The Forger's Game

David Henty and Rob Starr MBE are coming together at Helm Gallery on Friday 16 October for The Forger's Game, an evening that puts a real-life art forger and a crime novelist in the same room. Henty is known for his hand-painted recreations of works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Lowry, Vermeer and Caravaggio, and he's built a reputation on how easily they fool the experts. In 2019, one of his 'Picassos' was reportedly valued at £1 million at auction before he revealed it was his own, after the seller had falsely attributed it. Starr is a bestselling crime novelist, and the two will spend the night talking about the real world of forgery and the fiction it inspires.

The evening starts with a selection of Henty's hand-painted forgeries on display, so you can see the work for yourself before the talking begins. That leads into a live Q&A about the actual trade of art forgery and the crime stories it's sparked, followed by a signing of Starr's new novel, The Forger's Game. The book is part of his Kiara Fox series, which follows an insurance investigator who catches glimpses of the same paintings alive and intact years after a gallery assistant died in a devastating fire.

Helm Gallery is in the North Laine, and it only opened in 2023, so it's still a relatively new addition to the neighbourhood. The whole thing runs from 18:00 to 21:00 on Friday 16 October at 15 North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YA.