Worth mentioning is that the Wildenstein Institute is now shut down, after serious doubts about their impartiality was shown, and more importantly, after 30 million pounds in stolen artwork was found in their institute. Oh, and they're also being charged with about 500 million in tax fraud.
I can't properly draw a stick figure, yet I find this program series fascinating. The search for truths is itself, fascinating further, Im learning a bit about art from the very best. Thanks for all your hard work!
Your speaking, expressive delivery, Philip is so so so warm, full of life and the appreciation of Beauty on this planet. Bless you and yours. I also very much love Fiona and her love and passion.
The owner of the false attribution really took the news standing up. He looks well-heeled but still that would be disappointing. One wonders how one would handle such news oneself. I don’t think I would be as stoical as he. Superb episode. Authenticating works clearly comes down to a lot more than the opinion of an expert. It seems that there are a lot more tools at hand today than merely expertise and provenance to draw upon. Amazing sleuthing!!
Putting discussion of the results below to avoid spoilers just in case my post appears anywhere early on in the comment list. Wonderful episode as always, and even more than the art, I was especially captivated by the tale of Steffie's grandfather. Very moving--and educational. I've never heard about the Reich's plans for Great Britain once they invaded. Chilling enough to hear that there was such a gruesome list... but to learn one's grandfather was on it! My father's relatives died anonymously, like millions of others, which is more horrific obviously, but there is something so malicious and sterile about writing out such a roster of desired victims like a frickin' grocery shopping list. A shame about James's piece, but how lovely for Steffie! The sketch went for $924K, three times its estimate.
Now I understand why forgers are succeeding and why authentic paintings are being refused, and is because it's just based on visual appraisal instead of an in-deep research.
Well, what would I do? Take it out of the frame and match up all the lines of the other figures intruding to near the crouched woman. Why they didn't do this is puzzling.
@filmbuff000 you might not have understood what I wrote. I was talking in general, and it happened with both artworks presenter here: before the research was done by this show, at some point, both of those pieces were wrongfully categorized by the experts.
Fascinating journey, as always, and what a great result for the team, and especially for Steffie. The Nazi's were very precise with their lists... Most of my father's family were on such, some because of prominence, but most simply for being Jewish and the majority did not survive the Holocaust. I am here because my mother's family hid my father up in their attic, inside a false ceiling space, for three whole years until the end of that war. The entire family's lives being at daily risk during that period. They all survived, despite suspicions by the occupiers and two pre-dawn raids that fortunately discovered nothing. Like all the others, my paternal grandparents house and valuables were simply appropriated by the Germans. The family were certainly not massively wealthy but definitely comfortably upper middle class, and as my grandfather was a professional concert musician, they moved within artistic circles. Who knows what little recognised treasures, if any, they then possessed!? I guess we will never know. As to the Still Life, now attributed to 'one of'* Gauguin's contemporaries; it's still a beautiful piece, and of that period and 'artistic'set', so I was surprised that the valuation was so low. Is it so devalued because of the 'heinous crime' of the forged signature? { * Is there any way- brush strokes etc.- the picture could be confirmed as being by one of these others? } Surely Gauguin, were he present today and sitting around a table of these same artists, would have been utterly astounded at the prices his works, and even his discarded sketches, now command. One wonders whether, he being intimately acquainted with the vicissitudes of poverty, might have {Posthumously!} even encouraged his former friends to make use of his signature if that then secured them a roof overhead and full belly! 🤔😄
Thank you for your interesting comment. Did your father write about those three years? Is it correct to assume that your mother’s family was not Jewish? I always welcome hearing stories like yours. They attest that there were people like your mother’s family who did the right thing. In addition, there were also stories of survival, even though those were the exceptions in a period that continues to defy comprehension.
It doesn't defy comprehension. Look at what's happening currently in Ukraine and a number of other parts of the world. Humankind remains far less than 'kind' and the world seems to be getting more self absorbed and less compassionate year by year. Yes, my mother's family were Dutch Orthodox and, no, my father never wrote, nor spoke about his experiences. He preferred to look forward, not back. A survival strategy that had both positives and negatives. @@Ephilates2024
A new auction record for a print by Paul Gauguin was achieved when ‘Crouching Tahitian Woman Seen From The Back’ sold for £577,250 ($924,466), over three times the estimate (£180,000-220,000).
