| Admin/Biog History | In 1983, Sewell and Colin Simpson of the Sunday Times investigated possible forgeries of works by Elmyr de Hory (1906-1976) the painter and forger. In April of the same year, Sewell visited Kendrick Talbot who claimed to be a friend of the late artist, as he was offering some of de Hory's works for sale. During the meeting, more of the artist's works were delivered by Colin Turner and it was through him that Sewell became aware of a wider network of forgers and forgeries.
Sewell discovered that Turner was not only selling forgeries of de Hory's works, but also copies of works by Modigliani, and Vorticists such as Wyndham Lewis and Edward Wadsworth, to clients including Christies, Sotheby's, and the London art dealer Anthony D'Offay. Individuals uncovered by the research Sewell and Simpson carried out included Mark Lewis, who claimed to be an illegitimate grandson of Wyndham Lewis; Louis Koolman-Darnley, a retired painter and actor; and Dick Emmett, an art dealer.
During the summer of 1983, Sewell and Simpson published a series of articles based on their research about those who created, sold, and bought forged works of art. On 23 August 1983, Sewell made a fourteen page statement to the Fine Art Squad at Scotland Yard, in which he outlined the various parties involved but no prosecutions were subsequently made.
Sewell retained all of his notes, correspondence, copy documents, newscuttings of articles, copies of statements, and his draft articles from this period in a series of envelopes titled:
-Elmyr de Hory, Kendrick Talbot, Colin Turner
-Statement to Police re Colin Turner
-Koolman-Darnley
-Emmett
-Wadsworth Fakes, Vorticists
-Anthony D'Offay
-Modigliani |
| Description | Includes:
-draft statement (x2) made by Sewell on 23 August 1983 to the Fine Art Squad, Scotland Yard
-newscuttings of Sewell's and Simpson's articles
-research material
Also includes the following draft articles by Sewell:
-The Emmett Fakes, written for Sunday Times
-A Fake too Good for Export, written for Sunday Times
-Wadsworth Fakes
-A Black Hole for the Art Market, written for Sunday Times
-Modigliani and Others
-Fake 1, published as 52 Fakes Fooled Christie's, Sunday Times, 10 July 1983 |