- 5 months ago
- #fakeorfortune
A Tale of Two Renoirs
Fake or Fortune? Series 13 Episode 2 of 6
Typical Renoir – you wait ages for an undiscovered masterpiece, and then two come along at once. The question is, are they genuine? One of them, both of them, or neither?
In this double investigation, the team look into an early portrait and a charming little landscape, both believed to be by one of the biggest names in art, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Could two new Renoir works have surfaced in the UK?
Philip takes the lead on the investigation into a portrait of a young girl that belongs to Jacky, in Bristol. Jacky inherited it from her uncle, a French art dealer who had a gallery in London in the 1930s. He acquired the painting in 1937, but was left frustrated in his efforts to determine its authenticity during his lifetime.
In the other investigation, Fiona meets Rebecca, Suki and Ben, the children of entrepreneur and promoter Evan Steadman. The siblings are the custodians of a little landscape depicting a scene in the south of France that Steadman purchased as a genuine Renoir in the 1980s and gave to his wife as a 50th birthday present. Steadman died in 2008, and when his children recently tried to sell the painting to pay for their mother’s care, they hit a problem – the painting was not accepted as a genuine work by the leading authorities.
Philip goes in search of evidence in favour of the portrait, and at the Limoges Museum of Fine Arts he sees strong stylistic similarities in another genuine portrait that Renoir painted early in his career. Meanwhile, conservator Rebecca Gregg discovers a label hidden underneath the frame of the painting that might provide a vital clue as to when and where it was painted.
At the Courtauld Institute in London, professor Aviva Burnstock begins a detailed forensic analysis of the little landscape. There are encouraging signs when it's compared to other known works that were often cut from a large fragment of canvas, but firm provenance is in short supply.
As scientific analysis begins to reveal some surprising results, the investigation takes an unexpected turn. Can the team make a case that will convince the experts, or is there a chance that a sophisticated forger has been at work?
#fakeorfortune
Fake or Fortune? Series 13 Episode 2 of 6
Typical Renoir – you wait ages for an undiscovered masterpiece, and then two come along at once. The question is, are they genuine? One of them, both of them, or neither?
In this double investigation, the team look into an early portrait and a charming little landscape, both believed to be by one of the biggest names in art, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Could two new Renoir works have surfaced in the UK?
Philip takes the lead on the investigation into a portrait of a young girl that belongs to Jacky, in Bristol. Jacky inherited it from her uncle, a French art dealer who had a gallery in London in the 1930s. He acquired the painting in 1937, but was left frustrated in his efforts to determine its authenticity during his lifetime.
In the other investigation, Fiona meets Rebecca, Suki and Ben, the children of entrepreneur and promoter Evan Steadman. The siblings are the custodians of a little landscape depicting a scene in the south of France that Steadman purchased as a genuine Renoir in the 1980s and gave to his wife as a 50th birthday present. Steadman died in 2008, and when his children recently tried to sell the painting to pay for their mother’s care, they hit a problem – the painting was not accepted as a genuine work by the leading authorities.
Philip goes in search of evidence in favour of the portrait, and at the Limoges Museum of Fine Arts he sees strong stylistic similarities in another genuine portrait that Renoir painted early in his career. Meanwhile, conservator Rebecca Gregg discovers a label hidden underneath the frame of the painting that might provide a vital clue as to when and where it was painted.
At the Courtauld Institute in London, professor Aviva Burnstock begins a detailed forensic analysis of the little landscape. There are encouraging signs when it's compared to other known works that were often cut from a large fragment of canvas, but firm provenance is in short supply.
As scientific analysis begins to reveal some surprising results, the investigation takes an unexpected turn. Can the team make a case that will convince the experts, or is there a chance that a sophisticated forger has been at work?
#fakeorfortune
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TVTranscript
00:00our search for undiscovered masterpieces never ends but among the hundreds of pictures that
00:09arrive in our inbox there might just be a lost treasure a legendary name in art like impressionist
00:15master renoir unearthing one is hard enough so what are our chances of finding two i'm heading
00:28to the gallery in hot pursuit hi philip i'm on my way to see you great love to know more i've got a
00:34rather special picture i want to show you will you just wait to see what i've uncovered and with an
00:39artist with the prestige of pierre auguste renoir the pressure is on so i want to show you this what
00:45you think oh good colors i see your landscape and raise you for the portrait that's very charming
00:53isn't it question is are these by renoir one of them both of them neither of them
01:03we're on the hunt for lost treasure that is massively encouraging
01:08international art dealer philip mold and i have teamed up to investigate mysterious works of art
01:14i don't believe it but are they worthless fakes someone has put a signature on top dastardly
01:20or missing masterpieces this is indeed a work by helen mcnichol worth a fortune at 42 million
01:30sold thank you very much
01:35typical renoir you wait for ages for one and then two come along at once
01:41i've come to bristol in southwest england to see a possible renoir portrait that's been in the same
01:48family since the 1930s hello jackie hello very nice to meet you thank you all right and now belongs to
02:00jackie so here's the portrait here she is
02:10i have to say she's very striking i'm glad you like her what do you do with it now it's on my bedroom
02:18wall and i love it i'm planning to take it to an old age home so this will come with you yes my favorite
02:26thing so what do you know about the painting actually very little my uncle gave it to my aunt
02:34and it hung in their bedroom for many years and was occasionally referred to as the renoir and
02:43he may have bought it in the 30s so there's a possibility that the the name renoir has been
02:51associated with this in some form or another since the 30s yes pierre august renoir was one of the
