A 19th-century Gustave Courbet painting that a London dealer had been trying to sell for $650,000 ended up in the collection of Bruce Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau for $125,000. Federal prosecutors say the path between those two numbers was built on lies.
Thomas Austin Doyle, also known as “A.J.” or “Austin Doyle,” pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to wire fraud in connection with the sale of Courbet’s Mother and Child on a Hammock, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Prosecutors said Doyle tricked the painting’s owner, identified in the federal release as an art dealer, into letting him take custody of the work to show it to a supposed buyer. Instead, prosecutors said the painting was routed through an associate and sold through a Manhattan gallery for far less than the owner had been told.
A separate civil lawsuit over who owns the Courbet now includes Doyle, Jill Newhouse LLC, Jon Landau, Shalva Sarukhanishvili, and Shalva Sarukhanishvili Fine Art Inc., according to federal court docket records summarized by Justia.
The Dealer Thought The Buyer Would Pay $550,000
Federal prosecutors said Doyle introduced himself to the dealer by email in December 2022 and represented himself as someone involved in buying and selling art. Over the next few years, the two communicated by email and WhatsApp about artworks, and prosecutors said Doyle made false claims about himself, including that he managed the “art side” of a family trust with billions of dollars in assets.
In June 2024, Doyle and the dealer began discussing the Courbet painting. By July, prosecutors said, the dealer had authorized Doyle to sell the work on his behalf for $550,000. By early August, Doyle falsely told the dealer that the painting had sold for that price, according to DOJ.
Prosecutors Say It Actually Sold For $125,000
According to the Justice Department, Doyle’s associate offered the painting for consignment to a Manhattan gallery. Prosecutors said Doyle provided the associate with a false provenance that was passed to the gallery, claiming the painting had been purchased from the original owner in 2019.
The gallery sold the painting on Oct. 1, 2024, to an art collector for $125,000, prosecutors said. Two days later, the gallery wired $115,000, the sale proceeds after commission, to the associate, who then paid Doyle $109,250 for the painting.
DOJ said Doyle never sent the original owner any sale proceeds. By February 2025, prosecutors said, Doyle had spent the money on personal expenses and debts and falsely blamed the missing payment on the supposed buyer.
The Painting Went To Jon Landau
The Art Newspaper identified the buyer as Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen’s longtime business manager and a noted art collector. The outlet reported that the painting was first sold to the Jill Newhouse Gallery in New York for $115,000 and then resold to Landau for $125,000.
For both sales, The Art Newspaper reported, a false provenance was provided indicating that Doyle had been the painting’s owner. Landau is not accused in the criminal case against Doyle.
The civil case is separate. Matthiesen Limited filed a lawsuit in September 2025 against Doyle, Sarukhanishvili, Jill Newhouse LLC, and Landau, according to Justia’s docket summary. The docket shows the amended complaint later added Shalva Sarukhanishvili Fine Art Inc. as a defendant.
The Lawsuit Says The Price Should Have Raised Alarms
The Art Newspaper reported that London dealer Patrick Matthiesen had purchased the 1844 Courbet painting at a French auction in 2015 and later listed it for $650,000. The lawsuit alleges that neither Doyle, Sarukhanishvili, nor the Jill Newhouse Gallery had the right to consign or sell the painting.
Matthiesen’s lawyer told The Art Newspaper that the gallery and Landau should have known the deal was too good to be true because the painting had been offered for much more for several years. Landau’s lawyer rejected that view, telling the outlet that Landau is the rightful owner of the painting under applicable law.
Doyle Had A Prior Art-Fraud Conviction
DOJ described Doyle as a previously convicted art-fraud defendant and said he had been convicted in the Southern District of New York in 2011 in a separate art-related fraud case. The Art Newspaper reported that Doyle had multiple fraud convictions under the name Thomas Doyle, while Matthiesen knew him as A.J. Doyle.
One prior case involved a Corot painting. The Art Newspaper reported that Doyle pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to six years in prison in that case.
In the new Courbet case, Doyle pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. The charge carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, but any sentence will be determined by a judge.
The Art-Market Warning Is Provenance And Price
Trust and paperwork can be manipulated when a valuable asset moves through private channels. In the Courbet case, prosecutors say the lie was not only about who wanted to buy the painting. It was also about who owned it, what the painting sold for, and where the sale proceeds were going.
For collectors, galleries, and private sellers, the practical warning is to verify title, provenance, authority to sell, payment path, and unusually low prices before a work changes hands.