averilburystedmunds: David Henty: Art Copyist

The happy event in the gorgeous Murthly Castle Chapel.

At the recent family wedding in Scotland, in Murthly Castle Chapel to be precise, near Dunkeld where chiefly, the family was staying for the celebratory weekend, David, my son, and I, out for a wander in this lovely little town, ventured into the Hatton House Gallery after I became excited at seeing a small L. S. Lowry in the window. The lovely little drawing of a mournful man and his tiny dog turned out to be the work of David Henty, now described as” the best copyist artist in the world today” Viz, he used to be a forger who became famous for his extraordinary ability to forge the work of a multitude of artists.

[Viz is an abbreviation of Videlicet, itself a reduction from the Latin 'videre licet' indicating 'it is permitted to see.' So 'viz' is used as a synonym for 'namely', 'that is to say'.]

After Edvard Munsch.

David Henty’s work is meticulously and lovingly recreated to the finest detail; he has honed his craft over 25 years to master the techniques and nuances of some of history’s most iconic artists. His work has fooled scientists and art critics alike, being practically indiscernible from originals of such artworks by Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, LS Lowry, Caravaggio, Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Norman Rockwell, Chaim Sautine, Carel Fabrituius, Claude Monet, Jean Michel Basquiat, Ewin Landseer, Walter Sickert, Rene Magritte, David Shepherd, John Singer Sargent, Gabriel Rossetti, and the list goes on. The sheer breadth of the artists he can copy, continues to amaze.

After Lowry

The card accompanies the purchase of
a Henty to assure authenticity!

David’s history as an artist started, appropriately enough, with a short stint in HM Prison for forging U.K. passports during the handover of Hong Kong in the mid-1990s. It was while serving his sentence that David decided to take painting classes and became inspired to start painting seriously, after being seduced by the stories of the artists with whom he was becoming acquainted and by the technical genius of these artists. Gradually, he became more and more interested in attaining a higher level of expertise himself and developed a strong desire to become ‘connected’ to the very psyche of the artists, even dreaming of their lives and their masterpieces. Eventually, he had taught himself, through rigorous preparation and a wholly immersive research process, the art of copying, and flawless reproduction and his obsession meant wherever possible, he would even source the same materials, pigments, brushes, canvases and boards, to stay true to the period.

David Henty with his Van Gogh.

David underlines that his paintings are a very different discipline to that of producing original artwork. Copying is notoriously demanding, and it is much more technically challenging to follow someone else’s lines and brush styles. But he relishes this technical challenge of mastering an artist’s eye, and once he has an affinity with the artist, he is able to replicate their style to an amazing degree of closeness. David’s preparation for a painting begins long before his brush even touches canvas, and consequently, “each piece comes with its own unique narrative as a 'David Henty' painting, original in and of itself.”

Until he was exposed in a 2014 Telegraph investigation, David Henty had already sold more than 1,000 forged art works through internet auction sites. “The forger’s den” is how David Henty describes his little storeroom in Saltdean. It is stuffed with old frames, canvases, auction catalogues and well-thumbed hardback books on famous artists which line the walls. And then there are the paintings. Here is a Gabriel Rossetti, dating back to his prison days. There is a half-finished Caravaggio’s Medusa. At the back of the room is a small Lowry painting. And there are two stunning Van Goghs – a self-portrait and a landscape – both actual sizes stacked against a wall. In his bedroom is a half-finished take on Millais’ Ophelia and a gorgeous version of Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ. Getting through the front door requires squeezing past a giant Francis Bacon, and in the living room, on an easel, is Picasso's Weeping Woman still drying.

David Henty goes straight.

Recent press attention from the likes of The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Express and high-profile appearances on Sky News and BBC Radio 4, just to mention a few, confirm a mounting interest in David Henty's artwork and a renewed appreciation for this increasingly respected genre. With a strong and growing gallery presence, and a lengthening list of private collectors, David’s work is in high demand, and with a discerning repertoire, a long list of projects and commissions are now on the table from a Mediterranean tour, prospective shows in the United States, scheduled shows in Dubai, UAE and beyond. David also gives lectures and speeches on technique and the intriguing art of forgery at private, corporate and charity events.

Each original piece is presented in its own bespoke, handmade frame and signed on the reverse by David Henty to certify its authenticity. I thought long and hard about Henty's Lowry in the Hatton House Gallery which I knew Icould barely afford even though its cost was not remotely near the fee for an original Lowry! After some consideration I decided to purchase it as I really loved it …. and do love it. I asked for a free re-frame of the picture as the very ornate, large, gilt one it had, didn’t fit the image, for me. And voila, one month later, Man and Dog arrived, bringing untold pleasure in its plain, black frame! It was fortunate that I did not know of an unexpected bill for Belgian tax which was awaiting my return, in my post-box at home!