02:59leading lights of impressionism best known for his exuberant scenes of parisian life he was born in
03:061841 the son of a tailor and at the age of 13 was apprenticed in a porcelain factory where his talent
03:13for painting was recognized his first great success at the paris salon came in 1868 with a portrait of his
03:22lover lys with a parasol from his earliest works it was clear that he excelled at portraits of young women
03:31and girls what this does feel like is a sketch it feels like something that's been captured quickly
03:43on canvas with oil and i think that gives it an animation i can see why you're so connected to it
03:50i love her eyes i just think it's a beautiful painting whoever painted it has caught the the
03:58character i think of a child and of course if it's by renoir i mean that is a very magical name yes if it
04:07is proved to be renoir will your response to this little girl change i don't think my response would
04:14change but it would just be very exciting and it would be really nice to know paintings by renoir
04:23command the highest prices at auction at five million eight hundred thousand pounds sold thank
04:32you thank you one five two could jackie's painting reach these dizzy heights if it were authenticated
04:42as possibly an early work by the artist it could be worth two to three hundred thousand you know
04:49possibly more well be lovely to know while philip finds out more about the head of a young girl
04:59i've come to cambridge on the trail of the landscape
05:05i've arranged to meet sisters suki and rebecca
05:08uh-huh well look at that well that's lovely isn't it
05:19it says runner on the frame so that at least is encouraging yes
05:23that's not all it says on the label there's the title paysage du midi a landscape of the midi region
05:29of france or more simply southern landscape it even tells us that it's signed bottom right with the initial
05:37are trees look like they're blowing in the wind you could feel the water moving i think yeah you can
05:45and the light i mean south of france like the play of light on the picture it really picks it up i think
05:52we know that late in life renoir moved south to the village of cannes your mare in 1908
05:57he continued to paint the countryside around him
06:00this remarkable film from 1915 shows the master at work his hands stricken with arthritis he died four
06:12years later aged 78. could this little landscape date from those final years of renoir's life
06:20how do you come to have what you hope is a renoir it was a birthday present that our father gave to our
06:25mother nice for her 50th birthday yes he said every lady should have a renoir for their 50th what a guy
06:33he was what did your mom say she was very taken about yeah she's delighted she roared with laughter
06:38and i think cried at the same time yeah yeah when did your father buy it 1989 1989 yeah yeah for how much
06:46do you know 58 000 pounds yeah wow it's a lot now but certainly a lot then yeah so why have you come to
06:53us how can we help you he died in 2008 so my mom's now in a care home and so for financial reasons we'd
07:00like to sell it your mother going to care is upsetting in itself it is and then you know i know
07:06from personal experience these things cost a lot of money huge amount a lot of money and we had to
07:11clear out her entire house and and i think it brought a lot back about our dad as well because
07:16we were rediscovering items that he'd bought well look so this painting has a great importance for
07:22you emotionally financially as well you know for your mom we wanted to auction it and the auction house
07:29insists that it has to be authenticated by um the wildenstein institute in paris so you showed the
07:34painting to them we got a letter a long long time later it took several months yeah a very brief letter
07:40saying unfortunately they will not be adding it to the uh catalogue so they're not prepared to put it
07:46in the authorized list of of renoir's works the catalogue resume so that leaves you can't sell it
07:53can't sell it as a renoir for sure no oh my gosh so you're at this impasse then yes yeah
08:01with the foremost renoir authority having rejected the work could this be a sophisticated forgery or is
08:08there still a chance that new evidence might prompt them to reopen the case we've a lot of work to do
08:21back in bristol jackie has been digging out information about the head of a young girl
08:26she's searching papers belonging to her uncle pierre maisonneuve who bought the painting in the 1930s
08:34a businessman originally from france he went on to open an art gallery in london in the 1950s
08:41i see here you have a letter is this is this addressed your uncle yes it was written in 1937
08:49he's written to ask somebody if they could help authenticate in this painting so it's clear that your
08:57uncle is really keen to know about definitely the status of this picture yeah it seems pierre's contact
09:04in paris consulted a number of experts but found no clear answer only that it was perhaps a renoir
09:13the only mention of the painting is on this list first of april 1960 is this something your uncle drew up
09:22i'd never seen it until recently it says here list of the various articles forming my art collection
09:30and does it mention the painting again well if you look at this page and read that line 1934 to 1937
09:38he's referencing roughly when he acquired it head of a young girl a renoir attributed to so
09:4623 years later he's listing the picture as attributed to it would suggest that he didn't get the proof
09:54that he was seeking through his colleague in France absolutely so the mystery continues
10:03despite jackie's uncle's best efforts the head of a young girl has been shrouded in uncertainty for
10:09over 80 years i'm keen to take a closer look so i'm carefully removing it from its frame
10:18this is tremendous because you could see things now that just weren't visible before
10:24one of the first is just the complexity of the colors just how subtle the paint is my eye is
10:30immediately drawn to this very sketchy area notice how the white is is mixed with blue and that's just
10:38the sort of thing that one might expect from renoir he had a way of making colors and and paint shine
10:46there's a lovely touch here it looks as though in the process of painting the earring the artist has
10:53changed its position so it starts further back and then moves forward what we call a pentiment a change
11:00of mind the coral earring a splash of vermilion is a clever artist's trick creating a focal point also
11:11to be seen in genuine works by renoir and something i also noticed now just how soft and subtle the lips
