New Twist in Drunken Art World Mystery

Ben Muessig 02/09/10

It's never as simple as blaming the drunk guy.

The mysterious story about the disappearance of a Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot painting took a strange new turn today when the criminal past of one of the painting's owners was revealed.

Earlier this week, Kristyn Trudgeon, part owner of the Corot masterpiece "Portrait of a Girl," filed a lawsuit against art courier James Haggerty, who allegedly got drunk in a hotel bar and lost the $1.35 million painting in July.

"Portrait of a Girl" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, worth $1.35 million, was reportedly lost by a drunken courier. But a co-owner of the artwork dropped a lawsuit against the courier after it became clear that another co-owner had served time for art theft.

But, according to The New York Times, Trudgeon's lawyer dropped the lawsuit when it became clear that another co-owner had served time behind bars for art theft.

Part owner Thomas Doyle, who hired Haggerty to assist in the possible sale of "Portrait of a Girl," reportedly served more than two years in prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to borrowing a bronze Degas statue from a collector, then selling the work to an antiques dealer.

Doyle had also reportedly been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing books from the art library at the University of Kansas.

"We are concerned with regard to Mr. Doyle's behavior," said Trudgeon's attorney, Max DiFabio. "I can't say one way or another as to Mr. Haggerty's involvement with Mr. Doyle."

Oddly, Trudgeon told the New York Daily News that she knew about Doyle's criminal record and didn't want to drop the lawsuit against Haggerty, who, according to court papers, lost track of the painting because he drank too much at the bar in the Mark hotel in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

"[Doyle] does have a prison record," she told the tabloid. "But he's a very honest, upstanding man. He's totally legit."

So far, no police reports have been filed for the missing painting.