L.A. art dealer gets five years for selling fake Haring, Basquiat works in Miami

A Los Angeles man was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday after admitting he bought forged artworks of prominent graffiti artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat and then tried to sell them for millions to a South Florida gallery.

Philip Righter, 43, had pleaded guilty to mail fraud and identity theft in Miami federal court earlier this year.

In court papers, Righter said he bought art forgeries of the deceased artists — celebrated for their edgy urban renderings on the streets and subways of New York in the 1970s and ‘80s — online and at marketplaces. He then tried to make the works look legitimate by creating letters that falsely certified their authenticity, federal prosecutor Christopher Browne said.

He created letters that appeared to be from “The Estate of Keith Haring” and the “Authentication Committee of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat,” the prosecutor said. He designed and purchased embossers bearing the names of their estates and foundation, and he stamped the forged letters with custom embossers, trying to enhance the look of legitimacy, Browne said. Righter then forged the signatures of representatives of the estate and foundation on the letters.

“Righter also created elaborate backstories to establish the ‘provenance’ of the forged artworks,” according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “He forged documents to show links between the artworks, Righter’s family, a Wisconsin art museum, and a prominent New York City gallery.

“Righter told one prospective buyer that he had donated a number of his artworks to his Ivy League alma mater, which was a lie.”

In 2016, Righter offered to sell the fraudulent art pieces to an unnamed Aventura gallery, auction houses and others, according to an indictment filed last year. When the gallery owner expressed interest, Righter shipped several of the forgeries from Los Angeles to a local warehouse.

His price for the forgeries was more than $1 million, the indictment says. Righter directed the gallery owner to wire the money to his bank account.

Agents with the FBI’s Art Crime Team ultimately seized the forged paintings in South Florida.

The FBI uncovered Righter’s coast-to-coast scheme, leading to two federal cases against him — one in Miami, the other in Los Angeles. Righter’s guilty plea and sentencing before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami resolved the charges in both cases.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 10:00 AM.