Fake or Fortune

Journalist Fiona Bruce teams up with art expert Philip Mould to investigate mysteries behind paintings, starting with what they believe is an unrecognised work by Monet.

Fisherman Tony couldn't believe his luck when he stumbled upon a cache of pictures apparently dumped at his favourite riverside spot. Fast forward 15 years and Tony, accompanied by his daughter, is told by Philip Mould at a recording of Antiques Roadshow one of the pictures is worth £30,000. It's an unknown work by one of America's most important 19th century artists, Winslow Homer. But how did it end up being dumped in such an unlikely place and who legally owns the picture? As Philip & Fiona investigate, the story takes a series of unexpected turns; in the Bahamas we crack when and why the painting was made and who the mysterious sitters are, whilst in New York an auction house values the picture closer to $250,000 in preparation for sale. But a tense denouement within minutes of the auction turns everything upside down when a mysterious figure arrives and raises even bigger questions for all involved.

The art world can prove a bear pit with a myriad of tricksters at work. Experts estimate that anything between 20-40% of works of art on the market are faked. And they can turn up in the most unexpected places. Hanging in one of our most prestigious and respected art institutes in London is a picture Philip has heard of which may hold the key to unlocking the story of the most audacious forger of all time. A man who dared to fake the work of old masters and made millions from his deception until he was caught in 1945;Han Van Meegeren. But a mystery remains to this day as Van Meegeren died before a complete record of his fakes was made. How did he pull off faking old master paintings, duping important art galleries in to making purchases of works apparently by Vermeer, even foxing Goering in to buying one of his works during the war? Philip & Fiona get to work on the London picture which, legend has it, hung in Van Meegeren's studio on the day he was arrested. Was it his last work and by testing it can we prove how he outfoxed some of the most eminent minds in the art world?

Suspicions are aroused when Philip and his researcher spot a rogue picture for sale in a South African auction house. It exudes all the classic scent of being a "sleeper"; an important picture that had been miscataloged and offered for a very low price. But there's a darker side revealed when investigations uncover this is a wanted painting, having been stolen by the Nazis in World War Two. Records show it was once recorded as being a German national treasure, having thought to have been painted by Rembrandt. A Jewish family have been trying to track it and other works stolen from their gallery ever since. With minutes to go Philip & Fiona manage to stop the sale and release the picture for investigation. Having picked it up from Cape Town, Fiona delivers it to Philip and an in depth examination utilising the latest infra red and forensic testing begins. Can it really be by Rembrandt and will it be possible to see it returned to its rightful owners? In an effort to solve who painted it Philip travels to Amsterdam to meet a man with the power of a demi god; the chair of the Remrandt committee on whose word hangs the verdict which can make the value differ by many millions of pounds. Fiona meanwhile tries to unpick the thorny question of ownership before finally returning the picture to South Africa when the owner of the disputed painting finally emerges from the shadows to tell his story.