I don't mean to justify crime, but I see these two guys as extremely talented people who exposed how superficial, vain and manipulated the so called legitimate art world is. Of course they did it for their own advantage but honestly, rich people's problem. I am tempted to salute this level of talent.

As an artist myself....I applaud this man painting trying to support his family. Yes, the art world is a smelly heap of trash these days and the elite have grabbed it as a money laundering scam for themselves. It's sad.

The thing is that the art dealers absolutely loved the art until they found out it wasn't by who they thought, which proves that some art dealers are full of bollocks. Either a painting is good or it isn't irrespective of who painted it.

I love stories like these. The art world is just one huge scam in itself, with rich people buying stuff based on the artist's name only, simply in an effort to pay more than some other rich guy.

I just love the way these so called experts keep circling back to the point of Drews IQ, as if that lets them off the hook for a massive display of blatant incompetence. Because of their professional lackness to detail and due diligence, somebodies hanging a fake painting they paid a lot of money for. As for John Matt...Good for him.

Many of the art dealers who represented the paintings as genuine probably were suspicious but were willing to go along with the scam because they made money from it.

Absolutely fantastic. Any entitled, materialistic p.o.s. that spends more than $100 on a piece of art absolutely deserves to get scammed. Love these guys. Thank you for your service.

Scamming money from rich idiots is a noble art. Well done!

Harry Enfield, a British comedian, did a sketch show of a man working in an antiques shop in London's West End. Selling utter crap to "savvy" bohemian types at outrageous prices. This reminds me of that. Their crime was to expose the entire Art World as a fraud.

John Myatt is one of the most important conceptual artists of the 20th century.

A beautifully executed, cunning plan! A punch on the nose to the often pretentious art world 🙂

LooooL!!! Love this!! And this is not the 1st or only time the so-called genius art critics have been made to look the ego-driven clueless fools that they are! :'D They don't even need to be fooled by a genius! There have been experiments where they were presented with "priceless works of art by art geniuses," where it turned out the these "geniuses" were, in one instance, an elephant, in another, a 2 yr old baby, scribbling on paper on the kitchen counter, as a distraction to keep him busy while his Mom was cooking the dinner for the family! The so-called highly experienced and -qualified art critics, all gathered in a room, oooh'd and aaaah'd & got very excited that they'd discovered these new mysterious art geniuses! Hahahahaaaaaa! They valued the paintings at millions! It was later revealed to them who the artists actually were! :'D Were they red-faced!! I love that this real genius took them for that fabulous ride! LoooooL! If I had the talent or genius, I'd do exactly the same, just for a really great laugh!!

John Myatt seems like a really nice guy at heart. A conman, but a naive & easily manipulated, nice one.

I love the way the “experts”, in retrospect, instantly denigrate the skill and talent of the forger. When they believed the art to be authentic, these same people waxed poetically on how marvellous the “newly discovered” painting by X artist was, and how exciting it was to have it in public view at long last. Lol🖤🇨🇦

It doesn't take a cunning genius to fool the art world - it's the only world where you could throw a tomato at a canvas and sell it for millions.

Such a gracious, talented artist and a very clever man. I can't feel sorry for the rich and the hangers on of the art history world. I can't compare what they did to murder or the royal family stealing from the average, hard working person.

I’m glad Myatt can still paint with a smile. It looks like he was the first person who got conned by Drew.

One case where the criminal is more likeable than the so called " victims ".

I hope John Myatt is doing well. He seems like a nice guy really and his arm was twisted somewhat. He's obviously very talented. The real deception and fraud was committed by the other guy

I liked the painter, who ended up being an honest painter and (wisely) grabbed the second chance very well. That's the difference between wisdom and intelligence. The convicted guy was far more intelligent , but not wise.

BTW same goes for the wine world. They had expert wine tasters blindfold tast test cheep wine but put it in expensive bottles. And they were raving about how exquisite it was. Then told it was 2 dollar walmart wine lol

All this exposes is how shallow and baseless a lot of the value of art is. It's a rich people problem and the rest of us don't care for their tears

Reading all the comments below: NOBODY feels sorry for the "victims" here. The art world has been shown for all the world to see that they are fools.

