut ink by boiling walnuts for ten hours and filtering the result through silk stockings.

A much smaller list of fakes the police, and various art dealers and journalists were actually able to track down in the 1970s, which Keating identified as his own work, included 26 Samuel Palmers, 9 Constables, 8 Krieghoffs, 7 Degas, 7 Kees van Dongens, 5 Edvard Munch paintings, 4 Renoirs, 4 Constantine Guys, 4 Modiglianis, and one or two in the manner of Rembrandt, Francesco Gardi, Gainsborough, Goya, Linnell, Henri Fantin-Latour, Auguste Rodin, Jean Louis Forain, Toulouse Lautrec, Emile Bernard, Raoul Dufy, Wassily Kandinsky, and Frank Moss Bennett.

Relationship with Jane Kelly

In the summer of 1963, 46-year-old Keating, met 16-year-old Jane Kelly, in the Railway Café at Kew Gardens Station–opposite his flat, and just across an historic footbridge from her family home. Having recently relocated from Llangyndeyrn, Wales, Kelly quickly joined a group of young people she found gathered round a charming older man perched at the end of the bar, regaling them with wild stories of war, protest, and Art World treachery. Keating gave informal painting lessons to several of them. Impressed with her keen ambition and precocious intellect, he soon took on his first and only formal mentorship, with Kelly. From early childhood, she had grown up studying a number of rare sketch books her great grandfather, Thomas Farr, had made in British Ceylon in the 1890s. The pioneering tea planter, artist, and early conservationist made detailed field drawings and vivid watercolours, which inspired Kelly to become an artist. She soon became Keating's full-time student and apprentice. Four years later, the two began a life together in Suffolk, where they started an art restoration business.

A month later, The Times published a letter from art expert David Gould claiming the picture to be a fake. Mrs. Norman continued to receive reports of more new Palmer pictures appearing in the market, along with claims from David Gould that all of them were fakes. In March 1976, she began investigating them, enlisting the assistance of Palmer experts from the Ashmolean Museum, the Tate Museum, the British Museum, and the Fitzwilliam Museum, as well as author Geoffrey Grigson. Thirteen previously unknown Palmers that had appeared on the market in the past decade were all declared fake. Five of them had come from a single source: Jane Kelly. Norman was unable to reach Miss Kelly but received several phone calls with tips including one from Miss Kelly's brother, who brought photos from Keating's studio, revealing that Tom Keating was the forger she was looking for. In response, Keating wrote a letter to The Times, saying: "I do not deny these allegations. In fact, I openly confess to having done them."

The ensuing investigation and build up to trial received expansive coverage in the London press and around the world. In the 12 months from Norman’s first exposé in July 1976, to Keating’s arrest in July 1977, The Times ran 54 stories, many on page one: "Art world seeks fakes inquiry". "Museum confirms tests show 'Palmer' is fake". "Mr. Keating identifies 28 paintings as his own work".

In the US, TIME magazine ran “Art: Palming off the Palmers.” The New York Times published "London painter and restorer admits flooding art market with forgeries", and, “Watercolorgate – Whimsey, Fakery, and Esthetic Truth”.

In January 1977, Keating visited top galleries in Canada, and the vast private collections of billionaire newspaper and television magnate, Ken Thomson, to see if they had any of his fake Cornelius Krieghoffs. The artist being something of a national favourite, the Canadian press trailed him throughout his stay. The Globe and Mail announced: "Krieghoff Imitator spots none of his fakes at art gallery", and directed readers to a CTV interview with “Tom Keating, world's greatest art forger”. Maclean's did a six-page colour spread: "Tom Keating's life is imitating art".

The Sydney Morning Herald published a detailed interview with "The Master Art Forger". The Daily Mirror declared, "Fake artist draws in the crowds", when due to public demand, The Cecil Higgins museum in Bedford pressed Scotland Yard for the early return of a Palmer fake they had had on display for the past ten years, so they could re-hang it next to their three authentic ones. Dozens of letters to the editor appeared in the London press – a few from art dealers venting outrage; most from readers expressing amusement and delight with Keating's exploits and roguish charm.

