JOHN MYATT PROVENANCE
“Maybe a man’s name doesn’t matter all that much.” (Orson Welles in F For Fake)
As so many gifted painters have discovered to their cost, having an unusual talent is not necessarily a passport to a meteoric career. So many whose abilities deserve to be recognised, or at the very least acknowledged, struggle cruelly in obscurity if not in the proverbial garret. Such neglect may drive certain temperaments to desperate measures. The inability of the meritorious to make a living is doubly harsh when the infantile antics and stunts of contemporary art are plastered daily across the newspapers. When only the most strident and outrageous get noticed the world of art becomes a strange and unfair place. An art college lecturer recently advised her imminently graduating painters and sculptors that if they wished for a successful career they should employ with immediate effect the most expensive public relations company they could afford. She was effectively informing her charges of
the unpleasant truth that in contemporary art it’s not the quality of the work produced that will make you famous, but more importantly how shrewdly and relentlessly you are marketed and branded as an individual. In terms of high sales and escalating prices, success in art is unfortunately directly proportionate to the public visibility of the artist. Thus has our age of mindless celebrity worship sullied even the hallowed halls of art. As the last hundred years have proved, dealers in Modern Art can sell any old rubbish against the perception of success and a secure investment. In the world of those collectors desperate to be fashionable it won’t matter what a work looks like, because to them art is like so many shoes, cars, handbags or jewels – they will buy anything if the label is recognisably expensive and their friends are suitably impressed by them having paid so much for so little. These few words tell you most of what you
need to know about the depressing condition of official contemporary art and its market. It is also why good artists of more conventional abilities have a harder time of it than they deserve. There is, however, another way to make it as an artist, though it is not one recommended for those of a nervous disposition. This requires being that increasing rare species a gifted painter ... and serving four months in Brixton for wholesale faking of works by famous artists. No better way exists of getting noticed and nothing on an artist’s CV looks quite so impressive as a stretch for forgery. It is hard for many of us to resist a talented and essentially harmless rogue. The names of these great fakers live in folklore: Hans van Meegeren (Vermeer), Elmyr de Hory (Picasso, Modigliani, van Dongen), Tom Keating (Samuel Palmer, Cornelius Krieghoff), Eric Hebborn (old master drawings, including Leonardo da Vinci), the great Shaun Greenhalgh (Lowry, Gauguin, Hepworth) – and in the case of the avuncular and telegenic Keating he became better known to the public than the names of the artists he faked. In a world where publicity is the key to artistic success, money can’t buy the quantity of front-page publicity received for perpetrating an infamous crime. Ironically, fakers frequently enjoy stellar careers once they are going straight. Cynics might even argue that it’s well worth enduring a brief diet of bread and water in order to enjoy a comfortable career thereafter. John Myatt is only the latest in a long line of great British forgers with notoriety and infamy as his calling cards. The extent and audacity of his crime were breathtaking – I still can’t believe he got away with it. He was part of arguably the most sophisticated fraud in the faking of paintings ever perpetrated, and certainly the most impressive in recent memory. Over a period of nine years beginning in
1986 he faked as many as 200 works by assorted 20th century painters and draughtsmen, only sixty of which have ever been recovered by police. Some of the remainder are undoubtedly still hanging in museums and private collections where they are being revered and enjoyed as originals. Many puritans will find John’s record objectionable. He was, after all, polluting the oeuvres of famous artists with lies: is there a more serious crime against art than this? Perhaps not. Others may sympathise, and even admire his exposure of bogus expertise among those claiming special insight. Let’s face it, few revelations are as satisfying as seeing a self-important connoisseur covered in egg. Unfortunately, I have personal experience of this. Awarding first prize in a landscape painting competition to an unknown artist for a work far more accomplished than the amateurish standard of the other entries, I remarked to the organisers how the picture looked vaguely familiar. Indeed, the winner had copied