NO : JOHN MYATT Former secondary school teacher John Myatt became embroiled in what Scotland Yard call ‘the biggest art fraud of the 20th century’ when his paintings fooled even the experts. His fascinating story has inspired an upcoming film. “Using another artist’s work is a great opportunity to not just look passively at their art but engage with it and see how they’ve achieved their effects and techniques. I was successful because I wasn’t creating copies; it was new work in the style of a particular artist – which is much more fun. “This way, you can put a bit of yourself into the process. For example, Monet would never use fluorescent colours, but using modern paints gives the work more bite. The original painting is a template and you end up putting it to one side to create new work. “I get so many emails from artists who are trying to pick up technical tips, and my advice is to go and look at other artists and figure out how they
did what they did. Before COVID-19, you could go and look at the original painting and mentally strip it back to the blank canvas, but you can also read about the work. It all comes together like a research project. “Often your early efforts aren’t as good as you thought they were. You might think that a Raoul Dufy painting looks like a piece of cake, and then you learn the hard way. But through this you learn how to walk around the minefield, and until you make mistakes you will never get past that. “I love the challenge of looking at a new artist, and I’ve enjoyed every single one I’ve emulated – from 1960s Modernism to 19th century Impressionism, I like it all. The Pre-Raphaelites created perhaps the most technically challenging pieces, with some taking up to 18 months to complete. It’s phenomenal, but a little bit too much like hard work! “It’s also important how my prints are created; they look so much more authentic. It is a window into ownership of a Paul Cézanne or Vincent van Gogh artwork.”
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Vincent Van Gogh, Self Portrait Remy, 1889 Hand-Embellished Giclée On Canvas | Edition of 95 Image Size 51cm x 61cm | Framed Size 71cm x 81cm £1,495 Framed
92 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 93
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