54. Copy Cat

David Henty had a talent for art from a young age. He grew up poring over Hogarth drawings. For a long time, it didn’t feel like something that he could easily pursue. But after two prison sentences spent painting as much as he wanted, there was no looking back. David was set on making a living as an artist. The thing is… the only paintings he could manage to sell for any profit, were all forgeries of famous artists like Lowry, Bacon and Picasso.

Matthew Syed explores how David's copy cat approach to art allowed him to unlock his own creativity.

Matthew delves into the world of art forgery to explore how this practice blurs lines between creativity and imitation, and challenges notions of authenticity in the art world. He considers whether copying is actually a necessary step on the way to becoming skilled at a particular craft, and whether forgers - as pranksters - might even qualify as modern conceptual artists, and also ponders how the rise of artificial intelligence platforms might make forgers of us all.

Featuring: David Henty, artist and writer, Austin Kleon, artist and philosopher, Jonathon Keats, and BBC journalist and AI expert Lara Lewington.

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Nadia Mehdi Series editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound design and mix: Naomi Clarke Theme tune by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4