Holmfirth artist Ashley Jackson has been caught up an a fake art scandal.
The Holmfirth artist, who specialises in landscapes, has seen imitations of his work offered for sale on the internet auction site eBay.
And investigations including a probe by police have revealed that the paintings are being offered by a former printer living in a council flat in the Midlands.
An undercover investigation by a national newspaper traced the artworks back to Geoffrey Spilman, who reportedly sold hundreds of fake paintings through the auction site.
Mr Spilman, 48, was reported to be churning out three pictures a week and selling them from his council flat in Rugby, Warwickshire, for hundreds of pounds.
It has emerged he was previously given a police caution for the fakes and eBay had taken down sites offering them for sale. But they have now returned.
Mr Jackson, 73, said: “These forgeries have a terrible effect on my reputation.
“It is unjust that someone can play on my credibility by creating poor imitations in my name.
“To be honest, some of the fakes they were offering were really awful and it was embarrassing to think they were purportedly done in my name.“I have often been asked to do work in a short space of time but that is not my way. The works are something I have to nurture, and they take time.
“They are like my children and I like to see them grow and develop”.
At least four works by Mr Jackson are thought to have been copied and offered for sale, some of them priced at more than £200.
His genuine originals can sell for as much as £40,000.
Other artists’ work uncovered in the investigation included L S Lowry and Adrian Heath.
Mr Jackson’s daughter, Mrs Claudia Jackson-Berettoni, was the first to raise concerns after being contacted by a client the gallery had helped in the past.
She made contact with eBay but had to leave the sites on the website as police were investigating.
Huddersfield CID and Warwickshire Police launched a joint investigation and arrested Mr Spillman.
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news .
Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here , the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here
To follow us on Twitter click here
