Ep 8. The Thieving Don Juan

In season 2 episode 8 of Art of the Heist, titled "The Thieving Don Juan", viewers are taken on a journey into the fraudulent world of John Drewe, a man who managed to con the art world by planting fake provenances in prestigious collections, thereby boosting the value of his forgeries. The episode delves into Drewe's deception, which began in the 1980s in London's art market, and culminated in his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2003.

The Thieving Don Juan expertly unravels the intricate web of lies that Drewe spun, with interviews with key figures involved in the case, including Drewe himself. The program also features archival footage of the scams in action and highlights the significant impact of Drewe's actions on the art world, particularly in the field of modern British art.

Drewe, a self-proclaimed art lover, began his life of crime innocuously enough, working as a copyist at London's National Portrait Gallery. However, his passion for dabbling in the art scene soon spiraled out of control, with Drewe becoming a prolific art forger. To elicit buyers, Drewe fabricated convincing provenances, posing as art historians and fabricating museum archives. His forgeries even trickled into auctions at the world's leading auction houses, such as Christie's and Sotheby's, where he managed to pass off his creations as legitimate.

The Thieving Don Juan provides a captivating insight into the lengths Drewe went to maintain his reputation as a "credible dealer". He eavesdropped on art dealers and collectors' conversations and pitched himself to influential players, including the wealthy family of collector Gordon Bailey, whom he convinced to invest millions in his collection.

Despite Drewe's elaborate ruse, the show explores how his downfall was imminent. He faced multiple trials in France and the UK, with sentencing landing him in jail for 6 years. The episode dives into how Drewe's crimes exposed cracks in the art world, such as the lack of transparency in provenancing and inadequate vetting procedures. As a result, institutions have re-evaluated their processes in an attempt to prevent similar schemes from happening again.

Overall, The Thieving Don Juan is a fascinating insight into a complicated con artist and his impact on the art world. The episode provides an exposé of Drewe's fraud, while simultaneously revealing how his art forgeries, though fake, exposed the murky world of art as a clear object of fakery.