John Myatt (born 1945) is a British painter best known for his part in one of the largest art frauds of the 20th century, carried out with John Drewe. The case became famous because his forgeries reached leading auction houses and galleries in several European and American cities.
The son of a farmer, Myatt attended art school and discovered an early talent for imitating other artists' styles, though for years he painted mainly for amusement and for friends. He also worked as a songwriter and co-wrote "Silly Games", which reached number two in the UK charts in 1979 as a hit for Janet Kay. He later taught in Staffordshire.
After his wife left him in 1985, he gave up teaching and began selling original paintings in the style of well-known artists, advertised as "genuine fakes". When Drewe managed to sell one of his pictures as authentic, Myatt became a willing accomplice and painted works in the manner of Matisse, Chagall, Giacometti and Dubuffet, among others. He is estimated to have produced around 200 forgeries, of which police recovered sixty. Arrested in 1995, he confessed and was sentenced in 1999 to one year in prison, serving four months.
Since then he has continued to paint commissioned portraits and openly declared copies, and has worked with law enforcement to expose fraudsters. His idea of the "legitimate fake" and his Sky Arts programmes, in which he paints celebrities in the style of great masters, have brought his technique to a wide audience.