John Myatt started out as an art school graduate who, having discovered an aptitude for mimicking the styles of other artists, found his friends were requesting his works, and were prepared to pay for them. He followed this up with an advert in Private Eye which read "Genuine fakes. Nineteen and twentieth century paintings from £150", through which he met art dealer and master provenance-faker John Drewe. Drewe originally gave Myatt a few private commissions, but having sold one of the paintings at auction as an original, he let Myatt in on the game and together they sold over 200 paintings, anything from Monets and Renoirs to Hockneys and Chagalls, over 120 of which - it is thought - are still in circulation.
After seven years of successfully fooling the world's most prominent private collectors and art experts, Myatt was eventually caught and charged with deception in 1998. He served time in Brixton prison but his subsequent fame has enabled him to open a legitimate Genuine Fake business where his replica paintings now sell for thousands of pounds and fine art publishers Washington Green have exhibited his work on a national tour.

In this revealing new series, exclusive to Sky Arts, Myatt reveals the tricks of the trade and stylistic insights which enabled him to emulate iconic paintings from world-renowned artists. From a Monet landscape to a Modigliani nude, Myatt provides his aspiring students with both the theory and technique to set up their easels and capture the composition of a street scene by Hopper or the brushstrokes of a still life by Cezanne. And he passes on the tricks of the trade too - rubbing soil onto canvas replicates Braque's finish for example, or that coffee ages a painting by a century or more.

This exclusive ten-part Sky Arts series follows notorious art forger John Myatt, the man who was involved in what Scotland Yard called the biggest art fraud of the 20th Century, around the UK as he teaches aspiring artists how to paint in the style of the worlds greatest artists.

Myatt's stunning forgeries of Matisse, Chagall and Klee notoriously fooled the art world in the 1990s. So high is the level of interest in his life story that Clive Owen is rumoured to play him in a forthcoming British film called what else?
Genuine Fake

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part emulates the work of Edward Hopper.
Part 1: Edward Hopper
Students:
Mel Elliott, an artist from London
Scott Polschmidt, an artist and art teacher from London
Shirley Chiang, a book illustrator from Staines, Middlesex

This episode sees Myatt take his students to Dungeness in Kent - the perfect location to recreate the desolate landscape of one of arts great realists, the American, Edward Hopper.

A Hopper landscape may look simple to copy, but the biggest challenge for the students is to bring a soulless landscape to life by giving it a sense that there is actually something going on. The landscape is an immediate worry for book illustrator Shirley Chaing, whose own paintings are bright and humorous. Will she be able to leave her own style behind to capture the loneliness of a Hopper?

And, once the windswept beach has been left behind, Myatt unveils a drawing of Brixton Prison that he sketched when he was jailed for art forgery - and reveals his rather unorthodox way of getting it home...

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part looks at the stylised nudes of Amadeo Modigliani.

Part 2: Amadeo Modigliani
Students:
Imogen Paton, an artist and clothes designer from London
Jamie Sinclair, an airbrush artist from Southampton
Yana Kessel, an amateur artist from London

In this episode, Myatt takes his students to the Sunbeam Studios in West London to emulate an artist who shocked the art world with his erotic take on the nude, Amadeo Modigliani.

John's three students are all talented artists in their own right, although this challenge has thrown one of them completely out of his comfort zone. Jamie Sinclair is an airbrush artist, often spraying directly onto motorbikes, but he is now faced with capturing a Modigliani nude on canvas - with a paintbrush.

It's one thing to paint the model you see in front of you, but it's another to grasp the eroticism of a Modiglinani. The worst case scenario is to end up with an unsexy painting and before long, John is worried that this is where his students are heading...

Back in the studio, John reveals a trade secret from his criminal past; a rather unorthodox way to create an authentic glaze on his forgeries - lubricating jelly...

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This episode examines the work of Vincent van Gogh.

Part 3: Vincent van Gogh
Students:
Carl Thompson, an engineer and airbrush artist from Coventry
Irene Franklin, an amateur artist from Redditch, Worcestershire
Maria Mallender, an art student from Litchfield, West Midlands

This episode sees Myatt taking his class of three to Ingestre Hall in Staffordshire to paint a self portrait in the style of one of the world's greatest and most tortured artists; Vincent Van Gogh.

Painting a self portrait is a challenge for any artist, but the three students have the additional hurdle of painting themselves in the vibrant brushstrokes of Van Gogh. The task is all about expressionism, and John helps the students to find the right balance between passion and control.
This turns out to be easier said than done. His frustration builds up throughout the day, especially with Carl Thompson, an airbrush artist, who is far too controlled with his painting to come anywhere near a Van Gogh. John believes the only way to find some passion in Carl is to show some passion himself. But does his sudden outburst help Carl to put some more soul into his painting?

Back in his studio however, Myatt takes a poignant look back on his time criminal forging and reveals how depressing he found it watching his paintings sell as the genuine article.

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part takes to the banks of the Thames to emulate the work of Andre Derain.

Part 4: Andre Derain
Students:
Alannah Barker, an art student from Fareham, Hampshire
Gail Romanes, an amateur artist from London
Jason Warrant, a spray can artist from London

This part sees the team on the banks of the Thames in London to paint in the style of an artist who was so revolutionary he was called a wild beast, Andre Derain.
At first glance, Derain's fauvist style may look straightforward, but it's deceptively simple and it's not until the students begin painting that they can appreciate this. Their challenge is to simplify the landscape in front of them and exaggerate the colours to the unrealistic limits of the colour spectrum.
It proves much trickier than it looks. Ex-graffiti artist Jason Warren is more used to painting with spray cans, not paintbrushes and Alannah Barker, a young art student, lacks the confidence to express herself with colour. In the end it's amateur artist Gail Romanes who surprises everyone.

The usual trip around Myatt's studio reveals some sketches he drew of his cell in Brixton Prison and the reasons behind how he ended up being called Picasso...

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part looks at David Hockney's iconic Californian pool paintings.

Part 5: David Hockney
Students:
Hilary Archer, an amateur artist from Winchester
Laura Hannah, a psychiatric nurse and amateur artist from London
Ned de Uphaugh, a muralist from London

This part sees the aspiring artists recreating one of David Hockney's iconic Californian pool paintings. And, as the students soon find out, the straight, flat lines of a Hockney masterpiece require more than just good old painting skills. Much of their day is spent battling with masking tape to achieve perfect edges, and as if that wasn't enough of a challenge, John also substitutes their paintbrushes for rollers. Back in the studio, Myatt expands on one of his magnificent genuine fakes, a painting in the style of Raoul Duffy.

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part looks at the work of celebrated portraitist, John Singer Sargent.

Part 6: John Singer Sargent
Students:
Gordon Collett, a muralist from Eton, Berkshire
Sally Roundell, an art teacher from Feckenham, Worcestershire
Pat London, a retired art teacher from Solihull, West Midlands

This episode travels to Middleton Hall in Staffordshire to paint an Edwardian socialite in the style of celebrated portrait painter, John Singer Sargent.

To paint a portrait in Sargent's masterful style is a real challenge for even the most skilled artist and the three students are both excited and daunted about giving it a go. Myatt explains how they need to find the flamboyance and gusto for which Sargent was famous, teaching them to lunge at the canvas with their paintbrushes, but they all seem a little unsure...Meanwhile, he reminisces about the time he was released from Brixton Prison. Sure he would never paint again, he was surprised by a call from the man who had arrested him.

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part takes to the countryside to copy the style of the great Claude Monet.

Part 7: Claude Monet
Students:
Emma Ferguson, an art student from Solihull, West Midlands
Kevin Cunningham, a portrait artist from London
Margaret Pritchard, an artist from Worcestershire

This episode takes in the glories of the English countryside, as Myatt teaches his students the style of an artist who changed the world's perception of art forever: Claude Monet.

This is one artist John has high hope will be reasonably easy for his students to emulate. The students are a talented bunch and one of them, Kevin Cunningham, has been a runner-up for the famous BP Portraiture Award. But can he paint landscapes?

The students are charged with capturing the light using small dabs of unblended colour and attempt Monet's distinct landscape composition. It's a different language of art for all of them, but with a teacher who's painted hundreds of Monets by their sides, surely they can rise to the Impressionist challenge?

Back in the studio, John expands on the Impressionist theme with his version of Monet's Japanese Bridge over Water Lillies, and recalls his amazement that during his forging days, none of the so-called art experts ever picked up on the trade emulsion he used to paint with.

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part examines the best ways of achieving Auguste Renoir's sumptuous nudes.

Part 8: Auguste Renoir
Students:
Alia Gargum, a fashion student from Essex
Andre McQueen, a shoe designer from London
Christine Hopkins, a mixed media artist from Surrey

This episode sees Myatt teaching his students how to paint a nude in the style of a French artist renowned for his portrayal of the sensual female form: Auguste Renoir.

The biggest challenge the students face is capturing the pearlescent quality of young female flesh seen in Renoir's nudes - but John has an old trick up his sleeve to help them on their way - lubricating jelly... However, one of the students, Andre McQueen, has an even bigger, unforeseen battle on his hands: a phobia of nudes...

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part takes to the countryside to emulate the landscape in a Paul Cezanne style.

Part 9: Paul Cezanne
Students:
Beverley Spanswich, a ceramic artist from Bournemouth
Isobel Manning, a art student from London
James Lovegrove, a tattoo artist from London

This penultimate episode takes to the hills as Myatt teaches his students how to paint landscapes in the style of an artist who brought about a revolution that opened the door to modern art: Paul Cezanne.

Here he finds that he has a tough challenge on his hands. He teaches an art student who only works in black and white, an artist who's more used to working with ceramics, and a tattoo artist who usually works on skin how to take the landscape they see in front of them and translate it into the almost abstract style of Cezanne. And he also lets them in on a trade secret from his criminal past: one of the more unusual ways to age his paintings by up to a hundred years was the application of cold coffee...

Notorious art forger John Myatt teaches students the tricks of the trade. This part looks at the work of revolutionary artist, George Braque.

Part 10: George Braque
Students:
Cassie McDaniel, agraphic designer from London
Edna Eckett, an amateur artist from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Rick Warden, an actor and amateur artist from Surrey

This episode sees Myatt take his students on to a rooftop overlooking London's Southbank, where they get to grips with painting in the style of one of modern art's great revolutionaries, George Braque.

It's a tough day for John. His first task is to take the fear out of painting a cubist landscape and give the three students the confidence to think and paint outside the box. He teaches them how to paint using cubist language, but the students are completely daunted. Amateur artist Edna Eckett is thrown by the limited palette and feels lost without any primary colours. Actor Rick Warden is a big bag of nerves and Cassie McDaniel is a portrait artist who steers clear of landscapes.

With John's guidance, can these three translate an urban landscape into a cubist masterpiece that even Braque would be proud of? And back in the studio, John shows goes over one of his cubist paintings, a Picasso. Would you be able to tell it's a fake?

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