John Myatt | Fake Limited Editions

J O H N M Y A T T

Since ancient times, the theory and practice of the visual arts has been founded, quite exclusively, upon the relationship between the real and its copy. Ever since, this complex connection has shaped the way art history is written and objects are viewed. During the Renaissance, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci were celebrated for their ability to represent the real, whilst Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists of the twentieth century prided themselves on their rejection of it. Sentenced to a year-long prison term for his involvement in the forgery of almost two hundred artworks, there are few people more aware of the complicated relationship between the real and its copy than the artist John Myatt. Playing a central role in what is cited as one of the most elaborate and sophisticated art frauds in history, Myatt’s painstaking renderings of works by the likes of Alberto Giacometti and Jean Dubuffet fooled critics and collectors alike, with many of these counterfeit works finding their way into private collections and public institutions in the United Kingdom and abroad. A common trait of modern life is that the existence of a market for any kind of valuable object almost always encourages the production of counterfeits - such is the case with banknotes, drugs, and designer handbags. It is also

the case with works of art.The great fakers of history - Tom Keating, Eric Hebborn and Shaun Greenhalgh to name but a few - continue to live on in art folklore, with John Myatt the latest in a long line of great British forgers whose notoriety and fame almost match that of the artists whose works he once faked. However, it is not only this handful of relative unknowns who have been subverting the idea of the real and its copy in visual art. History has been kind to the well documented forgeries made by Michelangelo, named often as a Renaissance great but also found to be a skilled forger, making copies of major works before ageing them with smoke and swapping them for the originals. Since then, fakery, deception and theft in various forms have been critical weapons in any painter’s arsenal. Whether it be Rembrandt hand-signing an assistant’s work as his own, René Magritte’s clever canvases masquerading as a view from an open window, or Pablo Picasso’s famous declaration that ‘great artists steal,’ in visual art, nothing is ever quite what it may seem.Throughout history, artists famed and unfamiliar - Myatt amongst them - are life’s great imitators; tricksters and magicians who utilise their talents to dazzle, deceive and delight the viewer.

In John Myatt’s latest collection these audacious and often astounding artistic traits are thrown into sharp focus.The collection, aptly titled ‘Fake’, is Myatt’s most ambitious yet, casting his determined gaze and practised paintbrush across decades of artworks. In stark contrast with much darker times when the artist would paint – quite literally – for his livelihood in a dilapidated farmhouse in rural Staffordshire, today Myatt makes art work on the right side of the law, utilising the rich and varied array of resources available to him in our increasingly digitized contemporary world. Exposure to new techniques, materials and research is instantly possible; a development which Myatt feels has only inspired him to push his practice further. Such progress is evident in the sheer ambition of this collection, which features for the first time a Roy Lichtenstein inspired piece, entitled ‘Genuine Fake,’ a gently humorous, knowing nod to his fraudulent past, but also a daring glance to Myatt’s future as an artist. Whether or not John Myatt’s copies challenge perceived ideas of what ‘real’ works of art are, they certainly challenge many of the assumptions that underlie the theory and practice of connoisseurship.Traditionally, the value and

authenticity of an artwork lies safely and resolutely in the hands of the critic, the auction house or the professor. In so famously duping these so called ‘experts’ Myatt has not only added another dimension to the increasingly indistinct boundary between the real and its copy, but stripped the purpose of painting back to its purest form: a visual example of talent and beauty. It is certainly no coincidence that back in the Middle Ages, the notion of art fraud was non-existent. Artwork during this earliest of times served a function, of miraculous beauty and power – something so often lost in the modern world of the art market.With ‘Fake’, Myatt provides the everyday viewer with the power and the choice to enjoy great artwork so often confined and concealed in private collections.This collection therefore becomes less a question of a chancer or conman, real or copy, and instead provides a celebration of art, of artists and beauty in their purest form.

Sarah Reeve Castle Fine Art

A V E N U E O F F L OW E R S A T G I V E R N Y (In the style of Claude Monet)

H O U S E S O F P A R L I AM E N T 1 9 0 1 (In the style of Claude Monet)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 76.5cm x 76.5cm | Framed £3,500

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 61cm x 76.5cm | Framed £2,750

V I E W O F V E R T H E U I L 1 8 8 0 (In the style of Claude Monet)

G I R L I N F E A T H E R E D H A T (In the style of Henri Matisse)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 60.5cm x 76.5cm | Framed £2,750

Signed Limited Edition Giclée on Paper of 9 | 68.5cm x 57.5cm | Framed £1,500

F E MM E A L ’ E C H A R P E ( WOMA N W I T H S C A R F ) (In the style of Henri Matisse)

S T U D Y F O R G I R L A T A B O A T I N G P A R T Y 1 8 8 0 (In the style of P.A. Renoir)

Signed Limited Edition Giclée on Paper of 9 | 68.5cm x 57.5cm | Framed £1,500

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 46cm x 37cm | Framed £2,250

P O R T R A I T S T U D Y (In the style of P.A. Renoir)

G I R L W I T H WH I T E G L O V E S (In the style of P.A. Renoir)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 41cm x 31cm | Framed £1,950

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 41cm x 31cm | Framed £1,950

G I R L I N A R E D H A T (In the style of Pablo Picasso)

H A R L E Q U I N W I T H A R O S E 1 9 0 5 (In the style of Pablo Picasso)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 61cm x 51cm | Framed £2,500

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 61cm x 51cm | Framed £2,500

Y A C H T S E N T E R I N G H A R B O U R (In the style of Paul Signac)

S A I L I N G B O A T S A T D E A U V I L L E 1 9 3 3 (In the style of Raoul Dufy)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 51.5cm x 61cm | Framed £2,500

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 63.5cm x 102cm | Framed £3,500

B A I E D E S A N G E S , N I C E , 1 9 2 6 (In the style of Raoul Dufy)

T H E C A S I N O A T N I C E 1 9 3 9 (In the style of Raoul Dufy)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 43cm x 102cm | Framed £2,750

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 43cm x 102cm | Framed £2,750

E DWA R D I A N L A D Y R E S P O N D I N G T O I M P R O P E R S U G G E S T I O N I N S I N G E R S A R G E N T ’ S S T U D I O (In the style of Singer Sargent)

G E N U I N E F A K E (In the style of Roy Lichtenstein)

Signed Limited Edition Boxed Canvas of 9 | 115cm x 115cm | Framed £2,500

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 76.5cm x 62cm | £2,950

H A Y S T A C K S (In the style of Vincent Van Gogh)

A P A I R O F O L D S H O E S 1888 (In the style of Vincent Van Gogh)

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 76cm x 61cm | Framed £2,750

Signed Limited Edition Stretched Canvas of 9 | 57cm x 57cm | Framed £2,500

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. © Washington Green 2014. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission. washingtongreen.co.uk