5 minutes with... John Myatt

John Myatt

John Myatt

Artist John Myatt spent four months in prison for his involvement in what Scotland Yard described as "the biggest art fraud of the 20th century".

He's now better known for his TV series Mastering The Art and A Brush With Fame.

His new series, Virgin Virtuosos, sees him tutoring celebrities. It begins on Sky Arts 1 on February 3.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE SHOW COME FROM?

I think it was one of the producers who came up with the idea on the back of A Brush With Fame, the series we'd done the previous year. That was me painting portraits of famous people and chatting to them. Then we wondered what it would be like if we could get them painting, and thought it would be good idea to get them doing something instead of just sitting there.

YOU'VE GOT A GOOD LINE-UP OF GUESTS: BILL BAILEY, MAUREEN LIPMAN, NIGEL HAVERS, IMOGEN STUBBS, KEITH ALLEN...

They're all just marvellous really. I think it was a little bit harder to persuade them to take part because none of them are painters; some of them haven't painted at all and so they didn't want to look stupid. I admire them really because it was very brave.

WHEN YOU DID BRUSH WITH FAME, YOU WERE SOMETIMES STARSTRUCK. DID YOU FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN HERE?

Not so much because they were in my comfort zone, rather than me in theirs. I just admired them for taking the plunge and having the guts to do it. In a way, they just became art students rather than celebrities.

KEITH ALLEN WAS ON THE BBC'S ART SCHOOL A FEW YEARS AGO. WAS HE PARTICULARLY GOOD?

He had an idea of how he wanted to go about it, and it was a strong idea. He wasn't difficult though, and he came up with a smashing image.

WHO SHOWED REAL PROMISE?

That's a very hard one! I came away from it thinking that if any of them wanted to take up painting as a leisure hobby they'd all be good enough. Each celebrity had a different element they could develop. Bill Bailey had a great eye for detail, Keith Allen thought in big, broad strokes across the canvas... Nigel Havers was very amusing, but you could see that underneath he knew it was a serious business. All of them could join an art class and have some fun with it.

DO YOU THINK ANY OF THEM WILL?

I don't know. Imogen Stubbs might. She was very keen on learning how to do things, such as mixing colours. And, of course, Maureen Lipman is already a leisure painter.

HOW DID YOUR TV CAREER COME ABOUT?

I kept getting film crews coming here from all over the world to tell the story of the crime. One of them said they were going to make a film about art education, and would I be interested in having a go at it. It turned out to be the pilot for Mastering The Art. It was quite a success and sold all over the world. So I started getting emails from places like Bolivia and Chile saying how much they enjoyed it. It was an eye-opener really. Just a funny little programme you make in a day and it touched people halfway round the world.

THERE'S A RUMOUR THAT A FILM WILL BE MADE BASED ON YOUR STORY. IS THAT TRUE?

Yes, it's going ahead. I'm not sure when, but it's due to happen. It's being written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD PLAY YOU?

Oh dear, I don't know! I don't even have an opinion about that. I just feel that whoever ends up being me should look a lot better than I do!

DO YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO PINCH YOURSELF ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOU OVER THE YEARS?

I've never been able to understand it really, how it's taken off the way it has.

WILL THERE BE A SECOND SERIES OF A BRUSH WITH FAME?

That was just so exhausting for me. I did say to Jeremy Phillips, who produced it, that I couldn't do it again, it nearly killed me. With just one day of filming, you spend half of it setting up and having lunch, then the celebrity has to go at 5.30pm and you've got to ask all your questions as well as paint them. Yes, I'd love to do some more, but with more time!

DO YOU GET AS MUCH OF A KICK PAINTING IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S STYLE AS YOU DO YOUR OWN?

More sometimes, actually, although I am getting to the point now where I'm close to retiring from doing that and doing more of my own painting instead. I'm not quite so focused on painting in the style of Monet or Turner or somebody else. Also, nobody lives forever, and when you get to retirement age, you're thinking of your own legacy. If I can carry on painting for the next 10 years or so, just doing it quietly in my own way for pleasure, I'll be happy.

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