accurately a work from the reserve collection of the Tate Gallery and passed it off as his own invention. I ought to have recognised it instantly, but didn’t. When the deceit emerged, newspapers and colleagues enjoyed sport at my expense. John reminded us how the apparent superiority and invulnerability of those in the art trade are in fact all too often a trick of the light, and the flash suit. He deserves our thanks for that. Always a keen painter at school John moved on logically to art college and for a while thereafter he was – like so many frustrated painters – a teacher of art in a secondary modern. Confident in his technique, he fell into faking at a time when, as a single parent, he was struggling to support his children. Then, like so many other fakers, once illegality
and its ready profits had him in its clutches he couldn’t extricate himself. There is no question he boasts all the requisite qualifications for a top forger, principal among which is being able to examine the works of a celebrated artist and absorb their subjects, forms and colours to the degree that he is then able to create a convincing new work from scratch. He came unstuck only when his ‘Giacomettis’ and ‘Ben Nicholsons’ were shown to scholars so steeped in the work of these artists they were probably as adept at identifying a fake as the artist himself would have been. Since he came out of prison John has turned his dishonesty to honest profit, producing versions of masterpieces for those who admire but can’t afford the multi-million pound originals. And he is brilliant at it, the adopted styles being instantly recognisable. A fascinating aspect of what John does is the way looking at what he paints is complicated by a personal history one can’t overlook. You aren’t just getting a copy of a masterpiece or an interpretation of a style by a great copier, you’re getting the work of someone whose efforts were at one time actually confused with the real thing. He is asking us to decide for ourselves if the authenticity of what we see is quite as important as we are led to believe it is. Scholars and historians will, naturally, want to know they can rely on the veracity of what they are looking at, but for the rest of us does it really matter that much? Most of us can live with a harmless deception. Viewing a work which is not by the artist you suppose is hardly the end of the world. Ask yourself this: what is the difference between looking at a Monet and viewing something which you believe to be a real Monet? The answer is nothing; that is, at least while ignorance prevails. It has recently been proven by psychological experiment that belief in the authorship of
a painting is not only crucial to its appreciation but also seriously affects how long we are prepared to look at it. Belief in the originality of what we are looking at, its association with a famous name, causes greater enjoyment. But if we appreciate a painting why do we not continue to like the same painting when its authorship is downgraded. Should it really make so much difference? Consider this very recent example of faking. A wealthy resident of Venice from a noted family visited his friends’ houses socially for years and coveted their collections of Old Masters. Using quite exceptional guile and planning, he had created exact facsimiles of their works and placed the copy in the original frame while the owners were out of town. Over a period of years he amassed several dozen original Old Masters using this method, which he proceeded to sell. So brilliant were the copies that the paintings’ owners were none the wiser that they weren’t looking at the originals, until police alerted them to the truth. The perpetrator of this crime realised that for most people who look, or glance, at art there is no difference in impact between an original and a copy. How many of us could honestly tell the difference? Where art is concerned most of us believe what we are told by those we assume know more than ourselves. We accept appearances at face value, and are happy to enjoy innocently. So why not indulge yourself in a little self-deception with an original John Myatt? If you can’t afford a real Monet, Matisse or Modigliani then a Myatt is undoubtedly the next best thing. It is expertly done, pleasing to look at ... and just think of the stories, true or false, you might tell your friends about it. David Lee Editor of The Jackdaw
GIRL IN WHITE DRESS (In the style of Amadeo Modigliani 1918 - 1919) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 91cm
THE RED CAPE (In the style of Amadeo Modigliani 1919) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 51cm
THE SCHOOLTEACHER (In the style of Amadeo Modigliani 1918) Mixed Media on Canvas | 86cm x 77cm
SEATED NUDE (ANNETTE) (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Canvas | 82cm x 76cm