11:19are it's a suggestion of lips almost as if it's a moving mouth and in fact the overall impression
11:28actually is of something more animated a feeling indeed of a sketch from life
11:36there are reasons for optimism here and labels on the back to be explored
11:45back in cambridge with rebecca and suki
11:49so this is your dad i'm keen to learn more about the man who bought the little landscape
11:55evan steadman self-made entrepreneur so tell me about this one he set up a jazz club in
12:03ilford where he was from and this is a picture of him with my mum don't think he went to school much no
12:11evan found his way into the art world in 1982 when he was asked to run the venerable grosvenor house
12:17antiques fair he shook off its conservative image with me is the first organizer mr evan
12:24steadman even promoting the fair on breakfast television okay look if you do that all right
12:32determined to get it on somehow
12:35did he get to know the dealers did they become friends he did i think there were some of them that
12:40didn't approve of him having been appointed because he wasn't from an arts background he wasn't from that
12:46world do you have any documentation relating to this picture you know when he bought it who he
12:51bought it from that kind of thing yes this is just a little bit about its provenance so m nerdle and
12:57co ny new york executives so nerler and co were very long established art dealers yes in new york and
13:06they're executives of the bernard m douglas trust new york so the person who owned this picture
13:12before your father was bernard m douglas i presume perhaps he was deceased and this gallery were
13:20selling off his effects so we need to look into the art dealers in new york nerdler and co yes and
13:26then we can find out where bernard m douglas got it from hopefully yeah fiona's asked me to take a look
13:35at the little landscape it's a chance to remove it from its bulky frame and get to grips with the structure
13:42of the picture i've got some observations i'm keen to share
13:55my feeling is if it's going to be renoir it's a late work and the other curious thing about this
14:02picture is it's been extended so the original canvas has been put on a larger one effectively
14:09increasing the size and you can see a little bit of a painted strip down here there's quite a drawback
14:16with this painting i need to tell you about uh rebecca suki and their brother ben the owners they
14:21submitted this to our old friends the wildenstein institute in paris for authentication and the
14:26wildenstein's turned it down as this is signed r for renoir it's as good as saying in this case it's an
14:34outright fake and you know where that takes us i mean having to reopen a case when something has
14:40been written off like that is so difficult to which i can add another complication so there are
14:45effectively two authenticating bodies there's the wildenstein platner institute who are doing at
14:51present a catalogue raisonné which is the authenticated list of the artist's works indeed
14:56and then there is another one that's already been published called the doberville catalogue
15:02to which the doberville family are still adding so there's not one but two organizations that we have
15:09to impress blimey so are we going to have to get both bodies then to authenticate the painting the art
15:16world more often than not require both so yes looking at the back of the painting there's some really
15:22interesting things here so potentially what looks like a signature here the annoying thing is this
15:28is a re-lined canvas it's not the original canvas that with any luck renoir used so therefore
15:32we're looking at something later slightly less compelling yes that is true i got quite excited about
15:38this on the back as well nodler and co new york so i assume this painting went through the hands of
15:45that gallery nodler and co and then i remember that there was quite a scandal attached to them wasn't
15:50there yeah i mean i remember it well millions of pounds worth of effects went through the nodler
15:56gallery but the point was they were a different type of pictures they weren't renois these were
16:01american expressionists artists like rothko and pollock and then there's the date because that big
16:08forgery thing happened in the 90s well given that evan bought this picture in 1989 it must have passed
16:15through the hands of the nodler gallery sometime before that and there was no whiff of scandal about the
16:19nodler gallery in those days how are you getting on with jackie's portrait yeah i'm getting quietly
16:25excited about this there are a number of labels on the back as well which i think are worth looking
16:31into lbh number 1556 a renoir okay but then there's also this label on the stretch at the back
16:42well rather two labels one pasted on another yes i can see it's a bit of writing here and then what
16:48on earth's under this one but i mean it's ridiculously tantalizing something's written beneath
16:52we we need to get to it and also and i think this is really important we need to find other early
16:58works by renward from the 1860s make the comparison all right well you click on with that and i will be
17:05working on the landscape i'm on my way to france on the hunt for early works by pierre august renoir
17:21such pieces are surprisingly rare renoir is known to have destroyed some paintings he later came to
17:28dislike i've come to limoges where renoir was born the family left here for paris when he was a child
17:37but the local museum houses a few important works including one from right at the start of his career
17:44in 1864. this is the picture that i'm so keen to see i'm so pleased to encounter marie zélie laporte in the flesh
18:02we're dealing with a really significant painting at the beginning of renoir's career
18:12it's renoir just getting going and if jackie's picture is to be by the great artist
18:18it's going to have to be in the the 1860s
18:22marie zélie was the sister of renoir's close friend fellow student and artist emile henry laporte
18:31renoir was a regular visitor with the laporte family and there's an intimacy in this picture of
18:3717 year old marie zélie which is perhaps also present in the head of a young girl
18:44the first comparison that i can make with jackie's painting is the softness the naturalism of the skin
18:52tones there's a sort of rosy hue even though this is early renoir this is the beginning of the thing for
18:59which she becomes so famous and that is the the naturalistic engaging way in which she did
19:05particularly women's skin and flesh and then as you move in is that lovely sort of orangey pinkness
19:14of the lips and that cupid bow stroke for the top lip is rather similar to our little girl and where i do
