Fake or Fortune?

Monet

Jun 19, 2011

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil, a riverside landscape believed by its owner to be an unrecognised work by Claude Monet. Scientific examination and provenance research build a compelling case, but the painting must still win acceptance from the authority responsible for Monet’s catalogue.

Homer

Jun 26, 2011

A watercolour discovered beside a rubbish tip is identified as Children Under a Palm Tree, a lost work by American artist Winslow Homer. As the picture heads toward auction with a substantial valuation, the investigation shifts from attribution to provenance and the difficult question of who legally owns it.

Van Meegeren

Jul 3, 2011

The team investigates The Procuress, a controversial painting at the Courtauld Institute associated with master forger Han van Meegeren. Technical analysis explores whether it was one of his final works and reveals how he deceived collectors and experts with paintings presented as newly discovered Old Masters.

Rembrandt

Jul 10, 2011

Philip and researcher Bendor Grosvenor spot a poorly catalogued painting in a South African auction, apparently connected to Rembrandt. Their investigation uncovers a darker history involving Nazi looting, a Jewish art-dealing family and a work once regarded as a German national treasure. Scientific examination then seeks to establish the painting’s true authorship.