CAROLINE SEATED 1962 (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Canvas | 74cm x 74cm
PORTRAIT OF DIEGO (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 51cm
PORTRAIT OF SAMUEL BECKETT (In the style of Alberto Giacometti 1961) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 51cm
FEMME ASSISE (SEATED WOMAN) (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Canvas | 86cm x 55cm
HOMME ET GRANDE ARBRE (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Paper | 51cm x 38cm
ANNETTE IN YELLOW COAT 1960 (In the style of Alberto Giacometti) Mixed Media on Canvas | 97cm x 71cm
HENRIETTA MARIA (In the style of Anthony Van Dyck) Mixed Media on Canvas | 70cm x 66cm
CARVED RELIEF - RED STRIPE (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 61cm
CARVED WHITE RELIEF - CANDYSTRIPE 1938 (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 61cm
STILL LIFE 1955 - BLUE GROUND (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 61cm
STILL LIFE BLUE & RED 1956 (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 64cm
UMBER GROUND STILL LIFE (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 61cm
WHITE GOBLET 1956 (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 51cm
STILL LIFE - DARK UMBER EFFECT (In the style of Ben Nicholson 1955) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 76cm
STILL LIFE - OCHRE AND PINK (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 76cm
STILL LIFE FORMS (GRAPHITE) (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 48cm x 61cm
VIEW OF ST IVES HARBOUR 1940 (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 61cm
STILL LIFE - GRANITE (In the style of Ben Nicholson) Mixed Media on Canvas | 52cm x 61cm
MORNING ON THE SEINE 1897 (In the style of Claude Monet) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 79cm
MORNING ON THE SEINE (In the style of Claude Monet 1897) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 79cm
MORNING ON THE SEINE - PALE BLUE EFFECT (In the style of Claude Monet 1897) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 79cm
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT - FOG EFFECT (In the style of Claude Monet) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 76cm
VIEW OF BORDIGHERA (In the style of Claude Monet, February 1884) Mixed Media on Canvas | 72cm x 76cm
VIEW OF BORDIGHERA (In the style of Claude Monet 1884) Mixed Media on Canvas | 81cm x 86cm
WATERLILIES (NYMPHEAS) (In the style of Claude Monet, 1906) Mixed Media on Canvas | 107cm x 158cm
STORM AT BELLE-ILE 1886 (In the style of Claude Monet) Mixed Media on Canvas | 72cm x 76cm
LILIES - MORNING EFFECT (In the style of Claude Monet 1906) Mixed Media on Canvas | 107cm x 158cm
STEPHEN FRY AS POPE INNOCENT X (In the style of Diego Velasquez) Mixed Media on Canvas | 112cm x 96cm
PENCIL SKETCH OF STEPHEN FRY AS POPE INNOCENT X Made On Location St Barnabas Soho London Pencil on Paper | 44cm x 44cm
LANDSCAPE AT LA ROCHE GUYON (In the style of Georges Braque 1910) Mixed Media on Canvas | 55cm x 40cm
STUDY FOR CRUCIFIXION AT BASE OF COVENTRY TAPESTRY (In the style of Graham Sutherland) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 61cm
YELLOW ODALISQUE (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Canvas | 102cm x 76cm
STANDING NUDE (In the style of Henri Matisse 1927) Mixed Media on Canvas | 91cm x 71cm
GIRL READING (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Canvas | 86cm x 76cm
BLUE ODALISQUE (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Canvas | 102cm x 76cm
NUDE (RED CHALK) (In the style of Henri Matisse 1936) Mixed Media on Paper | 61cm x 43cm
NUDE STUDY (BLUE BRUSHWORK) (In the style of Henri Matisse 1936) Mixed Media on Paper | 64cm x 28cm
ODALISQUE (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Paper | 92cm x 85cm
COUPLE EMBRACING (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Paper | 85cm x 92cm
INTERIOR WITH FLOWERS (In the style of Henri Matisse) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 61cm
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING COPY STUDY FOR MYLEENE KLASSE (In the style of Johan Vermeer) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 51cm
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (In the style of Johan Vermeer) Mixed Media on Canvas | 65cm x 55cm
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE LITTLE GIRL SINGING TOGETHER (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 56cm x 30cm
HARLEQUIN DISTURBS SLEEPING FISH (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 60cm x 44cm
TWO ESCAPE LADDERS OFFERED TO TIRED AND WEARY TRAVELLERS (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 64cm x 50cm
THE PHOENIX (In the style of Joan Mir贸 1942) Mixed Media on Paper | 41cm x 41cm
UNTITLED PAINTING 1952 (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 41cm x 26cm