19:22feel there is a fabulous comparison to be made is the hair notice those patchy almost slightly hesitant
19:29strokes either side of the parting we have something very similar with jackie's girl it's almost as if
19:36you're looking at an artist who who hasn't quite cracked the way to do a hairstyle but is getting
19:41there i'm so delighted to see it here so my gut feeling here is there are characteristics
19:49to do with the light the coloring that are similar i think there's enough stylistic evidence here
19:57to feel quite excited
20:03back in london i'm researching the southern landscape and i've been checking out the provenance
20:18written on the frame beginning with the claim that it was from the estate of bernard m douglas
20:24it seems there were two bernard m douglases father and son
20:29looking at this obituary of bernard m douglas senior he died in 1944 when he was 76 and he was
20:38clearly a very successful man he was a vice-president director of bourgeois which is a makeup company
20:43and of chanel no less i've also come across an inventory of his estate and it's clear that his
20:50apartment was full of art and antiques and there's a list of his paintings plenty of them
20:56but no renoir perhaps our bernard m douglas was not the senior but the son and according to the
21:06writing on the frame the nodler gallery were the executives of his estate so is there a link between
21:13bernard m douglas jr and the nodler gallery because if the nodler gallery bought or sold this picture
21:20that would mean you have a renowned gallery treating this picture as a genuine renoir the
21:28getty in los angeles holds archives from the nodler gallery and we've checked them for records relating
21:33to the southern landscape this is really fascinating look we've got details here that on april the 29th
21:411960 bernard douglas drops the picture along with a few other paintings off at the nodler gallery
21:47why why we can find out because here it shows it was there for restoring and framing there's a few
21:54details there's runway landscape clean the surface few other bits and bobs and then on the 9th of june
22:021960 bernard douglas picks it up as far as i can tell from my searches the nodler gallery didn't buy
22:10or sell the picture it appears simply that bernard douglas dropped it off then picked it up again
22:19there's even a number here 58710 and that's the number on the back of the picture
22:28we've also checked bernard m douglas jr's will and there's no mention of the painting it means we don't
22:34know where he got the painting from or when it changed hands it's not great news and means the
22:41technical evidence is going to need to do a lot of work for us
22:47we need to put both paintings under the microscope so i'm heading to the
22:51courtauld institute in london a world-leading center for the scientific study of art where
22:58professor aviva bernstock hi aviva hi hello nice to see you will be able to put the pictures
23:04through their paces it's fabulous to see these together for the first time possibly at the beginning
23:10and the end of one of the most famous careers in in impressionist art the alpha and omega of of
23:17renoir yeah i mean i i think they're absolutely amazing these two pictures just as you say you know
23:24an early picture an early portrait it's really quite nicely painted but it's also got this very
23:29yellow varnish on it which perhaps is hiding the tonal contrasts which were there earlier
23:36and then well a small late landscape it seems so so swift and and and and fluent and almost effortless
23:46yeah i mean it certainly looks like that that the paint was applied with a habit of a hand
23:50i know i i say this almost every time but more than ever before it seems to me we need your help
23:57because we don't have any early provenance so so any science any empirical evidence that you can give
24:03us could be really valuable in this case i'll do my best while aviva gets to work examining photographing
24:12and scanning the pictures i've invited rebecca and suki to an urgent meeting i have news about the
24:19southern landscape i need them to hear we wrote to the dobervilles authors of the published catalogue
24:25raisonnée on renoir to ask if they had any knowledge of the picture they've just replied
24:33so we've been doing some digging and have managed to establish that your painting that your father gave
24:40to your mother was also shown to another organization doberville a catalogue raisonnée organization
24:46have a look at this in 1985 that's that's four years before he gave it to your mother
24:58this painting's been submitted to us in 1985
25:04has not been retained for inclusion in our catalogue raisonnée
25:07of pierre august renoir hmm not good that means therefore twice now your painting has been turned
25:17down first in the mid-1980s and then more recently we knew the southern landscape had been turned down by
25:26the wildenstein institute who are preparing the new catalogue raisonnée but not that it had already been
25:32rejected by the other authenticating body it's a blow time for us to regroup at the gallery and decide
25:42next steps hi hey philip so how are you getting on with the portraits well we've had some interesting
25:49things through from aviva the most startling of which is is this x-ray have a look carefully at that
25:56face oh yes i love the way it's just peering out but what i'm particularly impressed by those fiddly
26:02almost nervous brush strokes somehow puts me in mind of renoir okay but we've also been sent through
26:10a pigment analysis ground lead white chalk flesh lips and earring vermilion and iron oh and a very
26:20nice sentence at the bottom there exactly what we want all the pigments are consistent with the work
26:26from the 1860s perfect and i've also had a few more interesting insights we've had an infrared
26:33done of that curious label on the back do you see that a there and possibly an r but i need to get a
26:42closer look and see if we can get that label off which i think is possible okay let's talk about the
26:47landscape for a minute we know that not only have the wildensteins turned it down but also the other
26:52authenticating body the dobervilles turned it down in 1985 which makes it really tricky i think what
26:58it's going to come down to is that anyone who thinks it looks like a renoir and particularly a late renoir
27:03stylistic analysis that's where we've got to go now have you got no one in mind well yes i have the barnes
27:09foundation it was started by albert barnes an industrialist in the early 20th century fabulously
27:16wealthy made all his money from of all things antiseptic use in hospitals particularly interesting
