June
26Buying a Stake in Fakes
I don’t like fakes. But there’s something endearing about products labeled “genuine fakes.” Indeed, I’ve just bought one.What drew me to this particular “genuine fake” was the news that Jay Weston, an old friend, was planning to make a movie about an art forger. He’d signed two talented Brits, Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, to write the screenplay (they’d written “Across the Universe” and “The Commitments”, among others).
The forger in question, John Myatt, was a one-time composer who had been turning out bogus versions of Chagall, Van Gogh, Giacometti and Kless -- forgeries of such quality that they’d been sold for exorbitant prices at the top auction houses. The art market is so over-heated that a Monet -- a real one, apparently just sold for $80.4 million at a Christie’s art auction in London.
Myatt claimed that he’d never planned to fool anyone -- he’d been forthright about his “copies” until some hustlers starting peddling them as the real thing -- and making millions. Scotland Yard didn’t see it that way, then Myatt ended up in the slammer.
I’d recently learned that Myatt, newly released, was turning out his “masterworks” once again, this time carefully listing them accordingly, so I decided to buy a Miro (a genuine fake Miro). It’s an early work I’d long admired. Myatt painted it for me, and this week it adorns my living room. I figured, how else could I have acquired a “masterpiece” for only a few thousand dollars?
I’ve pondered putting a little plaque under it saying “on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art” but thought better of it.
After all, this isn’t just a fake -- it’s a genuine fake, and thus deserves its own dignity.
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ADDENDUM - I meant the comment made by Dan In New York.
Posted by: Max Harlem | 7/8/2008 2:51:41 PM
The first comment, up above, is completely out of line. There are hundreds of cover bands and "tribute artists" out there doing exactly genuine fakes, and it''s perfectly acceptable to the artist, the label and public at large. Just go to Vegas for one day, and you will see and hear tens of Elvises in every lounge... they all have a CD, a blog and a website. Also, one can always go to the Key Club, where once a week, a "tribute" band sings Motley Crue songs, and they dress like the Crue members, they sound like the Crue and they sell CDs. All they have to do is pay the publisher. In conclusion, I think, Mr. Peter Bart, is ahead of the curve by supporting genuine fake art. Just like all the other forms of art, namely Elvis - one can no longer see the original, but one can see the GFs (genuine fakes). One can no longer see the Crue, but the GFs are available. Movies are remade all the time. So, if one can not afford an $80-million Miro, why not have a GF?
Posted by: Max Harlem | 7/8/2008 2:00:21 PM
I gotta say, there’s something very unsettling about both Myatt creating the “genuine fakes†and your acceptance of them. Would you accept this type of behavior in other creative fields? Would you be OK with a rock group recording a note for note cover of a Beatles song, as long as they clearly mentioned they were “genuine fakes?†I bet the Beatles lawyers wouldn’t. What about Casablanca? Not just a remake, like Barb Wire, but a shot for shot recreation, meant to look exactly like the original? Are you OK with bootlegging DVD’s? After all, those are “genuine fakes.†As a screenwriter, I’d hate to think someday someone can rip off my work, as long as they clearly admit that’s what they’re doing. The fact that Chagall, Van Gogh, Giacometti, Kless and Miro are long gone and not around to defend their creative output doesn’t somehow make it OK. John Myatt sounds like a parasite to me. Living off the creative flesh of others, contributing nothing himself.
Posted by: Dan In New York | 6/28/2008 11:53:41 AM
Orson Welles' F is for Fake (1974) is good on this subject. I remember the faker saying he had to adjust his painting stroke when doing a Matisse because his (the faker's) natural line was much smoother than the master's.
Posted by: Bub | 6/26/2008 4:48:27 PM
Peter, you've got a case of the over-blogs. 1-4 posts a day is a hefty demand that often leads to burn out in the blogosphere. Careful, grasshopper, for the winter is long and cold.
Posted by: Curious | 6/26/2008 11:29:02 AM