I have no problem with art fraud. No one forces the purchase of these pieces. Bless John Myatt.

The buyers were happy, the auction houses were happy,the artist was happy, the document forger was happy,where is the con.

The critics, who seem to be mostly self-important poseurs, were made fools of by these two men. How have they handled it? By calumniating Myatt and Drew in order to try and redeem their own tattered reputations. But it hasn't worked, has it? No matter what the criminality of Myatt and Drew, they still made fools of the critics, who were the victims of their own pretentiousness. From self-important critics and overbearing "experts", good Lord, deliver us!

This may sound slightly perverse but I probably have more respect for Drew, and what he did than I do for a lot of corporate leaders, and politicians. As for the artist, well, he deserves his success and second chance.

Expensive overpriced art collecting is scammers passing money between scammers who know each other and have each others backs. Like an oil slick on water, only it’s money, very slippery money. Ripping them off is the ultimate scam.

I think I might have missed something here, but how was it that no one asked how John Drewe was finding/ acquiring the works of art? Surely somewhat suspicious to turn up two or three times every month for eight years with lost masterpieces?

The art world has been conned by its own greed. 😏

I admire them. They are true ARTISTS.

Interviewing John Drew with an IQ that high, a good memory & a likeable nature, would have been an exceptional challenge. But him deciding to defend himself was an error.

Nice to see art-dealers and 'experts' being outclassed and shown up as the blind leading the blind. when I hear that a 'dealer' (a person who only deals in 'commodities' and jacks up prices) I just smile.

The money men of the art world NEED paintings to make their money. Myatt and Drew were just supplying what the dealers WANTED. Is good art determined solely by the reputation of the artist and not the work itself?

He was caught because of greed. If he had stopped at a set limit and found another scam they would have walked away clean. Scams against an industry can't go on forever, they have to have a closing date.

The artist here, John Myatt, he comes across as a decent likeable guy, in many ways he was conned and duped himself into providing forgeries, seduced if you will, into making some bad decisions to get involved in criminal forgery, yet he never seemed comfortable with it, it went against his true nature I think....glad he is now making an honest living out of his paintings.

Such talent, but also a reminder to listen to your inside voice or your gut. Love the Genuine Fakes. That is a great way for him to channel his talent and acknowledge the ability to stay on the right side of themlaw.

I love seeing social and financial elitists getting ghetto winked! It defines poetic justice. 🥳

Love the art gallery type's saying how the guy was just to smart. Meanwhile the painter is just like how the hell did this work? Also love the part where they were like think of the billionares. LOL

The art world needs to find real artist as experts. If not this would continue and put the investment on art at risk. You can memorize all you can but if you never done a lithograph it would be hard to explain to others and to understand yourself. Universities contributed to this misshaped. It’s a shame. I am graduate from Art Studio and Art History, I see many teachers shouldn’t never teach. We need to separate the artist from the art historian, there’s two different worlds. One is the executor the other one is the accountant, see it that way!

Art dealers pretending they're wholesome people are my favourite people.

The art dealers are arrogant money grubbers who have no understanding or love for painting. As Myatt said, anyone should have been able to see the paintings were fake. All the dealers were looking at were the lables and provenance. Not the artwork.They make millions off the backs of artists by inflating prices and charging huge commissions. That’s what Banksy was trying to say.

People who call forgers a con artist should face the mirror and ask that maybe u are the real con here. This forgers work of copying the worlds most expensive paintings are indeed piece of art. The fact that they themselves do it they are creating a copied art and just like any celebrated rennaisance artist they are in the same level of talent. I cant call them a criminal because they are not. the criminals are those corrupt people who avoided paying tax, enjoy life while they making other lives imposible. These forgers selling their copied paintings in millions because they dont want to be vincent van goh who live in poverty and cant pay doctors when they are living on earth but sky rocketed the price after they are dead.

