''Fake or Fortune?'' is a

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

documentary television series which examines the

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

and attribution of notable artworks. Since the first series aired in 2011, ''Fake or Fortune?'' has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in the UK, the highest for an arts show in that country. ''Fake or Fortune?'' was created by

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Philip Mould, together with producer Simon Shaw. It was inspired by Mould's 2009 book ''Sleuth'', after which the programme was originally to be entitled. It is co-presented by Mould and journalist Fiona Bruce, with specialist research carried out by Bendor Grosvenor during the first five series. 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 Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

before being broadcast in the UK.

Format

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 up with international experts and following up local leads. Series 7, episode 5 saw the show tackle their first

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, a work attributed to

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

. The team was assisted by art historian Bendor Grosvenor until a disagreement over his new BBC4 series '' Britain's Lost Masterpieces'' ended his involvement after five series in 2016. 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. 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 A (or critical catalogue) is an annotated listing of the works of an artist or group of artists and can contain all works or a selection of works categorised by different parameters such as medium or period. A ''catalogue raisonné'' is normal ...

''. 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.

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2011)

File:Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil - Monet.jpg, File:Winslow Homer's 'Children Under a Palm Tree'.jpg, ''Children Under a Palm Tree'' File:The Procuress.jpg, ''The Procuress'' File:Man in an Oriental Costume - Isaac de Jouderville.jpg, ''Man in an Oriental Costume''

Series 2 (2012)

Danseuse Bleue et Contrebasses - Edgar Degas.jpg, Edgar Degas - ''Danseuse Bleue et Contrebasses'' File:J.M.W. Turner - The Beacon Light.jpg, Turner – ''The Beacon Light'' File:J.M.W. Turner - Off Margate.jpg, Turner – ''Off Margate'' File:J.M.W. Turner - Margate Jetty.jpg, Turner – ''Margate Jetty'' File:Van Dyke Henrietta before.jpg, Van Dyck – ''Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, as St Catherine'' before restoration File:Attributed to Van Dyck - Queen Henrietta Maria as St Catherine.jpg, The same 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. Philip Mould described the appearance on Swedish television weeks ahead of the British premiere as a "weird BBC World cock-up". SVT on its website described the programme at the time as a "" (British documentary from 2012). File:Edouard Vuillard The Cafe.jpg, ''The Café'' (1918) by Édouard Vuillard File:John Constable (1776-1837) - Yarmouth Jetty - N02650 - National Gallery.jpg, Yarmouth Jetty by John Constable File:Imaginary Landscape.jpg, ''Imaginary Landscape'' by Thomas Gainsborough File:A portrait of Joseph Gape.jpg, ''Portrait of Joseph Gape'' by Thomas Gainsborough

Series 4 (2015)

'Descent from the Cross' by Francesco Montemezzano.jpg, ''The Deposition'' by Francesco Montemezzano

Series 5 (2016)

Filming for the fifth series started on 24 November 2015. Saint Amelia, Queen of Hungary Delaroche.jpg, '' Saint Amelia, Queen of Hungary'' by Delaroche Portrait of a Lady - Mercier.jpg, ''Portrait of a Lady'' by

Philip Mercier Philippe Mercier (also spelled Philip Mercier; 1689 – 18 July 1760) was an artist of Huguenots, French Huguenot descent from the German realm of Brandenburg-Prussia (later Kingdom of Prussia), usually defined to French art, French school. Act ...

Series 6 (2017)

The series was originally planned to have four episodes; "Giacometti" was postponed. Tom Roberts Rejected.jpg, ''Rejected'' by

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

Willy Lott's Cottage - Constable.jpg, '' Willy Lott's Cottage'' by

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

Series 7 (2018)

Note: Series 7 was broadcast at the same time that

BARB Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * 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. Dido Elizabeth Belle.jpg, '' Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray'' by David Martin Emma Soyer (Emma Jones) Two Black Children.jpg, A painting of two black children by Emma Jones

Series 8 (2019)

Portrait of Peniston Lamb II - Thomas Lawrence.jpg, ''Peniston Lamb II'' by

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

Series 9 (2021)

The

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

disrupted the production schedule, but in September 2020, Philip Mould announced that pre-production of the ninth series had started. At Payer by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1858.jpg, ''At Prayer'' (1858) by

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

... Landseer - a collection of fifteen pictures and a portrait of the painter (1901) (14765825062).jpg, ''Time of War'' (1846) by Sir Edwin Landseer (this image is a print published in 1901) Second Sketch for The Last Supper by Benjamin West 1786.jpg, Second preparatory sketch for ''The Last Supper'' (1786) by

Benjamin West Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...

(before restoration)

Series 10 (2022)

Series 11 (2023)

Series 12 (2024)

Reception

Describing the outcome of the first episode of series one as a "scandal", Sam Wollaston writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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". In ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 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." Tom Sutcliffe in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 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." 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) while the first programme of the fourth series attracted 4.85m (24.5%). The record audience for the series was on 12 July 2015 with a peak attendance of 5.8 million viewers (episode 4.2 "Renoir"). 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." 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 ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural and serial drama television programme created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It began broadcasting on BBC Two on 26 June 2012. ...

''".

Competitive Tender

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.

International broadcasts

The programme had its North American premiere on Canada's

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

in 2011. 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, and Series 4 has been available on Netflix (as Season 1) since December 2018. The programme airs on ABC in Australia.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title BBC television documentaries Documentary television series about art Art forgery 2011 British television series debuts 2010s British documentary television series 2020s British documentary television series British English-language television shows Television series by BBC Studios