Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

Very interesting. Inside of the art fraud game.

This was a really fun and easy read. While the book isn't short, it was the sort of thing that you just couldn't put down, and so it didn't take long to read. Anybody who is interested in art scandals or art forgery will really love this book, While the story of a con-man who believed his own lies and a painter turned inadvertent forger seems too fantastic to be a true story, it really did happen. John Myatt, the artist/forger, is worth looking up after reading this book, as he did some television work following what happens in the book that is also interesting.

I am so glad I had the opportunity of reading this book. I first heard about the very talented John Myatt via a painting programme on TV, then again in another series. His history piqued my interest, and I bought the book - and it's one of the best books I've read (and I read a lot of books.) As others have commented, it's extremely well-written and packed with fascinating information about the art world both historical and contemporary. John's role in the "crime" was, I believe, a result of being easily-led by a greedy trickster, and John took his punishment and has come out the other side a better person for it. The book really does read like a novel, and I finished the book in record time because I couldn't put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone, regardless of whether they had an interest in art (as I do) or not.

Quite a well-told story of greed and manipulation in the London art world. The authors should consider writing about the murder of forger, Eric Hebborn, next.

I very much enjoyed this book. I learned quite a lot about how the "art world" works. The story is a compelling one, the research seems solid, the writing is fluent and engaging, and the book is a remarkably easy read when you consider how much technical material is covered in it. The authors have a real knack for descriptive writing, making things that the reader cannot see real and solid in the mind's eye.However, there were three things that I found frustrating about the book. First, the lack of illustrations -- it seems as if the book would have been stronger if there had been images to help the non-expert understand the ways in which the forged pieces were good and the ways in which they fell short. Second, I was left with real curiosity about what Drewe had been doing prior to this scheme. I wish that the authors had managed to uncover this information. it seems odd to me that where they are willing to make educated guesses (always identified as such!) about other things, they had no theories to advance about this particular point. And finally, I find myself wondering where the painting Myatt says he did not do came from.These are minor quibbles, and should in no way stop anyone with an interest in art, in confidence games, or in interesting well-told stories from picking this book up and getting a great deal of enjoyment out of it.