Trial at the Old Bailey

Keating and Jane Kelly were arrested in 1977, both accused of conspiracy to defraud, and obtaining payments through deception amounting to £21,416. It began in January 1979, and was a top daily news story in the London press for a month and a half, with The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian posting more than three dozen reports. Proclaimed by The Observer as "the best show in town, where they have been packing them in for weeks", it was periodically carried round the world via Reuters and the Associated Press.

Kelly pleaded guilty, and promised to testify against Keating. Detective Inspector Peter Goodall, the Scotland Yard Art and Antiques Squad investigator who prepared the case for the prosecution against Keating and Kelly, surprisingly gave evidence sympathetic to the latter, declaring that Keating appeared to have exerted a “Svengali-like” influence over her. who later said, "my role was to pour cold water on the art establishment. As far as I could see, it was the establishment which should be in the dock, not Tom Keating, for being so credulous and setting themselves up as experts when they had been so easily seduced."

Kelly received a felony conviction, for obtaining money by deception, and a was given an 18-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years. After two days giving evidence, Keating was hospitalised for a motorbike accident. He returned for a third day in court, during which he collapsed in the witness box, and was returned to hospital. He was released without charge two weeks later due to failing health. The prosecutor dropped the case, declaring nolle prosequi.

A year before his death, Keating stated in a television interview that in his opinion, he was not an especially good painter. Yet many art collectors and celebrities, such as the ex-heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper, had already begun to collect his work. In December 1983, hoping to raise sufficient funds to buy himself a new cottage, Keating sent 137 of his pictures to be auctioned at Christie's in London. In a significant policy change—selling commercial pictures by a self-confessed faker—they accepted them, signed by Keating, but "in the style of" other artists. Exceeding the wildest expectations of auctioneer David Collins, nearly 800 people packed the sales room, and every lot was sold, raising £72,000. The top price was £5,500 for his Hay Wain in Reverse, which had been featured in the "Constable" episode of his television series. He never received the proceeds, having died of a heart attack two months later, aged 66.thumb|The grave of Tom Keating in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, [[Dedham, Essex]]

Keating is buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin at Dedham (a scene painted numerous times by Sir Alfred Munnings). His last painting, The Angel of Dedham, can be found in the church's secured Muniment Library.

Five more auctions of his works were held. In September 1984, more than a thousand people squeezed into Christie's South Kensington sale rooms to bid on 202 paintings and sketches put up for sale by his son and daughter. The event fetched £274,000 – about 20 times higher than the printed estimates in the catalogue. A 1983 picture called Monet and his Family in their Houseboat sold for £16,000. A Sisley imitation brought £8,500. A self-portrait "after the style of" Rembrandt yielded £7,500. Several others that had been expected to fetch between £200 and £400, including pastiches of Renoir and Van Gogh, went for £5,000 or £6,000. Christie's auctioneer David Collins later said: "The prices paid represented the ground swell of public support for Keating. He was a talented artist and a great character in the art world."

In December 1989, the last works from Keating's studio raised £166,000 in a sale at Bonhams, including a record price for a Keating—£26,400 for his pastiche of Turner's The Fighting Temeraire. In December 1990, another sale at Bonhams brought £109,000 for 51 paintings. A third sale at Bonhams in August 1991 featured some Keatings alongside paintings by forger Elmyr de Hory.

The final sale held in December 1998 by Vost's of Newmarket, of 85 mainly small, unframed watercolours, pastels and drawings, and a few oil paintings, came from the estate of Jane Kelly, who died of brain cancer in 1992. It was held at Layer Marney Tower, not far from Keating's old studio. More than 700 people turned up. A sale expected to raise £15,000 at the most, brought £128,000. Odalisque, in the manner of Matisse, a portrait of Kelly dressed as a Turkish concubine, fetched £6,700. The top price of £7,500 was paid for At the races, in the manner of Degas, which had an estimated price of only £400. A Modigliani pastiche brought £5,800; an oil self-portrait fetched £5,000.

