Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo
Book Report
Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo
THEME
Provenance is defined as "The place of origin or earliest known history of something." It is always good to know how things came to be were and what they are but in reference to art, it is crucial. A true masterpiece without provenance is, in a sense, worthless because no one will buy it. Now, take a forgery and equip it with clear and thorough provenance and it will sell at
Sotheby's as if it were real. Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo details the intricate and widespread deception of John Drewe who figured out how to circumvent the problems with provenance by creating his own and injecting it into gallery and museum archives throughout London.
SUMMARY John Myatt showed a good deal of promise as a young art student. He excelled at painting in the classical style and could mimic the old masters with great accuracy. After graduating from college in the 1960s Myatt tried to make it as an artist but his style was not popular in the contemporary art scene and he gave up after a few years. In 1986 Myatt was working part-time as an art teacher in Staffordshire, England. Divorced, he was struggling to raise two young children in a run-down farmhouse and he desperately needed money. Myatt posted an ad in a local magazine advertising "genuine fakes: 19th and 20th Century paintings, from £150". He sold mostly copies of famous portraits in which he would replace the original features with those of the customer. John Drewe, who presented himself as a respected physicist for the ministry of defense, responded to the ad and put in an order for a Matisse. Myatt delivered a colorful Mattisse copy a few weeks later and
Drewe was so impressed that he continued to order more paintings, one after another. For two years Myatt painted many copies while Drewe led him to believe they were for his own collection or gifts for his wife Batsheva Goudsmid, a wealthy Israeli expatriate with
Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo
THEME
Provenance is defined as "The place of origin or earliest known history of something." It is always good to know how things came to be were and what they are but in reference to art, it is crucial. A true masterpiece without provenance is, in a sense, worthless because no one will buy it. Now, take a forgery and equip it with clear and thorough provenance and it will sell at
Sotheby's as if it were real. Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo details the intricate and widespread deception of John Drewe who figured out how to circumvent the problems with provenance by creating his own and injecting it into gallery and museum archives throughout London.
SUMMARY John Myatt showed a good deal of promise as a young art student. He excelled at painting in the classical style and could mimic the old masters with great accuracy. After graduating from college in the 1960s Myatt tried to make it as an artist but his style was not popular in the contemporary art scene and he gave up after a few years. In 1986 Myatt was working part-time as an art teacher in Staffordshire, England. Divorced, he was struggling to raise two young children in a run-down farmhouse and he desperately needed money. Myatt posted an ad in a local magazine advertising "genuine fakes: 19th and 20th Century paintings, from £150". He sold mostly copies of famous portraits in which he would replace the original features with those of the customer. John Drewe, who presented himself as a respected physicist for the ministry of defense, responded to the ad and put in an order for a Matisse. Myatt delivered a colorful Mattisse copy a few weeks later and
Drewe was so impressed that he continued to order more paintings, one after another. For two years Myatt painted many copies while Drewe led him to believe they were for his own collection or gifts for his wife Batsheva Goudsmid, a wealthy Israeli expatriate with