Fancy buying a Basquiat for £10K? The world's greatest art forger can help you out
‘I’d say business is booming,’ says David Henty, like a man who can’t believe his luck. ‘I got a commission for four paintings this morning and an inquiry for another one. A lot of them are Basquiats. I get a lot of Lowrys. I had to do a Manet for someone the other day. I’ve got about 15 Modiglianis on the go. There’s all sorts!’
Henty is an art forger — or, rather he used to be an art forger. As a child he displayed an unusual talent for drawing and copied out Hogarth prints for fun. ‘I didn’t think I was special — I just thought anyone could do it,’ he says. As a young man, he channelled his skills into counterfeiting passports, which earned him five years at HMP Downview from 1999. But he used his time well, honing his painting skills in prison and parcelling out fake Walter Sickerts, which his brothers sold at a nearby antiques market.
