Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960
Encyclopedia
Nat Tate - An American Artist 1928-1960 is a 1998
fictional (hoax) biography by William Boyd
.
, presented as a real biography. Gore Vidal
, John Richardson
(Picasso's
biographer), Karen Wright (the then editor of the influential Modern Painters
magazine) and David Bowie
(a board member of Modern Painters
magazine and co-director (with Karen Wright) of 21 Publishing, which published the book) were all participants in the hoax. Nat Tate's name is a combination of two London art galleries, the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery
. Boyd and his co-conspirators set about convincing the New York glitterati (social elites) that the reputation of this influential abstract expressionist needed to be re-evaluated.
Bowie held a launch party on April Fool's Day eve, 1998, and read extracts from the book, while Richardson talked about Tate's friendships with both Picasso and Braque.
About a week later, a man named David Lister wrote The Independent of London and claimed that "some of the biggest names in the art world have been the victims of a literary hoax", and the story was picked up by other news papers, including The New York Times
.
In reality, it appears that few were fooled and most of the big names in the arts world (including artists, collectors, art historian, art dealers, New York based writers like Paul Auster
, and editors of literary journals) quickly realized that Nat Tate was a complete fake and that they had been the victims of an elaborate set up. Some of the paintings featured in the book were reportedly painted by Boyd and the hoax was made more believable by Gore Vidal's endorsement on the book's dust cover. Also, the photographs of Nat Tate that feature in the 'biography' are of unknown people from Boyd's own photographic collection.
The literary editor of The Independent, who was at the New York launch, said that no one he spoke to claimed to know Tate well, but no one claimed not to have heard of him. Lister stated that he sniffed something fishy, since he appeared to be the only person in the room who had never heard of Tate. His suspicions were confirmed when he discovered that none of the galleries mentioned in the book actually existed.
Karen Wright, one of Bowie's co-directors at 21 Publishing said the hoax was not meant to be malicious: "Part of it was, we were very amused that people kept saying 'Yes, I've heard of him'. There is a willingness not to appear foolish. Critics are too proud for that." Boyd, the main perpetrator of the hoax, agreed, saying "the doubts were meant to set in very quickly."
Newsweek magazine attempted to contact David Lister, the man who had written The Independent, but could not find him, leading them to suggest that perhaps Lister, too, didn't really exist.
1998 in literature
The year 1998 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 5 - Tennessee Williams' 1938 play, Not About Nightingales, receives its stage première....
fictional (hoax) biography by William Boyd
William Boyd (writer)
William Boyd, CBE is a Scottish novelist and screenwriter.-Biography:Of Scottish descent, Boyd spent his early life in Ghana and Nigeria, in Africa...
.
Nat Tate
Nat Tate was an imaginary person, invented by Boyd and created as "an abstract expressionist who destroyed '99%' of his work and leapt to his death from the Staten Island ferry. His body was never found."An art hoax
Boyd published the book as a hoaxHoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
, presented as a real biography. Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, John Richardson
John Richardson (art historian)
John Richardson is a British art historian and Picasso biographer.-Life and work:John Patrick Richardson was born as the elder son of Sir Wodehouse Richardson, D.S.O., K.C.B., Quarter-Master General in the Boer War, and founder of London and the British Empire's Army & Navy Stores...
(Picasso's
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
biographer), Karen Wright (the then editor of the influential Modern Painters
Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 10 times per year; it includes profiles on two international artists per issue; columns by international contributors; interviews with and articles by contemporary artists and...
magazine) and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
(a board member of Modern Painters
Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 10 times per year; it includes profiles on two international artists per issue; columns by international contributors; interviews with and articles by contemporary artists and...
magazine and co-director (with Karen Wright) of 21 Publishing, which published the book) were all participants in the hoax. Nat Tate's name is a combination of two London art galleries, the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
. Boyd and his co-conspirators set about convincing the New York glitterati (social elites) that the reputation of this influential abstract expressionist needed to be re-evaluated.
Bowie held a launch party on April Fool's Day eve, 1998, and read extracts from the book, while Richardson talked about Tate's friendships with both Picasso and Braque.
About a week later, a man named David Lister wrote The Independent of London and claimed that "some of the biggest names in the art world have been the victims of a literary hoax", and the story was picked up by other news papers, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
In reality, it appears that few were fooled and most of the big names in the arts world (including artists, collectors, art historian, art dealers, New York based writers like Paul Auster
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
, and editors of literary journals) quickly realized that Nat Tate was a complete fake and that they had been the victims of an elaborate set up. Some of the paintings featured in the book were reportedly painted by Boyd and the hoax was made more believable by Gore Vidal's endorsement on the book's dust cover. Also, the photographs of Nat Tate that feature in the 'biography' are of unknown people from Boyd's own photographic collection.
The literary editor of The Independent, who was at the New York launch, said that no one he spoke to claimed to know Tate well, but no one claimed not to have heard of him. Lister stated that he sniffed something fishy, since he appeared to be the only person in the room who had never heard of Tate. His suspicions were confirmed when he discovered that none of the galleries mentioned in the book actually existed.
Karen Wright, one of Bowie's co-directors at 21 Publishing said the hoax was not meant to be malicious: "Part of it was, we were very amused that people kept saying 'Yes, I've heard of him'. There is a willingness not to appear foolish. Critics are too proud for that." Boyd, the main perpetrator of the hoax, agreed, saying "the doubts were meant to set in very quickly."
Newsweek magazine attempted to contact David Lister, the man who had written The Independent, but could not find him, leading them to suggest that perhaps Lister, too, didn't really exist.