Keating's work has itself been faked. The 2005 Guardian article states: "Dodgy paintings in Keating's original style, proudly bearing what looks like his signature, are finding their way into the market. If they manage to fool, they can claim £5,000 to £10,000. But if uncovered they are virtually worthless, much like Keating's 20 years ago. If you can pick them up for next to nothing, they may be a better investment than an original Keating counterfeit."

The Hay Wain in Reverse, his best known painting, is a pastiche of John Constable's celebrated, The Hay Wain. It is reportedly on display in the Granary Barn and Museum in Flatford.
Turner at Greenwich, the reverse Temeraire shown in the Turner episode of Tom Keating On Painters.
A Barn at Shoreham, a Samuel Palmer pastiche purchased by the Cecil Higgins Museum in Bedford in 1965, on advice by Edward Croft Murray, the Keeper of Pictures at the British Museum, that it was authentic. They took it down in August 1976 when it was discovered to be a Keating fake. They rehung it four months later. Museum trustees commented 'that there seemed to be more public interest in the drawing now it was known to be a fake than there had been in the genuine article.' A Barn at Shoreham remains on view in the museum's art store.
A modest painting of the Greek sun god Helios in his chariot adorns a sign over The Sun Inn, in Dedham, Essex.

Television series

A Picture of Tom Keating

Subtitled An exclusive study of a master forger, this BBC1 special broadcast on 3 May 1977, featured an interview of Keating in his studio, demonstrating how he produced fakes of Renoir, Degas and Palmer. He claimed he duped the so-called experts because he wanted to expose the dubious practices of art dealers. He also discussed his relationship with Jane Kelly, and their restoration business at Wattisfield Hall, in East Anglia, and later at Vilaflor in Tenerife.

The programme was rebroadcast on BBC2 on 6 August 1979, with a new sequence that covered Keating's trial in February.

Tom Keating On Painters

Keating's award-winning first educational series began airing on 4 November 1982, two days after the launch of Britain's fourth television station. Channel 4 enticed viewers by inviting them to: "Watch the great 16th century Italian painter Tom Keating (who) believes the spirits of the Old Masters sometimes enter him as he works on a canvas. Tonight, in the first of a series, watch Titian paint 'Tarquin and Lucretia' through Keating."

thumb|[[Titian: Tarquin and Lucretia, 1571]]

In each half-hour episode, filmed in his private studio in Dedham, a soft-spoken Keating displayed a depth of knowledge and range of technical skills that astonished many viewers. A Times television critic commenting on the Rembrandt episode wrote: "Tom Keating does more than just break new ground in art appreciation. Other art experts limit themselves to indicating areas of great paintings and explaining this, that, and the other. Mr. Keating goes one better by first putting himself into the Old Master's shoes, then insinuating himself into their minds, and finally putting paint to canvas with an uncanny command of the original style. Instruction by example: that is the Keating approach."

The show was the realisation of a lifelong yearning to pass on to others the Old Master techniques he had taught himself. Thousands of art teachers and students continue to study them. In 2006, television personality Magnus Magnusson compared its popularity with Kenneth Clark's 1969 BBC series Civilisation.

He would begin each episode with a brief life history of the artist, including aesthetic influences and interactions with other famous painters, then quickly demonstrate the compositional development, sketching and painting techniques of one of his favourite mentors, each among the most revered fine artists in history. Both series were released on VHS in 1983.

thumb|[[Degas: The Ballet Class, 1874]]

"Turner" – "In his day people had a need, an urge to escape the ugliness of life," Keating explains. "They hid themselves in their paintings, looking at them. So he created another world of colour, magic and mystery." Keating draws and paints a reverse rendering of The Fighting Temeraire.

"Titian" – Keating illustrates Titian's multilayered painting techniques by creating a copy of Tarquin and Lucretia.

"Constable" – Keating reviews the history of the making of The Hay Wain. Then recreates another version of his Hay Wain in Reverse.

"Rembrandt" – Keating paints a pastiche combining a Rembrandt self-portrait with a portrait of his son Titus.

"Degas" – Keating demonstrates the making of The Ballet Class, in pastel.

"Restoration" – Keating gives viewers a tour of the Louis Laguerre murals he restored in the West Staircase at Marlborough House, which depict the Battle of Blenheim.