F O R E W O R D
The exquisite genius of ar tist John Myatt is an amalgamation of many elements: an unrivalled eye, a dedication to research and learning, and a relentless pursuit of perfection. But as an artist, he is so very much more than the sum of his component par ts. His is a self-knowledge that can come only through extremely for tuitous bir thright, or years of lived experience. In combining this heightened awareness for his craft with a genuine and enduring love for bringing old masterpieces to a new and wider audience, Myatt’s journey has been a veritable masterclass, more than fifteen years in the making. From Monet to Matisse andVan Gogh toVermeer, Myatt’s past portfolio of ‘genuine fakes’ traverses most styles and subjects of any note from the annals of ar t history. For this latest collection, Myatt has taken on the elective realism of famed twentieth century painter, Edward Hopper. After graduating from the NewYork School of Ar t, 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, ar tists 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. Rich in both content and context, there is much to draw 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.
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