27:22fact for venereal disease anyway he was a great collector of art and he collected no fewer than a
27:29hundred and eighty one run was that's my type of cloud it certainly is and not only 181 of them but
27:36he particularly liked late run was which is what we think we might be looking at with our picture
27:42so i'm going to talk to foundation and see if they can make a useful stylistic comparison see
27:47if that takes us any further i'm eager to uncover the mysterious writing glimpsed in aviva's images of
27:58the labels on the back of head of a young girl i've asked picture conservator rebecca gregg to do some
28:05expert label removal could this help us to unravel the picture's knotty provenance
28:13rebecca is carefully soaking the labels with water to loosen the glue
28:18the top label is just floating away and beneath there's 260 written on the big label and
28:35there's writing beneath the labels on the stretcher it's hard to make out but it could be renoir
28:41just checking because there's something stuck to the bottom of the stretcher bar
28:50it's another label
28:59rts
29:04underneath the stretch member is another piece of label
29:07what's the rest of the a beau arts
29:16so a pencil inscription saying renoir a large label number 262 and the little fragment of a
29:24label that must say beaux-arts or fine arts fascinating leads to pursue
29:29meanwhile i have an important meeting at phillips gallery and rebecca has been joined by her brother
29:39ben we've managed to secure an interview with martha lucy a senior curator at the barnes foundation
29:46and a specialist in renoir's late works hi there hello hi nice to see you again she's been comparing
29:52genuine renoirs in the collection with images of southern landscape and she's spotted some distinct
29:59similarities with a picture called woman with hat in a landscape so there's this picture of a of a
30:05woman sitting in a field that's a painting that's at the barns your picture reminded me of this yeah i
30:11can see that palette and the brushstrokes and just the way of working the type of subject even though
30:16there's no figure in yours especially the greens and yellows yeah the color scheme and just the
30:22way you can feel the wind sort of in the trees yes yeah yes the one that you have is so typical of what
30:29he was doing during the last years renoir had this really interesting way of working late in his career
30:38from around 1900 to 1919 and he would paint multiple sketches on one larger canvas
30:47martha has sent through a photograph of a canvas one of a number taken a century ago to record
30:52pictures in renoir's studio after his death that would be on one large canvas all those individual
30:59pictures wow and of completely different subjects as well yes completely different subjects so sometimes
31:06on one canvas you'll see a sketch of a head and next to a sketch of a landscape
31:10most of these groups of sketches were broken up into individual pictures and sold separately
31:19in fact martha has sent an image of a painting now in the barnes collection
31:23that was once part of this very canvas
31:25the obvious question then martha is ben rebecca's picture is that in any of the photographs yeah
31:34you know so i looked really i know i looked really really closer
31:39i looked so lovely but unfortunately no well that's disappointing because if it had been that would
31:47have been job done that would make life a lot easier wouldn't it bad luck but i'm keen to know
31:52whether martha has noticed any other technical similarities one of the things that we see in
31:59in the barnes pictures that have been cut down when you look at the edges you can see that the pictures
32:05have been lined which means that another canvas has sort of been put behind them which is pretty
32:10common practice at that time so the smaller fragment was cut out of the larger canvas
32:15and then placed on another canvas yeah before it was put on a wooden stretcher you know to be put
32:21into it yes you can see in the still life actually in the top left corner yeah um you can sort of see
32:27how there's brown paint that comes over the edges yeah of the tape yeah oh yeah look here do you see what
32:34i mean just a tiny bit yeah and why would that be because if if this picture had gone to a dealer
32:41and they had cut it up and were intending to sell it they probably wanted to sort of fill out some
32:48of the corners to make it look more complete and so looking at ben and rebecca's picture then
32:54oh and that that appears to be what's happened with yours doesn't it round the edges do you think
33:00if this is by renoir that these extra bits of paint we can see that sort of
33:06bled over onto the lining and the tape that's keeping that lining in place
33:11do you think that's another hand then someone has done that that would be my guess that somebody
33:16else has done it like probably a dealer after they've gotten it from renoir if this were a fake
33:23why would whoever did it go back and and repaint over it um it just doesn't make sense they'd do
33:30the whole thing at once exactly but if the picture was cut from a larger canvas of sketches
33:37what about the little red r we know that renoir sold some of these multi-image canvases
33:46before he died and then did the dealer favor and said look i'll just put my put a little r on on on
33:53each one he would have given his blessing as it were by putting an r on as well so that they could
33:57be used yes the fact that it may be a fragment does that make it any less of a a renoir oh that's
34:06such a good question um no absolutely not no we know that he gave his blessing to to do that sometimes
34:13um and you know the most important thing is like is it his hand still his hand still his paintwork
34:20yeah his idea yeah so having looked at all these pictures and with your extensive knowledge
34:26martha of renoir late renoir in particular and of fragments you know the big question has to be
34:36do you think ben and rebecca's picture could be a renoir i do i really do
34:46when i first saw the painting my gut feeling was like oh yes of course i've looked
34:52so long and so hard at um at these tiny works from the last decade of his career the brushwork
34:59the palette the subject it just it looks it looks right to me gosh all of it it's encouraging that
35:06martha thinks the southern landscape could be right even if she hasn't seen it in the flesh
35:13and i've got some equally upbeat news to share with jackie about the head of a young girl
35:22so jackie i know you're familiar with the front of your picture but we've been looking
35:30at the back so you've got two two labels one top left and one on the stretch of our