Beltracchi in Germany did a better job in forging art. He used canvas and paint from the original period when the artist was working, so masterful it even fooled xrays and chemical testing. His ultimate downfall after years and making millions was a sticker on the back of his paintings not fully thought through. Beltracchi also gained popularity after serving his sentence and now everybody is proud to own a real Beltracchi.

I really watch these “victims” and want to let them know how much I support the other guys and not them. Just look at the comments…you don’t get these comments in romance scam episodes and such…but this one we basically all don’t see them as victims we care about. What really pisses me off is that people are getting murdered and all sorts but these rich wankers use police time for their scam industry. Edit: I mean the art world scam to be clear.

Art experts had clearly lapsed into a lazy culture of merely glancing at the paperwork, rather than examining a painting and its provenance thoroughly. They weren't fulfilling their premise as purported experts and they rightfully got exposed. Instead of damaging the art world, John Drewe's greed has held them to account and maybe now art experts will do their jobs properly. Not that I care though, anyone who pays 12k for some paint on a bit of cloth is a c=~t

If the fakes are that good, why not let them go as authentic? Their existence only enhances the Art Market. I say: Give the collectors, speculators, and dealers what they want: More products to buy and sell! Art is art, no matter who paints it! A good fake, is every bit as valuable as an "original"; especially when it comes to modern, and abstract pieces. These two Johns, did the Art World a big favor!

The real scandal to me is the incompetence of the auction houses who get paid fortunes while not being able to spot fakes.

Most art experts know more about "fine words" than they know about "fine art ".....!!!

Funny how the one person who actually looked at the damm painting and not just the crap on the back immediately suspected it. Proof that art authenticators are just a bunch of cronies who couldn't give two sh!ts about art. Kinda makes me nauseous cause I really appreciate nice looking art. I could care less who made it or what it's worth long as it looks pleasing to me.

I remember a very similar case inbthe North West of England, (Bolton I think.) The guy was making antiques and artwork in his garden shed, using things he bought at B and Q!!! He fooled so called experts at the British Museum and other great institutions. He was helped by his elderly father. Their names escape me but I do remember that they lived in squalor. There was a programme on T.V. about them but I don't remember which channel. (I am getting old, lol.) I would so like to see it again.

I envy these people so much. I'm not intelligent and all my life people took advantage of me, so in a way scammers are doing to few what many did and do to me

This is like conning a used car sales man. The only criminals are the "experts"

This would make an excellent movie.

I know they are criminals but still ... I'm smiling.

This taps in to the perception that is marketing. It’s a ploy, same as any brand or make of wine/clothing/cars etc. people see the bullshit and go for it. They exploited peoples greed, lust and egotistical nature. I say well done. We’ve all walked in a Gucci, marks and Spencer’s or a top class hotel and just thought, I can get this same stuff in primark, Lidl and travel lodge for 1/10th of the price without the badge - simple as that. Keep up the good work gents I say 👍

The art world loves the con as long as they have customers and no one complaines. One sells it to the next and so on till the last one holding the bag can't sell it and figures it out.

The other guy, John Drewe, conned a retired teacher out of her house and $710,000 and went to jail for 8 years in 2012.

You can't help but like the artist chap!

Well, to be fair, with an IQ of 165 he was indeed a cut above most people he would have encountered. Unfortunately, he obviously needed the thrill of the scam to feel fulfilled.

The art world been turned inside out and proves these so called art dealers are not so expert as they would like us to believe

Now that's a proper narcissist, if i ever heard of one... Also, i appreciate the second chance story shown. :)

Love how you refer to these guys as Art experts. I think I'm more of an expert than these fools are. They exposed themselves in this buy buying these fakes. What a sad pathetic affair. I don't think I'd buy a packet of cigarettes from the likes of Peter Mahun. Art dealer and expert?

Sometimes the art is knowing when to quit while you're ahead

A con man will tell a lie for long enough and it will eventually become the truth. The art market is no different.

good on him , it shows how little the so called experts know

Blockchian was conceived to minimise this type of fiddle with the source of "truth". The art world is full of serial toss pots and hooray Henries and you can tell he had visceral contempt for them. He understood their hubris hence the 25,000 to the Tate Gallery to sucker them. He just understood human psychology well. There are many people who do this type of thing on lesser scales every day of the week.

