Clementine Hunter usually painted on hard cardboard, and featured one theme per painting. A Baton Rouge couple who forged her work veered from that path. Above, 'Chicken Hauling Flowers,' by Hunter.
By the time she died in 1988, the painter Clementine Hunter had become renowned for her simple, idyllic depictions of country life outside Natchitoches that fetched several thousand dollars apiece. Collectors snapped them up.
Connoisseurs weren't the only ones to take note of this self-taught folk artist, a descendant of slaves who lived most of her 101 years at Melrose Plantation. At least five forgers have tried to capitalize on the abiding interest in Hunter's work, said Tom Whitehead, a close friend of the artist, who has not only become an expert on her work but also has developed an ability to tell which paintings are genuine.
The most notable members of that group -- and, Whitehead said, the only forgers to be identified publicly -- are William Toye, an artist, and his wife, Beryl Ann Toye. Twice in 37 years, the Toyes have been accused of duplicating Hunter's paintings and selling them to unsuspecting art lovers.
The first case against the couple, which grew out of two 1974 raids in New Orleans in which 22 alleged forgeries were seized, came to nothing.
A plea deal is struck
This year, after federal charges were brought against the Toyes, their plot unraveled. William Toye, 80. pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and his wife, 70, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Tuesday.
In return for the Toyes' pleas, fraud charges against them were dropped.
William Toye, 79, is "in the early stages of some sort of dementia," which would have made putting him on trial difficult, said Wayne Blanchard, his attorney.
The plea agreement will let him avoid imprisonment, Blanchard said.
Beryl Toye, 69, faces up to five years in prison, but Paul Carmouche, her attorney, said he hopes she will not have to serve time because "she is not in good shape, mentally or physically,"
Both Toyes are to be sentenced Oct. 21. Some restitution may be ordered -- the amount has not been determined -- but Carmouche said the two are "basically destitute."
Also charged in the federal case is Robert Lucky Jr., the art dealer with whom the Toyes allegedly worked. He is scheduled to plead guilty to mail fraud Monday in Alexandria, said James Boren, his attorney.
This is not the same charge to which the Toyes have pleaded guilty, Boren said.
Lucky "denies being involved in a conspiracy with the Toyes," Boren said, "but he acknowledged that he did misrepresent the source of the paintings to some people that he sold paintings to."