35:36we began by looking at the label in the top left hand corner l b h a renoir so what would the
35:46initials be the name of a gallery well we looked into that this refers to a gallery that was active
35:54in london in the 1920s and 30s called london barbazon house oh right barbazon house was set up in 1918 by
36:06scottish art dealer and editor of the art journal david crowl thompson and it's possible that this is
36:13where jackie's uncle bought the painting in the 1930s further down you see this label here this
36:20looks extraordinary i can't read that at all well very often leading art dealers would have their
36:27own labels their own printed design and if we look at this design here and compare it to a label that
36:35is from another art dealing company that was founded in the 20s in london called alex reed and lefevre
36:45limited and it seems to me that this lozenge shaped label would indicate that yours could well have come
36:52from lefevre definitely yes now we've approached them tried to find out more information unfortunately
37:01we haven't succeeded but it gets better oh we removed this top label and found beneath it yet another
37:10label 262 mm-hmm there is not enough to identify a gallery but it surely places the picture in france
37:22now beneath this label we found this inscription this says renoir oh now it was clearly written a long
37:37time ago because it's beneath a couple of labels which date to the early to mid 20th century and of
37:44course pierre bought it between 1934 and 1937 if your uncle bought it around about that time
37:55it was already a painting with history and with provenance we now know that early in that history
38:03the name renoir was already attached to it but beneath the stretcher bar rebecca who's been restoring
38:10this picture he's managed to discover a little fragment of a label beaux-arts the words beaux-arts are
38:17used generically quite a lot but what this could refer to is ecole des beaux-arts which was where renoir
38:25studied in the 1860s oh it's pushing us back to the time when the great young artist was working
38:34the question is is it enough to take us back to the magic name renoir well who knows
38:48phillips enlisted me to follow the trail of the label fragments to paris and i've come to the
38:54ecole des beaux-arts or school of fine arts which trained the leading artists of the day
38:59this is the very building young renoir would have arrived at in 1862 could this place have a connection
39:07to jackie's head of a young girl i'm hoping head of collections alice thomin berada has the answers
39:20when renoir studied here what kind of art did he study
39:23at the time of renoir l'école enseignait principalement le dessin l'école enseignait
39:31aussi la perspective l'anatomie ainsi que l'histoire et proposait des concours dans ces disciplines et on
39:43peut ici voir à quoi correspondait ces concours de perspectives les dessins très de mathématiques de
39:51personne qui est très technique oh dear this technical academic drawing doesn't sound like
39:59the intimate charming brushwork of jackie's picture but could the label fragments still be a lead
40:07well can i show you the picture that we are investigating c'est un portrait
40:13hang on on the back of this picture there is this stamp which looks like
40:20beaux-arts could that be a stamp from here from l'école des beaux-arts
40:25je n'en suis pas certaine en fait on a l'impression qu'il a juste écrit beaux-arts et pas école
40:33on voit pas le terme école au dessus donc en fait si c'est et en tout cas il me semble que la typographie
40:40ne date pas des années de renoir pour moi elle est un peu plus tardive
40:44en fait on se voit à l'élis meens en catalogue de l'élis le 1860s de façonnable lettering looks narrower
40:52rounder fonts like the one on our label seem to appear in the early 20th century
40:57So you think the lettering is actually much later than...
41:01Right, right.
41:01Right, OK.
41:05Understanding more about the conservative art world of 1860s Paris,
41:10it occurs to me that a little unfinished portrait like this
41:13may not have been exhibited or sold at the time,
41:16perhaps only reaching the art market at the height of Renoir's fame.
41:21But that would mean my trail has run cold.
41:26While Fionn is in Paris, I've taken the helm with the landscape.
41:34At the Courtauld Institute, Aviva has been working with conservation scientist Nathan Daly,
41:40and they're ready to reveal the results of their tests on the southern landscape.
41:46I've invited Rebecca and Suki to join us.
41:51Oh, hello.
41:53Hi.
41:54Hi.
41:55So...
41:56What has your microscope been able to reveal?
41:58Lots of different things.
42:00First, something quite interesting, and that's the abraded surface of the priming on the canvas.
42:05So the canvas is raw, and then there's a white priming that's been put on.
42:08And you can see that it's been rubbed down before the paint has been applied.
42:12So you can see the tips of the canvas weave poking through the priming layer.
42:16I see.
42:17You see that?
42:17So the artist, let's hope it's Renoir, has rubbed it down.
42:22Either the artist or it was bought like that.
42:24This is positive.
42:25Genuine late Renoir works often have similar traits, and a braided ground layer on a slightly
42:31coarse canvas.
42:32It's amazing how much texture there is.
42:34Yeah, and some lovely, fluid, rich bits of colour.
42:40Right.
42:40Well, you can see it's very directly painted.
42:42You can see that pure pigment's been used, and sometimes mixtures of pigment, perhaps using
42:46the same brush.
42:47It's amazing seeing it so close up, the way the colours really ping out at you.
42:52And how much colour there is.
42:54It's encouraging to see a use of pigments very like Renoir's own.
42:59No anomalies, so far.
43:02Next, to move beyond the human eye, to reveal the precise pigments used.
43:07The team have used Macro XRF, which directs x-rays at the surface of the painting, and allows
43:13them to build up a map of the chemical elements present.
43:17The big question is, are the pigments Nathan has detected in the landscape, those that Renoir
43:23is known to have used?
43:25I can bring up the lead distribution map here, you can see.
43:30So here, what you can see is lead white was used, mixed with different pigments or on
43:34its own for different elements of the painting.
43:37In a way, it almost looks like an x-ray.
43:38It's not an x-ray, it's just where the lead was used.
43:42A good start.
43:43Renoir made heavy use of lead white, which dried fast and could be used thickly to create
43:49his characteristic luminosity.
43:52I can also pull up the barium map, which shows where barium-based materials might have
43:59been used.
