A book restorer who surreptitiously took photos of a locked storage space in a Melbourne studio was so shocked by what he captured on camera he contacted police.
Guy Morel worked in the Easey St studio of art restorer Mohamed Aman Siddique around 2007 when Siddique is alleged to have created three Brett Whiteley paintings at the centre of a major art fraud trial.
Siddique and art dealer Peter Gant have both pleaded not guilty to charges of obtaining and attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception by selling fake Whiteley paintings for millions.
One of the paintings, Blue Lavender Bay, was purchased for $2.5 million by Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham, another, Orange Lavender Bay, was bought for $1.1 million, the trial has heard.
A third painting, Through the Window, is alleged to have been used as collateral to defer a debt.
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Mr Morel said on Tuesday he discovered what appeared to be Brett Whiteley paintings after another Easey Street studio tenant made a comment to him about paintings being produced in a secure storage area.
"He said to me, 'I thought you knew'," Mr Morel told the Victorian Supreme Court.
"He mentioned there was some activities happening there, some paintings being produced."
"Then he said to me, 'Have a look'."
The storage area was behind a 2.5 metre wall that Mr Morel overcame by standing on a bench and photographing what was on the other side, the court heard.
"I saw a Brett Whiteley painting, then I came down, I showed it to Jud (Wimhurst), he was standing there, and I was - I was shocked."
A few months after he first looked into the storage area, Mr Morel contacted police and told them he had concerns about forgeries, the court heard.
He gave police the storage card from the camera he had used to capture paintings behind the storage room wall, the court heard.
Defence barristers for Gant and Siddique say the paintings captured by Mr Morel are legitimate copies that were created legally.
Under questioning from John Ribbands, acting for Siddique, Mr Morel said he could not tell the difference between an oil painting and an acrylic painting.
The court later heard Mr Morel was in 2010 asked by Gant and Siddique to provide a report on a catalogue that contained an orange Brett Whiteley painting.
The court heard Mr Morel found the production date was prior to 1989.
Asked by Mr Ribbands if the prospect that the orange painting was in existence in 1989 caused him to think about what he had observed in the secure storage area Mr Morel said, "It certainly did".
Whitely twice won the Archibald prize and was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia before his death in 1992.
The trial continues before Justice Michael Croucher.
