Episode
The Curious Case of Nat Tate (encore)
- Published
- Apr 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 407
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Summary
The art world is full of interesting characters. In so many ways, the artist‘s biography can be as important as their work. Nat Tate was an interesting character introduced to critics and tastemakers in 1998 when David Bowie hosted a dinner party to help launch a new book Nat Tate: Am American Artist 1928-1960. While the book has the sleepy title of a non-fiction book, it was actually a novel framed as a biography. Nat Tate was a tragic abstract expressionistic painter who destroyed 99% of his work before his untimely death. It was a compelling narrative of art and an artist lost to history. It was also pure fiction. While Bowie enlisted the help of a Picasso biographer to tell tales of Tate‘s interactions with Picasso, Braque and others, Nat Tate never existed. A week later, a journalist published a story of how important figures in the art world fell victim to this hoax. Oddly while Nat Tate was not real, there are real ”surviving” artworks attributed to him. In 2011, Sotheby‘s auctioned off a Nat Tate painting, Bridge No. 114, which sold for over 7000 pounds. Listen Ad-Free on Patreon. For just $3 per month, you can get ad-free versions of Fun Facts Daily, Who ARTed and Art Smart. Head over to https://www.patreon.com/cw/FunFactsDailyPod if you are interested. Check out my other podcasts Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices