top of page
larger.jpg

JOHN MYATT

ARTIST

Biography

A keen painter, John attended art college before embarking upon a career as an art teacher. Struggling as a single parent on a low income, he fell into the murky world of art forgery. Art Lounge international has built a huge following in the Leamington and Warwickshire area, we just love the work by John.

Between 1986 and 1993, John faked as many as 200 works by 20th century painters and draughtsmen. Arguably one of the most sophisticated painting fraudsters in history, he was caught out only when his ‘Giacomettis’ and ‘Ben Nicholsons’ were identified by scholars as fakes. Numerous collectors swarmed to our Leamington and Warwick gallery locations to admire and purchase his works.
After cooperating fully with the police, he served a four-month sentence at Brixton Prison in London. 


Initially reluctant to ever paint again, he was persuaded to pick up his brush by the Scotland Yard detective who arrested him. He is now a legitimate artist with a string of celebrity followers, and in 2009 released a book about his experience, titled Provenance.  
Only 60 of John's forgeries have ever been recovered by the police, leading some critics to believe that the remainder still hang in museums and private collections where they are celebrated as original works.

bottom of page