Mary Leisa Palmer was the only person who could see that one of these paintings was a fake. She had to go out of her way to show the other 'experts' that they had no idea of what they were on about.

I feel sorry for the victims - well some anyway. It takes a huge amount of work & effort to become an expert in the art field & being conned like that would be so damaging to their reputations & careers. And then there are the people who use art as an investment not just something to sprinkle $millions on. They would have just lost that money. Then there’s the damage done to genuine artists & collectors whose art is called into question because of this. We might not feel sorry for the uber wealthy who won’t miss the money, but the ripple effect would have had a real impact on people who actually work hard or invest money that they would miss. It’s like saying “who cares if people shoplift from a big chain store”. Down the line, there’s always people who suffer as a result. They’re not victimless crimes.

"Con expert" sounds like he's a conman himself! Funny indeed!🤣🤣

I admire them. They beat the experts!

Slash has a favourite guitar, a Gibson Les Paul. When it was scanned by Gibson, to create hi signature model, they discovered... It's NOT a Gibson. Hilarious, especially being the iconic guitar that saved the company in the 90's when |Les Pauls were out of vogue.

Lots of scams in the art world. Least talked about scam is that anyone calling themself an artist bullshiting about what they have done.

Wow - this story really brought out the trolls and so much more.

So many excuses 🤣🤣 "he was conned in to accepting 12k pounds" he said himself it was not worth that much and he said himself it was an imitation painting

The reason why this con was successful is because the dealers looked either way. They don’t make a buck if they say it’s fake.

If any of the paintings on my walls turned out to be by John Myatt their value would actually _increase._

John Drewe robbed a teacher of her saving and got convicted in 2012.

"If you can draw well, you can paint"....That statement is probably even a bigger fraud about art lol

Shaun greenhaus conned the dealer in the glasses also, so much for an expert

The art world depends on fraud. Art dealers and auctioneers don't care if the things they sell are fake.

In the high end Art Market rich people buy paintings mostly for bragging rights ("we had a new wing added to the villa to show our Picasso/Matisse/Rothko/Whatever!") and/or an investment hoping the painting will get more on the auction block down the line. For a person who loves art and the work turns out to be a forgery, well who cares? But, if the person's only interest was bragging rights or investment, well tough nuts, dude, ya burnt!! 😆

I think I want to buy one of John Myatt’s “real fakes,” but I don’t have a spare $2000 to $5000. Maybe someday. I am glad his crime made him famous, and that fame allowed him to make a great post-prison career for himself.

This tells you a lot about the "experts" at the major auction houses.

Mastermind criminals with no street smarts. NEVER tell your girlfriend/wife and never EVER write any of it down.

17:12 "The problem was that people were no longer looking at the artwork, they were instead looking at the often very large sums of money that they otherwise would have paid in taxes had they not bought the pieces ! " FTFY YW

35:35 Folding over the corners of pages in books is a heinous crime all on its own!

The real scam was the 4 million pounds the trial cost.

Just comes to show that it's all an illusion. You gotta love the "experts" scrambling to save face, though 😂

Art is just a way to launder money. I am not saying that there isn't some amazing works. Just that for the most part what they call art is garbage.

Drew convinced of his own superiority? No, no. The experts, so called where the ones convinced of their's. What a bunch of self important quislings.

John Myatt is making a fortune now from his paintings, they go for up to £35,000 each. Happy for the guy.

What are museum archives and how did he infiltrate then without being discovered.

This whole show seems set up to vilify Drewe and vindicate Myatt.

The art world is there to launder money.

I watched this with a smile on face.

Even a posh copper is head of the art crime squad, he’d fit in with all the other posh art snobs

The downfall of almost all criminals...they get greedy

Reverse Serendipity...Glad things worked out for John Myatt following his gallery exhibition 👏

beauty always is in the eye of the beholder.... and it always is a matter of price... I personally do not care... nice to look at (not always) but not a must-have (at least for me).... And spending millions for a painting does simply not make sense to me.... especially when there are so many poor people on this planet not knowing how to survive!