The Con Artist and The Masterpiece

Clockwise from top left, Patrick Matthiesen holds a frame at his gallery in London; the 82-year-old says he grew to sufficiently trust an American he knew as A.J. Doyle that he allowed the man to broker the sale of a 19th-century painting; Matthiesen holds a book he produced that depicts the painting, 'Mother and Child on a Hammock' by Gustave Courbet.DOMINIC WHISSON FOR WSJ (3)A venerable London art dealer, Patrick Matthiesen was in his second-floor gallery office last year surrounded by stacks of books on the old masters when he opened an email that confirmed his worst fears."This will be short," the March 4 email began. "I lied..."The sender was an American whom Matthiesen knew as A.J. Doyle. Over a correspondence spanning more than two years, Doyle had regaled the dealer with tantalizing tales of life as a former Navy fighter pilot with connections throughout the art world and control over a $2.5 billion family fortune.Matthiesen, who is 82 years old, grew to trust his new acquaintance sufficiently that he allowed Doyle to broker the sale of a 19th-century Gustave Courbet painting, "Mother and Child on a Hammock," which the London dealer had been trying to sell for $650,000.Through Doyle's maneuvering, the painting was ultimately sold to rock 'n' roll legend Jon Landau, the longtime producer and manager for Bruce Springsteen who also ranks as one of the country's top art collectors.But for months Doyle had stalled in sending Matthiesen his cut of the sale. In that March email, Doyle was making clear that he had no intention of passing along the proceedsin fact, he planned to disappear."After sending this I will throw my phone in a dumpster, get on the boat and head south until the weather is warm," he wrote in the message, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.