Painter, draughtsman, restorer who gained notoriety as a faker/copyist of artists ranging from Rembrandt and Rubens to Constantin Guys and Degas, and especially Samuel Palmer. Born in London into poverty, Keating left school at 14 to become a house painter, yet nurtured a desire to paint. Invalided out of the Royal Navy, he eventually obtained a grant to study art at Goldsmiths’ College, but failed his final diploma. Keating became a restorer, working on the epic frescoes at Marlborough House, perfecting his knowledge of style and technique. The sale of a batch of Keating fakes in a country auction room in the mid-1970s led to his exposure and a book about him and he was tried at the Old Bailey in 1978. But the case was dismissed when Keating had a motor cycle accident and was found to have a serious heart complaint.