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Fake or Fortune?
Television series on artwork provenance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Fake or Fortune? is a BBC One documentary television series which examines the provenance and attribution of notable artworks.[1] Since the first series aired in 2011, Fake or Fortune? has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in the UK,[2] the highest for an arts show in that country.[3]
Fake or Fortune? was created by art dealer and historian Philip Mould, together with producer Simon Shaw. It is co-presented by Mould and journalist Fiona Bruce, with specialist research carried out by Bendor Grosvenor during the first five series,[a] and professor Aviva Burnstock thereafter. Forensic analysis and archival research is carried out by various fine art specialists. Each series first aired on BBC One, except for series 3, which was shown mistakenly on SVT in Sweden before being broadcast in the UK.[4]
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Development
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Fake or Fortune? was created by Philip Mould and his producer Simon Shaw. It was inspired by Mould's 2009 book Sleuth, after which the programme was originally to be entitled.[5] According to Mould, Shaw suggested the format after a fisherman brought in a water colour painting he had found near a rubbish tip to BBC's Antiques Roadshow where Mould identified it as a genuine Homer valued at £30,000[b][6]
In each episode Philip Mould and Fiona Bruce focus their attention on a painting (or a group of paintings), usually related to one particular artist. They travel around the country and the world, studying the artists at exhibitions, meeting international experts and following local leads. Series 7, episode 5 saw the show tackle their first sculpture, a work attributed to Alberto Giacometti.
The team was assisted by art historian Bendor Grosvenor until a disagreement over his new BBC Four series Britain's Lost Masterpieces ended his involvement after five series in 2016.[7] From series 6 professor Aviva Burnstock, Head of the Department of Conservation and Technology at The Courtauld Institute of Art became a recurring advisor and expert.[8]
Together and separately the team investigates the paintings on a number of fronts: establishing the provenance of the piece by working backwards from present day to the time of the work's creation; on a forensic level, with investigation and scientific tests on the materials used to help establish specific time frames; and examining the unique painting styles and quirks of the artist. This evidence is then presented to the established authority for each artist to help demonstrate the legitimacy of the work and its possible addition to the relevant catalogue raisonné.
The team does not always succeed. Philip Mould was stated to have considered the Series 4 case of a Churchill painting as one of the most unsatisfactory endings to date, before it was finally authenticated in 2020.[9]
On 16 January 2025, the BBC announced that they had put the series' tender up for auction as part of their "competitive tender" policy, allowing independent companies to bid on producing the program.[10]
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Series overview
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Episodes
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![]() | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: summaries vary widely in length and quality. (September 2018) |
Series 1 (2011)
- Works featured in series 1
- Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil
- Children Under a Palm Tree by Winslow Homer
- The Procuress by Han Van Meegeren
- Man in an Oriental Costume by Isaac de Jouderville
Series 2 (2012)
- Works featured in series 2
- Danseuse Bleue et Contrebasses by Edgar Degas
- The Beacon Light by J. M. W. Turner
- Off Margate by J. M. W. Turner
- Margate Jetty by J. M. W. Turner
- Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, as St Catherine attributed to Anthony van Dyck (before restoration)
- Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, as St Catherine attributed to Anthony van Dyck (after restoration)
Series 3 (2014)
The third series features four episodes. The first episode was first shown on 27 December 2013 on Sweden's SVT, with episodes 2 and 3 shown in the following weeks.[26] Philip Mould described the appearance on Swedish television weeks ahead of the British premiere as a "weird BBC World cock-up".[27] SVT on its website described the programme at the time as a "Brittisk dokumentärserie från 2012" (British documentary from 2012).[28]
- Selected works featured in series 3
- The Café (1918) by Édouard Vuillard
- Yarmouth Jetty by John Constable
- Imaginary Landscape by Thomas Gainsborough
- Portrait of Joseph Gape by Thomas Gainsborough
Series 4 (2015)
- Selected works featured in series 4
- The Deposition by Francesco Montemezzano
Series 5 (2016)
Filming for the fifth series started on 24 November 2015.[47]
- Selected works featured in series 5
- Portrait of a Lady by Philip Mercier
Series 6 (2017)
The series was originally planned to have four episodes; "Giacometti" was postponed.[49]
- Selected works featured in series 6
- Femme accroupie by Paul Gauguin
Series 7 (2018)
Note: Series 7 was broadcast at the same time that BARB changed their ratings system, the ratings have been sourced as follows: Episodes 1-3 are 28 day figures from BARB's old system. Episode 4 are 28 day figures from the new system. Episode 5 are 7 day figures from the old system.