44:00Yeah, so barium might be barium sulphate or lithopone.
44:04So it was a material which was added by paint manufacturers to a whole range of different
44:09paints.
44:10We need to know that Renoir didn't make his own paints, he would have bought them.
44:15Barium sulphate was developed in the late 18th century and was used regularly as a filler
44:21in paints of Renoir's time.
44:24So, so far, so good.
44:25Next up, titanium.
44:28Titanium white is highly significant because it was newly invented in the early 20th century.
44:34This is one we don't want to find in the southern landscape.
44:38You can see it in the green map.
44:42Titanium white.
44:43It seems to be used in the priming layer.
44:49You mean the canvas?
44:50Yeah, so the canvas is then coated with the white material that we saw under the microscope,
44:55which has been abraded and rubbed.
44:57But in that layer, underneath the paint, is titanium.
45:01And these darker areas are regions where paint has been applied on top and is blocking the
45:06titanium signal from underneath.
45:08So it does appear to be associated with the canvas and its priming.
45:13Titanium dioxide was first marketed as a paint late in 1920.
45:19And that's exactly a year after Renoir's death.
45:23Finding it in a picture we've all found so compelling is a shock for everyone.
45:29Just, just hang on a moment here.
45:31So, I mean, what you're saying is quite serious.
45:35Nathan and I had a little disagreement about this when we first did the scans and he showed
45:39me the results.
45:40I thought, oh, you know, how I missed something.
45:42But he post-processed the information and I think we can be quite sure that titanium is
45:47there.
45:48And I also confirmed it using another technique, electron microscopy.
45:51So, it is in the priming layer.
45:56Not good news.
45:56It doesn't sound hopeful.
45:58I mean, I have to say, personally, I wasn't expecting an anomaly like this because...
46:04It's pretty conclusive, isn't it?
46:06I mean, it's science.
46:07It's factual evidence.
46:09Yeah, it's, for me, the most challenging thing that I've seen on Fake or Fortune.
46:16This seems like the end of the road for the southern landscape, but I want to pursue one
46:22last line of inquiry.
46:23I'm looking into the production of titanium white in the early 20th century to see if
46:32there's any way the pigment could have found its way into a genuine painting by Renoir.
46:36Rebecca, Suki and Ben have come to the gallery to find out what we've uncovered.
46:49As you know, with this picture, we have an issue.
46:54And that is titanium white, which was found in the ground.
46:58That is the layer between the canvas and the paint strokes.
47:01So, what we've done is try and ascertain, was there any evidence of titanium white before 1920?
47:10So, it turns out that researchers were, in fact, looking at synthetic titanium white as
47:15early as 1908.
47:18And then the commercial manufacture began in the States in 1916 and in Norway, of all places,
47:24in 1918.
47:25So, suddenly, it looks like there might be a bit of wiggle room with those dates, potentially.
47:32Could it be that the people who made these pre-prepared canvases could have used titanium
47:37in those, and thus, Renoir unwittingly was using titanium?
47:43So, what I did is I went back to the Barnes Foundation, and what they very kindly agreed to
47:47do was look at a selection of their paintings, analyse them to see if they had titanium white in
47:54them.
47:54So, they chose five of the ones they thought closest to yours.
48:02I don't know what this says, so let's see what they say.
48:10You're making me really nervous now.
48:12OK.
48:13It's a long shot, all right, but anyway, they have done the work.
48:18Dear Fake or Fortune, we just finished yesterday.
48:24We did not find titanium in any of the ground layers.
48:28We did note titanium in a paint layer in one area, but upon examination, it was clearly restoration
48:35paint applied later.
48:37Oh dear.
48:38I'm really sorry.
48:40I mean, it was always going to be a long shot.
48:43Yeah.
48:44OK.
48:45So, on the basis that this is not by Renoir, what a dashed, clever fake this is.
48:52Hmm.
48:53OK, let's just rub a bit of salt in the wound here.
48:56Hmm.
48:57If it was by Renoir, what would it have been worth?
49:02£100,000.
49:03God.
49:04Yes.
49:05And given that it now almost certainly is not by Renoir.
49:09God, I can't bear to say this, probably about £1,500.
49:13As much as that?
49:14Yes.
49:15More than I'd have thought.
49:16I mean, I feel particularly bad, because I know this was part of your family folklore.
49:21You know, your father gave it to your mother, you've got the picture and everything, the champagne.
49:25And also, you wanted to put the money to good use.
49:27Yeah.
49:28You know, for your mum.
49:29Hmm.
49:30Are you bitterly disappointed?
49:32In a sense, we're no worse off than we were.
49:35We had hope that we might find something new, and we haven't.
49:38And, yes, it's disappointing, but...
49:40It's been a great journey, though.
49:41It has.
49:42I appreciate all your hard investigative work.
49:45Yeah.
49:46Sorry it didn't...
49:47It didn't produce dividends, you know.
49:49Well, we've really...
49:50Some you win, some you lose.
49:51Exactly.
49:52Somewhat disappointed, for sure, but perhaps not completely unexpected.
50:07It doesn't change our feeling for the painting.
50:10It's still part of our family story, part of our parents' love for each other.
50:14Yeah.
50:15And so, it's still a great painting for us.
50:18We still love it.
50:19And I think, as well, working all three of us together to research and look into this has really bonded and connected us.
50:27And that's been a lovely thing.
50:29Ben, Souky, and Rebecca are putting on a brave face.
50:36The art world can be cruel sometimes.
