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Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

by Laney Salisbury, Aly Sujo

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Editorial Reviews

A tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries-many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today

Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history. Investigative reporters Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo brilliantly recount the tale of a great con man and unforgettable villain, John Drewe, and his sometimes unwitting accomplices.

Chief among those was the struggling artist John Myatt, a vulnerable single father who was manipulated by Drewe into becoming a prolific art forger. Once Myatt had painted the pieces, the real fraud began. Drewe managed to infiltrate the archives of the upper echelons of the British art world in order to fake the provenance of Myatt's forged pieces, hoping to irrevocably legitimize the fakes while effectively rewriting art history.

The story stretches from London to Paris to New York, from tony Manhattan art galleries to the esteemed Giacometti and Dubuffet associations, to the archives at the Tate Gallery. This enormous swindle resulted in the introduction of at least two hundred forged paintings, some of them breathtakingly good and most of them selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many of these fakes are still out in the world, considered genuine and hung prominently in private houses, large galleries, and prestigious museums. And the sacred archives, undermined by John Drewe, remain tainted to this day.

Provenance reads like a well-plotted thriller, filled with unforgettable characters and told at a breakneck pace. But this is most certainly not fiction; Provenance is the meticulously researched and captivating account of one of the greatest cons in the history of art forgery.

Customer Reviews

Provenance., 2009-11-19
by C. Smith

Ever since I saw the Orson Wells movie, F Is For Fake, I have been very interested in this subject. Well, this tells how one con man rewrote the History of Modern Art. It's amazing to think how they have manipulated the masters of art and what we see in musuems might not be the real deal. Wow--great read. I also liked and would recommend The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter.

Provenance, 2009-11-07
by Edward P. Hourihan (Noank, Ct. United States)

A great nonfiction re an art forger and a con man. I heard the forger, John Myatt, on NPR a few weeks ago after he had done time. The interview was fascinating and the book was even better. A crossroads of art, greed, misguided talent and a con artist you only invision in the movies. A great read!

Captivating true story, 2009-10-25
by Scot Meyer (New York)

This well-written and well-researched book tells the true story of British con artist John Drewe, who managed to pull off one of the biggest art frauds of the 20th Century. The story is as engrossing as any fictional mystery, and entertainingly details not only the ingenious methods of the slippery character who managed to fool the art establishment, but also the help he got from the various art dealers, salesmen, collectors, and experts who became his unwitting accomplices.

Money, talent and psychopathology converge in a great book, 2009-10-12
by L. Gracey (Atlanta, GA)

Who knew art history could be so riveting? Laney Salisbury and her late husband Aly Sujo have crafted an art documentary better than most murder mysteries, with captivating details and thorough research. The authors superbly document the art forgery career of John Drewe, the cagey, clever and brazen but increasingly psychopathological mastermind of the biggest art scam in modern history, and the many personalities he ensnares in his web or, more rarely, who suspect his fraud. His chief forger, the talented but down-on-his-luck John Myatt, falls prey to Drewe's wiles and charms, as well as the lure of the almighty pound sterling. The fraud becomes not just the works themselves, but their documented lineage in the form of their provenance. Together, the unlikely pair plow headlong into a tale of greed, fraud, and cat-and-mouse detective work. They morph to life on the page, along with a bevy of archivists, dealers, collectors and collateral figures who alternately, and often unwittingly, aid and abet or temporarily thwart the fraud in process. The characters meet their own fates, but the authors also deftly raise the question providing backdrop to the whole tale, that is, what distinguishes a quality work of art and makes it inherently valuable? John Drewe is an incorrigible scammer and criminal, but he too saw the possibilities in that question.

A rival to Dan Brown, 2009-10-08
by Gilded Age historian (Metropolitan Area)

If Dan Brown can mezmerize the planet with his breakneck tales of intrigue and coverup, Laney Salisbury has created her own masterful account of a gang of con men out of a Dan Brown epic. Except that Salisbury's figures actually exist. And that the story of forgery and deceit in the art world still taints the art market today. I urge everyone to read this brilliant book. For an historian, it's a perfect example of how historical facts can be birthed as a readable, exciting and compelling narrative. That in itself is a big achievement: but Salisbury's profile of the "villians" in her saga will surprise you. Under her pen, these men become many-faceted and fascinating in their own rights. A tour de force!!