- Selected works featured in series 7
- Still life with water jug and pears purportedly by William Nicholson
- Two Girls with a Book by Emma Soyer
Series 8 (2019)
- Selected works featured in series 8
- Peniston Lamb II by Thomas Lawrence
Series 9 (2021)
The Coronavirus pandemic disrupted the production schedule, but in September 2020, Philip Mould announced that pre-production of the ninth series had started.[62]
- Selected works featured in series 9
- At Prayer (1858) by Jean-Léon Gérôme
- Time of War (1846) by Sir Edwin Landseer (this image is a print published in 1901)
- Second preparatory sketch for The Last Supper (1786) by Benjamin West (before restoration)
Series 10 (2022)
- Selected works featured in series 10
- Mother and Child by Amedeo Modigliani
- The Deposition of Christ from the Cross, attributed to Raphael Coxie
Series 11 (2023)
- Selected works featured in series 11
- Paysans au Marché by Camille Pissarro
Series 12 (2024)
- Selected works featured in series 12
- The Bean Harvest by Helen McNicoll
- The Head of the Lake
Series 13 (2025)
- Selected works featured in series 13
- Not a Renoir
- A possible Renoir portrait
- Female figure weeping over a monumental urn (Anne Hunter), 1766-1767, attributed to Angelica Kauffmann.
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Reception
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Describing the outcome of the first episode of series one as a "scandal", Sam Wollaston writing for The Guardian found the programme "incredibly interesting" and praised it "for being about just one case in which you can become totally involved, instead of flitting between three, which is what so many documentaries seem to do".[79] In The Daily Telegraph, Ceri Radford was described as being "flabbergasted" at the result of the first episode, but concluded her review by saying: "This may have been a disappointing finale, but it at least confirmed that this aesthetically pleasing, quietly enjoyable new series isn't afraid to thwart expectations."[14] Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent had a mixed view as a result of the presentation of the facts, saying: "It was full of cliffhanger tension and thrilling moments of discovery. But I couldn't entirely shift the suspicion that some of it was just a little too good to be true."[80]
The first programme of the third series, shown in the UK on 19 January 2014, had 4.8 million viewers (a 21.8% audience share)[81] while the first programme of the fourth series attracted 4.85m (24.5%).[82] The record audience for the series was on 12 July 2015 with a peak attendance of 5.8 million viewers (episode 4.2 "Renoir").[83]
Reviewing an episode of the seventh series, Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Arts programming is an increasingly endangered beast on prime time television. This absorbing and enjoyable series flies the flag in quietly thrilling fashion."[84]
Benji Wilson, writing for The Daily Telegraph, described the programme, then in its ninth series, as "the art world's answer to Line of Duty".[85]
"An engrossing trip through art history and Churchill’s life," is how Carol Midgley described the first episode of the thirteenth series, "The Mystery of Churchill’s Garden", in a review for The Times."[86]
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International broadcasts
![]() | The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (August 2017) |
The programme had its North American premiere on Canada's TVOntario in 2011.[87] It has also started airing in fall 2013 on PBS and Ovation in October 2019 in syndicated second-run broadcasts after PBS in the United States,[88] and Series 4 has been available on Netflix (as Season 1) since December 2018.[89] The programme airs on ABC in Australia.[90]
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Notes
- Grosvenor left the show to start his own art programme, Britain's Lost Masterpieces. This caused a degree of controversy due to similarities between it and Fake or Fortune?[2]
- The full story surrounding the painting, now known as Children Under a Palm, was detailed in the second episode of the first series, named Homer.
- Both portraits are revisited in the Series 13, episode 5 programme What Happened Next? A Double Whodunnit.
- Not reported in the weekly top 15 programmes for four-screen viewer ratings.
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References
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External links
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