John Myatt (1945-) after Van Gogh

Starry Night with Drawbridge at Arles
facsimile inscribed 'Vincent' (lower right); further signed by the artist and numbered 11/95 to the reverse
hand embellished giclée on canvas
59.5 x 74cm

Provenance:
With Washington Green Fine Art and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity

On February 13^th, 1999, John Myatt was sentenced to a year in prison for what was described by Scotland Yard as "the biggest art fraud of the 20th century". A former secondary school teacher, it was not until 1983, when he was aged 38, that Myatt discovered his gift for artistic imitation and began selling his reproductions as a means to support himself and his two young children. After placing an advert in Private Eye offering “Genuine Fakes” from £150 a piece, Myatt was contacted by John Drewe, who would become a regular customer and, ultimately, his co-conspirator and mastermind of the fraudulent plot. Although initially forthcoming about the nature of his reproductions, after Drewe was successful in passing Myatt’s works through major auction houses as original works, Myatt soon became a willing accomplice, producing around 200 forgeries by artists including Giacometti, Monet, Matisse, Chagall, and Ben Nicholson, between 1986 and 1994. Since his release, Myatt’s copies, all now clearly signed ‘Myatt’, have become collectable in their own right.

Condition Report

Frame appears in nice condition throughout, as does the work itself.