Fake or Fortune?
Journalist Fiona Bruce teams up with art expert Philip Mould to investigate the provenance or attribution of notable artworks.
Seasons
1. Monet
Air Date: 2011-06-19
Fiona and Philip take a look at a painting they think is an unrecognised work by Monet. They then try to persuade different luminaries from the art world to believe them.
2. Homer
Air Date: 2011-06-26
Fiona and Philip take a look at a painting which could be a piece of work by 19th-century American artist Winslow Homer and was discovered at a rubbish tip.
3. Van Meegeren
Air Date: 2011-07-03
Fiona and Philip take a look at the career of forger Han van Meegeren, who managed to fool galleries and buyers in the early 20th century with his fake pieces by Old Masters.
4. Rembrandt
Air Date: 2011-07-10
Fiona and Philip stop the auction of a painting that used to be a German national treasure but was stolen from it's Jewish owners by the Nazis during the Second World War. They then follow the story as it is discovered whether it is the work of Rembrandt.
1. Degas and the Little Dancer
Air Date: 2012-09-16
Fiona and Philip examine a painting that owner Patrick Rice thinks is by Edgar Degas. If its genuine, it could be worth about £500,000. They trace the artwork back through time to find out whether it really was created by one of France's greatest artists.
2. Turner: A Miscarriage of Justice?
Air Date: 2012-09-23
Fiona and Philip take a look at the history of three paintings bequeathed to the National Museum of Wales after their owner died in 1951. It was always thought that the paintings were by landscape artist JMW Turner, but only months after the museum took ownership, experts said that they were fakes.
3. Van Dyck: What Lies Beneath
Air Date: 2012-09-30
The tables end up being turned on Philip this week when one of his own pictures are put under the microscope.
1. Vuillard
Air Date: 2014-01-19
Fiona and Philip attempt to help a man who believes he owns a painting by French post-impressionist Edouard Vuillard.
2. Constable
Air Date: 2014-01-26
Fiona and Philip attempt to prove that two paintings are missing works by one of the country's best-loved artists, John Constable.
3. Chagall
Air Date: 2014-02-02
Fiona and Philip attempt to help Martin Lang try and prove the painting he bought in 1992 is by modern master Marc Chagall.
4. Gainsborough
Air Date: 2014-02-09
This week the focus is on Britain's public art collections, in which 17,000 paintings are listed as `artist unknown'. Philip identify several works they believe are by Thomas Gainsborough.
1. Lowry
Air Date: 2015-07-05
Fiona and art experts Philip Mould and Bendor Grosvenor attempt to help a man who has inherited three paintings supposedly by LS Lowry.
2. Renoir
Air Date: 2015-07-12
Nicky Philipps needs help in determining whether a mysterious painting housed at Picton Castle in Pembrokeshire is a genuine piece of work by French Impressionist Pierre Auguste Renoir.
3. A Mystery Old Master
Air Date: 2015-07-19
Fiona and Philip are at a church in Lancashire, once patronised by Yorkshire's famous Bronte sisters, that is the home of a painting thought to have been made by an Italian old master.
4. Munnings and Churchill
Air Date: 2015-07-26
Fiona and Philip attempt to help Under-Sheriff and Secondary of London Charles Henty find out whether two paintings in his possession are as valuable as he believes.
1. Freud
Air Date: 2016-07-17
The team investigate a portrait which may have been one of Lucian Freud's first creations.
2. Delaroche
Air Date: 2016-07-24
The team try to prove the authenticity of a suspected lost masterpiece by Paul Delaroche.
3. Rodin
Air Date: 2016-07-31
A sketch of a dancer believed to have been drawn by Auguste Rodin is investigated.
4. Portraits
Air Date: 2016-08-21
Featuring works claimed to be by Willem de Kooning, Philip Mercier and Adolph von Menzel.
1. Constable
Air Date: 2017-08-20
The team try to find out whether a painting is a lost masterpiece by John Constable.
2. Tom Roberts
Air Date: 2017-09-03
Is a purchase from an online auction site a lost work by Australian artist Tom Roberts?
3. Gauguin
Air Date: 2017-09-10
The team examine two pictures believed to be by Paul Gauguin, a giant of 19th-century art.
1. Nicholson
Air Date: 2018-08-13
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould examine a still life that may have been painted by prolific artist William Nicholson, but which has been rejected by leading experts on his work. They discover a useful source of evidence in Nicholson's own paint box, but as they delve into the painting's history, they discover it may have been connected to one of the 20th century's greatest art crimes. Fiona meets a reformed forger to discover if he ever faked a Nicholson while Philip takes the painting to Canada to compare it to another of the artist's works.
2. Toulouse-Lautrec
Air Date: 2018-08-19
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould must prove that a sketchbook is the work of a young Toulouse-Lautrec, overturning a decision made by a committee of experts on the artist. The drawings in the book are of a very different subject matter to Lautrec's famous works, and are dated to when he was a teenager - a period of his life that is largely a mystery. To get to the truth, Fiona and Philip travel to the town in the south of France where Lautrec grew up and visit the grand family home where he spent much of his youth.
3. Henry Moore
Air Date: 2018-08-26
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a small watercolour sketch that could be the work of sculptor Henry Moore. The piece was found in 2012 in a hoard of artwork stolen by the Nazis. While the unidentified piece has many characteristics of Moore's work, none of the other artworks recovered were by British artists, so it remains a mystery how it came to be there. The team must not only find out who created it, but also who it belonged to, since it may have been looted from Jewish owners during the Holocaust and will need to be returned to surviving descendants.
