Loved By You Art . Design . Fashion . Handmade

John Myatt (born 1945) is an English artist who, although extremely talented, struggled to get a break in the art world. In the 1970's he had written the top 40 hit 'Silly Games' but what he really wanted was to be recognised for his art.

Myatt had discovered a talent for mimicking other artists' styles so, in 1985 when his wife left him with two young children to care for, Myatt placed an advert in Private Eye selling 19th and 20th century fakes for £200. What began as a legitimate business venture would soon spiral into what is now known as "The greatest art con of the 20th century".

Whilst Myatt had always been honest about the nature of his work John Drewe, a regular customer of his, had been re-selling the paintings as genuine works. When Drewe later told Myatt that he had successfully sold one of his paintings to Christies for £25,000 and handed over an envelope stuffed full of cash, Myatt knew he had crossed the line.

He was surprised that his crude fakes were passing as genuine works, Myatt often painted with household emulsion adding K-Y jelly to the paint as a thinner. He admits "I took no trouble technically. There was a negligence to everything I did."

He went on to produce an estimated 200 paintings in the styles of artists such as Giacometti, Chegall, Matisse, Bisierre, Dubuffe, and Le Corbusier. Drewe began forging provenance for the paintings and managed to sell the works to auction houses such as Sothebys and private collectors in London, New York and Paris.

In September 1995 Myatt was arrested, he immediately confessed and was later sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy to defraud. He was released four months later. Drewe was sentenced to six years for conspiracy and served two.

Only 60 of the 200 paintings have been recovered by police, the rest apparently still believed to be genuine by their owners. Myatt says he will never identify the remaining works.

Since his release Myatt has become a successful artist in his own right, selling 'genuine fakes' his paintings can now reach £45,000, he has presented a number of art programmes teaching his tricks of the trade and now works along side law enforcement to expose other fraudsters.

John Myatt will be presenting 'Made in China' on Sky Arts, Saturday May 15th.
"Generating over £20million in sales in 2006, the Dafen art community supply over 600 galleries, filling homes and businesses across the globe with convincing reproductions. Want to be greeted each day by Mona Lisa’s smile? Speak to Dafen to get hold of a copy for as little as £20. Made in China meets these prolific copy-artists to find out what in the name of art, is going on" -Sky Arts

To view Myatt's current work visit his website

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art is available now at Amazon and Audible.
“It is nonfiction, but its hair-raising investigative reporting reads like a thriller that just might knock you right out of your beach chair.” - Bookpage.com