Forging Ahead : Art: Anthony Gene Tetro has made a name for himself by copying the works of others. Now he’s busy on public safety projects as restitution--a novel if not original use of his talents. : Region

Inside a dimly lit supply shed at the rear of the San Dimas sheriff’s substation, an artist of talent and perhaps criminal genius is painting the Mona Lisa. Or an impressive copy of it, at least.

The painter is Anthony Gene Tetro, 43, described as the nation’s most prolific art forger when he pleaded no contest in February to forging works by the likes of Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Norman Rockwell and Salvador Dali.

Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan in April ordered Tetro to produce art--original art--for the public. Tetro is in a six-month work-release program at the San Dimas station in which he paints prototypes for traffic safety murals.

But even as he serves a sentence designed to punish a multimillion-dollar forger, Tetro clings to what he calls his true calling:

“I’m a copyist. I always have been and I always will be. I never had a style of my own. I never wanted to be a famous artist. I just like to paint,” Tetro said.

Take the Mona Lisa portrait on the easel in his makeshift studio, for example. In his version of the Da Vinci painting, the ubiquitous lady sits behind the wheel of a red Ferrari, with a seat belt strapped across her. In the passenger seat, a smaller Mona Lisa is tucked in a child-safety seat.

It is a whimsical approach to promoting seat belts and safety seats, perhaps, but it was not Tetro’s idea. The credit goes to Jan Nichols, the director of the sheriff’s traffic safety project who oversees Tetro.

Other murals in the works, including one of a Statue of Liberty holding a “slow” sign, were also conceived by others and then painted by Tetro.

“If you give him ideas and tell him exactly what you want, then he can come up with good stuff,” Nichols said.

Tetro, a former furniture salesman and the son of a New York house painter, said he has never painted truly original work, and he doesn’t intend to begin now.

“I paint what I’m asked to paint. I don’t see why that should change now,” he said. “To me it was a job. It’s what I do, and I wasn’t moved by it.”

But as art gained new popularity in the ‘80s, it was a job that made Tetro an increasingly wealthy man.

He combined his ability to copy anything, including an artist’s signature, with his own special printing method for reproducing lithographs, and soon his imitations were in high demand by individual buyers and art dealers alike.

“If he’s not the best, I have no idea who’d be better,” said Jim Shopneck, who manages a store in Upland that sells Tetro’s lithographs. He has a natural ability to re-create anything he sees. He doesn’t do any work of his own. It’s all copies. He likes that. It’s kind of a challenge for him.”

*

Tetro, who had no professional art training, soon earned a reputation as a high-profile player in the art world. He lived lavishly in a trilevel condominium in Claremont, made regular journeys to Paris and Rome, cruised around town in his Rolls-Royce or Lamborghini Countach. Or one of his three Ferraris.

One of those was an exact replica of a 1958 Ferrari Testarossa race car, a model that no longer exists. Tetro invested six years and several hundred thousand dollars to build the car with every detail, inside and out, copied perfectly.

“He had a passion and talent for copying, for trying to re-create what had been done ages ago, and do it absolutely perfectly,” said Dennis Smith, who is producing a movie based on Tetro’s life. “Obviously there are other forgers in the world, but this guy was the best.”

He’s a very smooth and casual guy, but very detailed and very polished,” said Smith. “He reminded me of James Bond. I knew when I met him that he would go way, way up or he would get caught and crash.”

*

In fact, Tetro’s life in the fast lane crashed on April 18, 1989, the day that police raided his home, seized more than 100 paintings and lithographs, and charged him with 67 felony counts of forgery.

He was forced to sell almost everything he owned to pay legal fees. He moved out of the condo, and now lives in a hotel in Claremont. The Rolls, the Lamborghini, the Ferraris are all gone, replaced by a Honda Civic. “It was tense. I had the whole state of California trying to put my ass in jail, and it was me against them,” he said. “It was an ordeal.”

During those years, Tetro was so distraught that he stopped painting almost entirely, and considered retiring his brushes for good.

Tetro admitted copying the works and signatures of famous artists, but he testified that he did not know that dealers were selling his reproductions as originals. His case went to trial in June, 1991, but a mistrial was declared after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

Instead of going through a second trial, Tetro decided to accept a plea bargain with no prison time. He took six months in a work-release program, 200 hours of community service and five years on probation. He is also required to paint a mural on a public building or wall.

“I think it’s an enlightened sentence,” said Jay J Tannenbaum, Tetro’s attorney. “It was appropriate to have this man use his talents for the betterment of the community.”

“I would have been foolish to pass up the deal with the traffic safety program because you never know what a jury is going to do,” said Tetro, who still maintains that he has not done anything illegal.

Tetro must sign in at the San Dimas sheriff’s station by 8 a.m. and be back at home by 9 p.m. He works with students at Hollywood High School in the afternoon, but spends his mornings painting in the supply shed-turned-art studio.

He is dressed like any other trustee in custody here, except for a pair of custom ostrich-skin boots. He traded a fake Chagall for them back in the ‘80s.

Officials have not found a space for his Mona Lisa mural yet, but Tetro has already arranged to have that picture printed on posters. He is also working with high school students on traffic safety murals at Hollywood High, La Puente High, and a wall in South El Monte.

“I enjoy it, but I just want to finish this sentence and get on with the rest of my life,” he said.

In Smith’s movie about Tetro, the forger eventually develops a passion for creating art of his own. Smith is confident that the same will happen to Tetro because of his experience in custody.

“I’ve never seen him talking about art like he has been lately. There’s an artist in him, and he’s finally discovering it. I would wager anything on that,” Smith said.

But Tetro dismisses his friend’s statement as wishful thinking.

“I think that’s what he wants me to do, but I have no desire to be a famous artist,” he said. “What’s wrong with a copyist? I’m not ashamed of it. It’s an old and noble profession.”

He said he savors artificially aging an oil painting by producing cracks in the surface with a homemade baking process that uses formaldehyde. He also enjoys doing emulations, or paintings done in the style of another artist.

He thinks that copying the masters brings its own pleasures and discoveries. “There’s been a lot written about Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile. But without that dimple on her left (cheek), they’re just lips. It would take a copyist to see that, not an art expert,” he said.

If anything, his experience with the criminal justice system has only made him more suspicious and cynical. “I don’t trust people as much. You find out a lot about life when your world is turned upside down,” he said.

“I’m going to do exactly what I did before I was arrested, only I’m putting my name on everything,” he said.

*

Indeed, business is booming again. He already has three clients lined up, waiting for him to finish his sentence. And some of his Chagall lithographs are selling for as much as $7,500, more than twice what they were going for before his arrest.

But does Tetro have any plans to create original art of his own?

“Just one thing,” he admits. He has designed a “sleek and sensual” mid-engine sports car, and he wants to build it and put it into production.

“Everyone assumes that if I can paint, that’s all I want to do. That’s not true,” he said. “I would be very, very happy if I were going to work every day on this project.”