Gabriella Coslovich - Whiteley on Trial

WHITELEY ON TRIAL

WHITELEY
ON
TRIAL

GABRIELLA COSLOVICH

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS

An imprint of Melbourne University Publishing Limited

Level 1, 715 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia

www.mup.com.au

First published 2017

Text Gabriella Coslovich, 2017

Design and typography Melbourne University Publishing Limited, 2017

This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Every attempt has been made to locate the copyright holders for material quoted in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked or misattributed may contact the publisher.

Text design and typesetting by Sonya Murphy at Typeskill

Cover design by Design by Committee

Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Coslovich, Gabriella, author.

Whiteley on trial/Gabriella Coslovich.

9780522869231 (paperback)

9780522869248 (ebook)

Whiteley, Brett, 19391992,Forgeries.

ArtForgeriesAustralia.

Fraud investigationAustralia.

Art theftsInvestigationAustralia.

364.1635

In memory of Roslyn Guy

Contents

Dramatis Personae

The Suspect Paintings

Big Blue Lavender Bay

Supposedly created in 1988; 151 centimetres high by 242 centimetres wide. Oil and mixed media on plywood door. Sold to Sydney investment banker and Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham in November 2007 for $2.5 million.

Orange Lavender Bay

Supposedly created in 1988; 121 centimetres high by 215 centimetres wide. Oil and mixed media on plywood door. Sold to Sydney luxury car dealer Steven Nasteski in December 2009 for $1.1 million.

Lavender Bay through the Window, also known as Through the Window Lavender Bay

Supposedly created in 1988; 121 centimetres high by 198 centimetres wide. Oil and mixed media on plywood door. Offered to Sydney art dealer Ralph Hobbs in November 2009 for $950 000. Hobbs declined. Subsequently given to caf owner Guy Angwin by Peter Gant as security for a $950 000 debt.

The Authentic Painting

View from the Sitting Room Window, Lavender Bay

Created 1991; 122 centimetres high by 198 centimetres wide. Oil, mixed media and collage on board. Also known as the brown painting. Commissioned from Brett Whiteley in 1991 by Sydney accountant Ian Robinson. Bought at a Deutscher-Menzies auction in Sydney by Peter Gant on 13 March 2007 for $1.65 million. Delivered straight to Aman Siddiques Collingwood studio on 19 April 2007.

The Individuals

Guy Angwin

Former owner of Caf Sweethearts in South Melbourne. Peter Gant gave him the suspect painting Lavender Bay through the Window as security for a $950 000 loan.

Anita Archer

Melbourne art consultant. Acted as intermediary for Peter Gant in the sale of the suspect painting Big Blue Lavender Bay to Andrew Pridham for $2.5 million.

Susan Borg

Crown prosecutor in the trial of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique. A great fan of Brett Whiteley, Borg began creating paintings inspired by the artist after the stresses of the trial. Her first creation was titled Not a Whiteley.

Barbara Cain

Melbourne art collector and former friend of Peter Gant.

Magistrate Suzanne Cameron

Presided over the committal hearing of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Dermot Connors

Defence barrister, represented Peter Gant in the committal hearing.

Andrew Crawford

Sydney art dealer. First raised concerns about the authenticity of Orange Lavender Bay.

Justice Michael Croucher

Presided over the trial of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique.

Elmyr de Hory

The authors anonymous source, using the pseudonym of one of historys most infamous forgers.

George Defteros

High profile Melbourne lawyer, known for having represented the citys underworld figures. Aman Siddiques solicitor during the committal hearing and trial, until they had a falling out.

Chris Deutscher

Melbourne art auctioneer and co-director of Deutscher and Hackett. Rejected Orange Lavender Bay for auction following concerns about the paintings provenance.

James Dowsley

Aman Siddiques new solicitor after he parted ways with George Defteros.

Steven Drake

Melbourne engineer and the so-called fourth victim. Bought Orange Lavender Bay in August 2013 for a bargain $122 000, after it had been disparaged in the media as a fake.

Peter Stanley Gant

Melbourne art dealer with a chequered past. The source of the three suspect Whiteley paintings at the centre of the 2016 trial. Maintains he commissioned them directly from the artist in 1988. Found guilty of art fraud in 2016. Acquitted in 2017.

Richard Grabsch

Managing director at M & J Quality Doors. Identified the doors or wooden panels on which the suspect Whiteley paintings were created as his companys product.

Terry Grundy

Peter Gants long-time solicitoruntil the money ran out.

Daniel Gurvich, QC

Melbourne barrister, appointed by the Office of Public Prosecutions as senior counsel representing the Crown in the appeal of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique.

Tom Gyorffy, QC

Crown prosecutor in the committal hearing of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique.

Justin Hannebery

Melbourne barrister who represented Andrew Pridham in his compensation claim against Peter Gant and Aman Siddique following their conviction.

Robyn Harper

Junior counsel to Crown Prosecutor Susan Borg in the trial of Peter Gant and Aman Siddique.

Peter Hickey

Sydney artist and former gallery owner who negotiated with Brett Whiteley to commission the brown painting, View from the Sitting Room Window, Lavender Bay, on behalf of Sydney chartered accountant Ian Robinson in 1991.

Ralph Hobbs

Sydney art dealer. Was offered the suspect Lavender Bay through the Window for $950 000 by Anita Archer, and declined.

Jeremy James

Son of printer Kenneth James and a friend of Peter Gants. Testified that he photographed Orange Lavender Bay and Big Blue Lavender Bay in 1989.

Shane Kenna

Instructing solicitor for the Crown.

Vanessa Kowalski

Painting conservator at the University of Melbournes Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. An expert witness in the trial. Conducted an infra-red examination of the two suspect paintings Orange Lavender Bay and Big Blue Lavender Bay.

Robert Le Tet

Peter Gants friend and financier. Gant provided false documentation suggesting that Robert Le Tet had commissioned the suspect Big Blue Lavender Bay in 1988 directly from Brett Whiteley.

Brett Lichtenstein

Brett Whiteleys chief framer for sixteen years, from 1976 until the artists death in 1992. Specialised in making Whiteleys preferred 23-carat gold, water-gilded frames.

Bill Luke

Melbourne illustrator who followed the case through the committal and trial, depicting the courtroom drama with comic panache. Lukes portrait of Remy van de Wiel, QC, was chosen as a finalist in the 2017 Archibald Prize.

Detective Sergeant James Macdonald

The first policeman on the case. Took an anonymous call from whistleblower Guy Morel in September 2007 warning of an alleged large art fraud in progress.