Provenance

For those that don’t know, a provenance is a document (or documents) that chronologies the ownership of a historical object. In the art world, the provenance serves almost like a certificate of authenticity as well as a historical document of the ownership, custodies or locations the piece has been......more

Provenance is the story of a very long con: John Drewe (only one of his names), a pathological liar with a phenomenal memory for trivia, gleefully trashed the modern history of European art through the 1990s while moving hundreds – perhaps thousands – of forged paintings through major galleries and......more

This is a mind-bending walk through The Art of the Con as practiced by con-master John Drewe, simultaneously and serially known as John Cockett, a different Mr. Cockett, Mr. Sussman, Mr. Green, Mr. Atwood, Mr. Martin, Mr. Bayard, and Mr. Coverdale. John Drewe and the skilled painter John Myatt togeth......more

What a great read. My review is here: [URL not allowed]......more

Amazingly good read and a real page-turner.* I admit that I read the book primarily because of an interest in John Myatt, the art forger. While Myatt figures prominently, the book is mainly about John Drewe, the mastermind behind an incredible and widespread art fraud involving hundreds of paintings......more