4. A Double Whodunnit
Air Date: 2018-09-02
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate the origins of two paintings by unknown artists dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, which unusually for the period, depict black subjects. One is a portrait of Dido Belle, a famous former slave adopted into an aristocratic English family in the 1760s, while the other depicts two children against a tropical landscape, and is believed to have been painted as a protest against the slave trade.
5. Giacometti
Air Date: 2018-09-09
The team try to find out whether a white square of plaster is an early work by Giacometti.
1. The Lost Gainsborough
Air Date: 2019-07-25
The team investigate an 18th-century landscape that could be a lost work by of one of the biggest names in British art, Thomas Gainsborough.
2. Cosway or Lawrence?
Air Date: 2019-08-01
Can the team prove that a portrait attributed to pioneering female artist Maria Cosway is actually an undiscovered work of the great Regency artist Sir Thomas Lawrence?
3. De Chirico
Air Date: 2019-08-08
Bought for just £1, could a small still life be the work of one of the masters of early 20th-century art, Giorgio de Chirico?
4. A Venetian View
Air Date: 2019-08-15
The team investigates a beautiful 18th-century Venetian view. Could this be a work by one of the Italian masters - either Francesco Guardi or Michele Marieschi?
1. A Sculpture in the Brambles
Air Date: 2021-07-28
A sculpture found in the long grass of a Norfolk home bears striking similarities to the work of Henry Moore. Could it be a lost work by one of the greatest 20th-century artists?
2. Gerome
Air Date: 2021-08-04
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a small oil painting of a man praying in a mosque, a scene filled with meticulously painted and intriguing detail. Its owner, Jon Swihart, bought it at auction in 1999 and believed it to be the work of the nineteenth-century French artist Jean-Leon Gerome, who was a leading figure in the Orientalist genre of painting.
3. Landseer
Air Date: 2021-08-11
The team investigate a powerful scene of the aftermath of battle; could it be a work by celebrated Victorian artist Edwin Landseer, thought to be destroyed by a flood in 1928?
4. A King's Last Supper
Air Date: 2021-08-18
Anglesey farmer Huw Lewis bought a small painting depicting the Last Supper for 50 pounds on the internet. Can the team prove it's an 18th century work by the artist Benjamin West?
1. Ben Nicholson
Air Date: 2022-08-23
When Ian and Julie moved into their Surrey cottage nearly 20 years ago, they discovered a curious wall painting in one of the bedrooms. They had no idea who put it there. Julie wanted to get rid of it as it didn't match her decor plans, while their four-year-old wanted to colour it in with her crayons.
2. Modigliani
Air Date: 2022-08-30
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a delicate sketch depicting a mother and child, purported to be by one of the modern art world's most famous names, Amedeo Modigliani. Its owner, Henrietta Sitwell, inherited the work and always believed it to be genuine. However, a leading auction house recently cast doubt on its authenticity. If the work is genuine, it could be worth up to £100,000. If not, just a few hundred.
3. Sisley
Air Date: 2022-09-06
Fiona Bruce, Philip Mould and the team help Americans Kim and Chuck, who believe their landscape painting is by one of the founders of Impressionism, Alfred Sisley, building a case to prove its authenticity. Kim and Chuck bought the work at auction near Chicago and believe it to be genuine. However, the painting was turned down nearly 10 years ago by the authentication committee, so the team will have to find new evidence to persuade them to change their mind.
4. Flemish Old Master
Air Date: 2022-09-13
Fiona and Philip visit a church in Port Glasgow to investigate whether a mysterious work depicting Christ after the crucifixion could be a lost masterpiece by one of the great painters of Northern Renaissance art.
1. Elisabeth Frink
Air Date: 2023-09-26
A sculpture found at a car-boot sale in Essex bears striking similarities to the work of Elisabeth Frink. Can the team prove it’s part of an edition sculpted by her in the 1950s?
2. Joshua Reynolds
Air Date: 2023-10-03
A painting bought from an online auction in Monaco described as 'in the style of Sir Joshua Reynolds' looks promising, but could something murkier be lurking beneath the paint?
3. Cezanne and Pissarro
Air Date: 2023-10-10
Could two simple sketches be by great French artists Pissarro and Cezanne? The team set out to gather evidence to prove they’re genuine.
4. Arshile Gorky
Air Date: 2023-10-17
Could a mysterious canvas covered in white paint be hiding a lost painting by one of the most important painters of the 20th century, Armenian-American artist Arshile Gorky?
1. Mondrian
Air Date: 2024-09-26
American artist Jeffrey Kroll believes his flower picture is by one of the pioneers of abstract art, Piet Mondrian. Can the team help him build a case and prove its authenticity?
2. Helen McNicoll
Air Date: 2024-10-03
Artist and dealer David Taylor believes his saleroom punt is a work by one of Canada’s most celebrated impressionists, Helen McNicoll. Can the team help prove it's the real thing?
3. Music Memorabilia
Air Date: 2024-10-10
The team delve into the world of music memorabilia when they investigate a piano linked to John Lennon and a guitar with a connection to Ronnie Wood, but are they the real deal?
4. Corot
Air Date: 2024-10-17
Owner Sally Green believes her landscape painting is by one of the forefathers of impressionism, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Can the team gather new evidence to prove its authenticity?
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Rating
8.3/10
Release Date
2011-06-19
Episodes
47 (12 seasons)
Status
Returning Series
Cast
Production Companies
BBC