50:41We're refocusing our efforts on the head of a young girl.
50:45Before we send the picture to Paris to be scrutinized by the committees,
50:49we've taken Aviva's advice about removing the discolored varnish.
50:54Conservator Rebecca Gregg is cleaning the portrait,
50:58revealing it as, perhaps, Renoir saw it.
51:03I'm just using a little bit of solvent now to dissolve the varnish layer.
51:08That's what you can see fluorescing in the ultraviolet light.
51:11It's only a very thin layer, but it is remarkable how big a change it makes to the painting,
51:17having a sort of filter of yellow across the surface.
51:25The time has come.
51:27The leading authorities on Renoir have studied the freshly cleaned portrait and have sent through their decisions.
51:34The thing with Jackie's picture is we've got not one, but two committees that we have to convince.
51:40But at least they haven't turned it down before, so we haven't got that hurdle to overcome.
51:44But I think the thing is with these committees, these custodians of an artist's reputation,
51:50is it's not so much we have to convince them to say yes, we have to find a good enough reason for them not to say no.
51:59And have we done that?
52:00The longer I've spent with this picture, the more I believe it.
52:06But if it is by the great man Renoir, it's going to have to be an early painting.
52:11It's also unfinished. It's a sketch.
52:14You know, those are both significant issues on their own.
52:18So if we're going to get this past the authorities, it's going to require a connoisseurial leap of faith.
52:25And I just don't know whether we're going to get it.
52:32Jackie has come to the gallery ready for the final verdicts and a reunion with her beloved portrait.
52:41So, Jackie, as you know, we've had this painting cleaned.
52:44And for the first time, I think, in the flesh, you'll now be able to see what it looks like.
52:49May I turn her over?
52:50Oh, please do.
52:54Here she is.
52:56That is amazing.
52:59It really, really looks different.
53:03She's beautiful.
53:06I love her gaze, actually.
53:08The clarity with the eyes now is just so stunning.
53:11She has joined us a little bit more.
53:13There's a bit more presence now, isn't there?
53:15A bit more presence, yes.
53:17As we are falling in love with this picture all over again,
53:20we need to find out if anyone else has fallen in love with this
53:22and believes it is, in fact, by Renoir.
53:24As you know, we've had to take it to two authenticating bodies,
53:29Wildenstein and Dauberville, to try and ask him whether this is or is not by Renoir, in their opinion.
53:35So, Philip, if this is not by Renoir, how much would this painting be worth?
53:41Even without the name Renoir, I think we are talking two, three, four, five thousand pounds.
53:47I honestly do.
53:49So, if it is by the great Renoir then, we're talking about something completely different, aren't we?
53:54As it's cleaned, it looks even more significant.
54:00We're looking at half a million pounds.
54:04What can one say?
54:05Oh, my goodness, the difference is so enormous.
54:08Mm-hmm.
54:09And it all comes down to what's in these.
54:13Well, put me out of my misery.
54:17Do you want to start? You've got the response from the Wildensteins.
54:20Yes.
54:21And I can see that there is one clear line.
54:25Following research, the scholarly review, the WPI, that is the Wildenstein Plattner Institute,
54:33has determined that the work will not be included in the catalogue.
54:39Jackie, I'm really sorry. They've said no.
54:42They've said no.
54:44Right.
54:45Okay.
54:47So, one down.
54:49One to go.
54:55This is from GPF Dubbeville. It is in French.
55:00We regret to inform you that this work cannot be listed in our archives as an authentic work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
55:12Oh, Jackie.
55:13I'm really sorry.
55:16So, no idea as to who could have painted it.
55:20They say, well, let me get, there's another sentence.
55:24If there arises a significant and certain provenance, if that could be established, we could eventually change our opinion.
55:34So, hang on a minute then.
55:37They're saying at the moment they don't think it's by Renoir, but that is a little window of opportunity, isn't it?
55:44The fact that they're saying, should a provenance come forward, they're prepared to reconsider it, would suggest to me that they feel, I think, little as we do, that there is an argument stylistically for this being by Renoir.
55:59The situation we're in is that they both say no, and that's what we've got to deal with.
56:03Yes.
56:04Even though Dubbeville is saying, if you find some more provenance, I'll take another look.
56:07And they don't generally say that kind of thing when we get these verdicts.
56:10So, I think that is really important.
56:13How do you feel about your picture now?
56:15Oh, I still love it.
56:16Good.
56:17Yes, yes.
56:19I've always liked it, and it doesn't really matter that much.
56:26Maybe I shouldn't say that, because it would have been wonderful to have owned a Renoir, but it'll go back where it was hanging before.
56:35So, you'll take it back and hang it on the wall, and...
56:37It'll go back in the same place, and it'll look at me every evening.
56:44We've taken on two possible Renoirs, and we've lost.
56:50It was always going to be a tall order, wasn't it?
56:52With one of the great names like Renoir, to find a new, undiscovered work.
56:56I mean, that would have been just extraordinary.
57:00And then the landscape, it looked really good to begin with, but it was clearly an outright deception for a forgery.
57:07I can't help feeling a little bit sad, though, about the portrait.
57:12The name Renoir seemed to me to fit.
57:15Doberville have left the door ajar.
57:19And who knows?
57:20Perhaps one day that elusive piece of provenance may suddenly emerge.
57:27If you think you have an undiscovered masterpiece or other precious object, contact us at bbc.co.uk slash fake or fortune.
57:45If you think you could come back?
57:50Is this the one that courts it was really Nova Scotava?
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