what’s important is off camera.” This insight was echoed by Finn Blythe, in an editorial for Hero magazine: “Just as the power of Hopper’s paintings lies in what he chooses to exclude, so the tension and spectacle in Hitchcock’s Rear Window relies on what is obscured or unseen.” Myatt’s insight into Hopper’s modus operandi lends its own flavour to the deciphering of his work. John asserts: “Hopper places the actors on the stage, but it is up to the viewer to write the script. Your personal interpretation of the ‘story’ in the painting – what has just happened, what will happen next? – is up to you. There are no clues within the painting to answer such questions. You must formulate your own opinions.”
their way into private collections and public institutions in the United Kingdom and abroad. Eventually the scheme was exposed, and John was sentenced to a yearlong prison term for his involvement in the forgery of almost two hundred artworks. After a spell in prison for his part in ‘the greatest art fraud of the 20th century’, John Myatt has gone on to become a hugely popular contemporary artist in his own right. He sees his work as not simply creating a copy or pale imitation of the original; he adopts techniques and searches for the inspiration behind each great artist’s view of the world, returning to the places these artists loved, set to explore the angles that remain uncovered or to create the next chapter in a still life.
the eye and puzzle the mind in this collection. The distinctly cinematic aesthetic poses a question of its own; who has been more influenced by whom? Whilst there is an undeniable film noir quality to Hopper’s work, it is fair to say he has more than contributed to the styling of films that have since followed. It is universally accepted that Alfred Hitchcock had the famous Bates Motel, from his 1960 horror film Psycho, built to resemble the building in Hopper’s ‘House by the Railroad’ painting. In more recent times, director Sam Mendes spoke at length in a 2002 interview about the inspiration he finds in Hopper’s scenes: “Compositionally, Hopper constantly ensures that your imaginary eye is guided off the frame of the picture. You begin to imagine what’s on either side of the frame. In other words,
a perfectly legitimate business venture was born. Producing paintings to order, he painted his way through 20th century art history, commissioned by a man called ‘Professor John Drewe’. His materials were unorthodox, using household emulsion mixed with KY Jelly to add body and fluidity to his brushstrokes, and yet the quality of his work led Christie’s to value one of his paintings as worth £30,000. This was the moment that the legitimate business stopped and the crime began. Between 1986 and 1994, John played a central role in what is cited as one of the most elaborate and sophisticated art frauds in history. John’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
EDWARD HOPPER & JOHN MYATT
HOLLYWOOD BECKONS
“In prison they called me Picasso.”
After graduating from the New York School of Art, Hopper travelled to Paris to continue his studies and hone his craft. Finding inspiration among the big names of the day, notably Renoir and Monet, he had an appreciation for Impressionism - it introduced him to painting en plein air - but it wasn’t a style he could or would eventually call his own. 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. Hopper strode confidently into a middle ground between the two, claiming the space as his own. During the 1940s, it was reported that the art establishment had little time for Hopper’s work, even openly criticising his technique. Myatt’s stance is: “That may well be true, in the way that the paint leaves the brush, but by God he could really compose an image.” Expanding on this idea, Myatt feels – having immersed himself in Hopper’s work during this project – that Hopper perhaps worked in an ‘idea first, subject later’ way. As such, he views his works as conceptual, believing that Hopper would have arrived at the whole narrative behind the painting before he had so much as picked up a paintbrush.
If that one headline alone doesn’t capture the imagination, arguably nothing will. Seemingly, the executives at Green Eye Productions agree, as they have teamed up with John to bring his fascinating story to the big screen. With the script completed and the film going into production, it will not be long before ‘the greatest art fraud of the 20th century’ becomes central to a film that will intrigue and baffle its audiences. If you’re as yet unfamiliar with the path that led John, eventually, to Castle Fine Art – read on below. In 1986, John placed a classified advert in Private Eye, ‘19th and 20th century fakes for £200’ and
‘Still from “The Maltese Falcon”’ In The Style of Edward Hopper Hand Embellished Stretched Canvas | Edition of 15 Image Size 76cm x 61cm | Framed Size 99cm x 84cm £1,595 Framed
‘Morning Sun 1952 Nude on Bed’ In The Style of Edward Hopper Hand Embellished Stretched Canvas | Edition of 15 Image Size 81cm x 61cm| Framed Size 107cm x 84cm £1,650 Framed
Rich in both content and context, there is much to draw
42 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN / WINTER 2021
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN / WINTER 2021 43
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