How I uncovered one of the biggest art hoaxes of the nineties

In 1998, David Lister attended the star-studded launch of a book about abstract expressionist Nat Tate. But barely a week later he discovered the artist didn’t exist

William Boyd created Nat Tate and his artworks such as ‘Bridge no. 114’ (Alex Lentati/Evening Standard/Shutterstock)

A work of art, Study for Bridge Drawing, was recently sold for £4,000, after being valued by Sotheby’s at £2000-£3000. The artwork was by an artist called Nat Tate. So far, so unremarkable. But it gets better.

A previous work by Tate was sold for £7,250 in 2011 to the TV presenter Ant McPartlin. The late Nat Tate seems to attract celebrities. The launch of a book about him in 1998 – which I attended – was presided over by David Bowie. It took place at the New York studio of the then-fashionable American artist Jeff Koons on the corner of Broadway and East Houston Street.

Bowie, with his wife the former model Iman at his side, paid personal tribute to Tate and his tormented life as the New York art world listened with rapt attention. It was a shockingly sad story. The early 20th-century abstract expressionist suffered extreme depression, destroyed 99 per cent of his work, and eventually took his own life at the age of 31, jumping off the Staten Island ferry. His body was never found.