FIRST LOVE (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 51cm x 71cm
HANSEL AND GRETEL (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Canvas | 91cm x 72cm
THE ASTRONOMERS LOVE SONG (In the style of Joan Mir贸 1941) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 61cm
BIRD SERENADING THE MOON (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 60cm x 41cm
CONSTELLATION I (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Paper | 58cm x 43cm
APOLLO'S CHARIOT (In the style of Joan Mir贸) Mixed Media on Canvas | 96cm x 71cm
WILLY LOTT'S COTTAGE, FLATFORD MILL (In the style of John Constable) Mixed Media on Canvas | 60cm x 76cm
SARAH SIDDONS AS THE TRAGIC MUSE (In the style of Joshua Reynolds) Mixed Media on Canvas | 107cm x 79cm
SELF PORTRAIT WITH SHADED EYES AND TEXT John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 91cm x 102cm
LEEDS CASTLE, KENT John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 102cm
LONDON BLITZ 1940 # ONE John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 102cm x 76cm
LONDON BLITZ 1940 # TWO John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 80cm x 80cm
SWALLOW FEEDING YOUNG John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 114cm x 58cm
A ROOM WITH A VIEW: MOONLIGHT & MODIGLIANI John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 122cm x 96cm
TRUE LIES John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 130cm x 97cm
MODIGLIANI AND FRUIT John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 101.5cm x 91.5cm
SHIBUYA, TOKYO FROM HOTEL EXCEL John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 90cm x 90cm
JAPANESE BLOSSOMS John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 90cm x 90cm
CAVE DRAWING (In the style of “Anonymous Genius”) Mixed Media on Canvas | 49cm x 80cm
UNFORTUNATE TRUTHS # ONE. WHEN YOU WISH John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 135cm x 98cm
PIGEON AND APPLE, E. WING, H.M.P. BRIXTON John Myatt Mixed Media on Canvas | 142cm x 111cm
VIEW FROM E. WING, BRIXTON PRISON (2/50) John Myatt Pencil on Paper | 30cm x 64cm
PORTRAIT OF WOMAN IN FEATHERED HAT (In the style of Kees Van Dongen) Mixed Media on Canvas | 63cm x 56cm
PORTRAIT C. 1920 (In the style of Kees Van Dongen) Mixed Media on Canvas | 61cm x 51cm
STONEHENGE (In the style of J.M.W. Turner) Preparatory Study For Virgin Virtuosos Broadcast Sky Arts 1, 2010 With Imogen Stubbs Mixed Media on Canvas | 80cm x 76cm
ACROBATS (In the style of Marc Chagall) Gouache on Arches Paper | 68cm x 48cm
MASQUERADE (In the style of Marc Chagall) Gouache on Arches Paper | 68cm x 50cm
THE LOVERS DREAM (In the style of Marc Chagall) Gouache on Arches Paper | 68cm x 48cm
THE ARTIST INSPIRED (In the style of Marc Chagall) Gouache on Arches Paper | 36cm x 26cm
HARBOUR (In the style of Nicolas de StaĂŤl) Mixed Media On Board | 32cm x 45cm
COSTUME DESIGN STUDY & LETTER (In the style of Oskar Schlemmer) Pencil on Paper | 51cm x 86cm
COSTUME DESIGN STUDY (In the style of Oskar Schlemmer) Pencil on Paper | 51cm x 67cm
PORTRAIT OF D'ANGEL FERNANDEZ DE SOTO (In the style of Pablo Picasso 1903) Mixed Media on Canvas | 71cm x 55cm
YOUNG ACROBAT ON A BALL (In the style of Pablo Picasso 1905) Mixed Media on Canvas | 71cm x 97cm
VIOLINISTE 1911 (In the style of Pablo Picasso) Mixed Media on Canvas | 70cm x 52cm
MAN READING NEWSPAPERS (In the style of Pablo Picasso 1912) Mixed Media on Canvas | 96cm x 76cm
TIO PEPE (In the style of Pablo Picasso 1905) Mixed Media on Paper | 52cm x 40cm
STILL LIFE WITH APPLES & ORANGES (In the style of Paul Cezanne 1898) Mixed Media on Canvas | 76cm x 86cm
BAIE DES ANGES 1928 (In the style of Raoul Dufy) Gouache on Arches Paper | 53cm x 59cm
THE CASINO AT NICE (In the style of Raoul Dufy) Gouache on Arches Paper | 51cm x 61cm
THE PADDOCK (In the style of Raoul Dufy) Gouache on Arches Paper | 80cm x 80cm
THE LETTER (In the style of Raoul Dufy) Gouache on Arches Paper | 53cm x 68cm
THE BIRTH OF VENUS (In The Style Of Rene Magritte 1954) Mixed Media on Canvas | 97cm x 71cm
FAKE (In the style of Robert Indiana) Mixed Media On Box Canvas | 80cm x 80cm
STILL LIFE WITH PINK ROSES (In the style of S J Peploe) Mixed Media on Canvas | 34cm x 23cm
STILL LIFE WITH MIRROR (In the style of S J Peploe) Mixed Media on Canvas | 51cm x 41cm
COUNTRYSIDE NEAR AVLES (In the style of Vincent Van Gogh) Mixed Media on Canvas | 77cm x 92cm
WILLIAM HOGARTH “SELF PORTRAIT WITH DOG” (In the style of William Hogarth) Mixed Media on Canvas | 86cm x 76cm
Price £20.00 The images contained within this literature are an artistic representation of the collection. To best experience our art, we recommend you contact your local gallery to arrange a viewing. Š Washington Green 2012. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission. washingtongreen.co.uk