
Fake or Fortune? (2011)
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Fiona Bruce as Herself - Presenter
Episodes 47
Van Meegeren
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.
Read MoreRembrandt
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.
Read MoreDegas and the Little Dancer
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.
Read MoreTurner: A Miscarriage of Justice?
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.
Read MoreVan Dyck: What Lies Beneath
The tables end up being turned on Philip this week when one of his own pictures are put under the microscope.
Read MoreGainsborough
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.
Read MoreA Mystery Old Master
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.
Read MoreMunnings and Churchill
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.
Read MoreTom Roberts
Is a purchase from an online auction site a lost work by Australian artist Tom Roberts?
Read MoreNicholson
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.
Read MoreToulouse-Lautrec
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.
Read MoreHenry Moore
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.
Read MoreA Double Whodunnit
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.
Read MoreGiacometti
The team try to find out whether a white square of plaster is an early work by Giacometti.
Read MoreThe Lost Gainsborough
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.
Read MoreCosway or Lawrence?
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?
Read MoreDe Chirico
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?
Read MoreA Venetian View
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?
Read MoreA Sculpture in the Brambles
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?
Read MoreGerome
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.
Read MoreA King's Last Supper
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?
Read MoreBen Nicholson
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.
Read MoreModigliani
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.
Read MoreSisley
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.
Read MoreFlemish Old Master
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.
Read MoreElisabeth Frink
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?
Read MoreJoshua Reynolds
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?
Read MoreCezanne and Pissarro
Could two simple sketches be by great French artists Pissarro and Cezanne? The team set out to gather evidence to prove they’re genuine.
Read MoreArshile Gorky
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?
Read MoreHelen McNicoll
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?
Read MoreMusic Memorabilia
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?
Read More