Art Forger John Myatt and Con Man John Drewe's Decade-Long Scam with 200 Fakes

Over a span of ten years, con artist John Drewe, who masqueraded as a nuclear physicist, teamed up with forger John Myatt to distribute 200 counterfeit artworks. Myatt produced imitations using common household paints, marketing them as “authentic forgeries.” Drewe created false provenance by infiltrating various archives, particularly the Institute of Contemporary Arts, where he forged ownership documents. He managed to deceive authenticators like Sir Alan Bowness and made a £20,000 donation to the Tate. The scheme fell apart when Tate archivist Jennifer Booth and Mary Lisa Palmer from the Giacometti Association raised concerns. Evidence from Drewe's girlfriend, Batsheva Goudsmid, led to an investigation by Scotland Yard. Drewe received a six-year sentence, serving two, while Myatt was sentenced to one year but only served a few months. This story is explored in the 2009 book "Provenance" by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo.