Friday, October 19
10:00 a.m.
James S. Copley Auditorium

Speaker: John Myatt, Reformed art forger, artist, and lecturer

John Myatt was the artist involved in what Scotland Yard described as the greatest art fraud of the twentieth century. In 1975 when he was a supply teacher John’s wife left him and he had to give up teaching to look after two small children aged 3 and 1 1/2. Having once painted a Dufy for fun he put an advert in Private Eye magazine for Genuine Fakes from £120. One man kept on coming back for more paintings and nearly two years later John found out he had sold a Small French cubist painting for £25.000. John was offered either half of that in a brown envelope….. or his normal fee……

The rest is history……..

Having served a prison sentence, much against his better judgement! John was persuaded to paint again. This talk will be illustrated with examples of John’s work legally undertaken over the last two decades.

This lecture is presented as a part of the Guest Lecture & Tour series, which focuses on works of art on view in the Museum as well as topics of interest in the broader art world. Lectures are followed by docent-led tours.

$13 members | $16 nonmembers | $8 seniors and military | $5 students

Sponsored by The San Diego Museum of Art Docent Council