A ten year old can do the same! I don't get it!!! Such rubbish in the art world! All fraud for people who know nothing about art!! Without a nice frame it would look like a street artist did it, as best. because some street artists are so much better!!!
@@Dan-xx5jq While I don’t find the Impressionists particularly my style, and modern art even less, they had an episode with two paintings with persons of color, and they were both stunning. There is a saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is a Twilight Zone episode, Eye of the Beholder, you might want to watch.
@@risk5riskmks93 A sketch that a ten year old can do??? I used to draw so much better when I was a kid! I don't understand this rubbish. His proportions are all wrong. He paints like a kid using a coloring book??? They didn't know about Tahiti then, big deal!! Just another fraud of this bogus art world!!! Full of fraudsters!!
Eric Hebborn being a brilliant example of the kind of forger you refer to. I'm more than happy, having read his book, to believe that to this day a major US art museum still shows a work of his wrongly attributed to a Dutch old master. Humans are brilliant at many things including being able to make detailed comparisons. Humans are also fallible.
to be a true artist your whole life should be insane, not just your art. Half the heroes of the past are famous for who they were, not so much what they did. Van Gogh. Carravaggio. Warhol. I could go on. Great art gets you in the door. But if you just a stick in the mud, thats as far as you will make it. Picasso. Famous not for his great art, but for being 'Picasso'......
rejecting a painting or sketch doesnt mean it isnt authentic. those who deny its authenticity will keep track of it and wait to purchase the picture at a fraction of its value by the discouraged owner
seen one where the artist left a fingerprint on the back. Other than that experts can divest all day, this way and that. Yes, No. Really cant prove it at all. When you buy art, take a photos of you and the artist with the painting. Shaking hands. Done it a few times. There's your damn provenance
Charles Lavalle and Emile Bernard were tremendous artists. I certainly know who they are. My grandmother was trained in Paris and met all these great names. Later she painted impressionist landscapes . I really don't know who trained her, but I know she spent time in Paris learning from the impressionists, she died before I was born. But one of her paintings reminded me of Pissarro or an Early Gaugiin
Art is so subjective! Art is in the eye of the beholder… I paint, has anyone seen my paintings besides my family, friends, and maybe some co-worker’s? No! So I’m not a priceless artist according to this show. But my family values my work. And maybe someday someone will. I’m the meantime I will continue to paint for myself, and grow. Someday I may create an Instagram or yt. But I don’t need Sotheby’s to tell me what art is!
Ashley you already have the self obsession which most great artists habituate. I don’t know if you didn’t know this show and this comment section wasn’t about you. But one thing is obvious, if your work is as unoriginal as your sentiment that Sotheby’s doesn’t need to tell you what great art is- than by all means please stop making such unoriginal art. Hopefully you’re better at painting then at getting people excited about a non existent Instagram or yt! Maybe you should move to Tahiti like Paul Gauguin did and spread syphilis among the population of native women? (just a thought)
The Wildenstein Institute actually got it right with that Gauguin sketch! See, if one has an airtight provenance trail, this haughty Parisian bastion will gladly declare the work of art in question as authentic. Being an authority figure can sometimes be exhausting and annoying-everyone fears you, secretly hates you or outright fights you. I know that from personal experience. I can’t imagine that the Wildenstein Institute isn’t vexed in the same way by so many rich and powerful people who demand that their works of art are authentic. Well, you need that provenance trail!
45:07 the number doesn't match! frame says "180" - exhibition catalogue says "190" ... for doing full due diligence there should be a look at what was listed as "180" in the catalogue and that picture found and checked at rear if that one says "190" on the frame
Some really nasty comments below: never seen such spite before. Makes one hesitate to read them. I found the programme fascinating and that is enough for me. Thank you, Fiona and Philip.
The yellow "squiggle" on James' painting sure looks like a word to me. Capital A followed by some letters that could spell Augustin. There is even a dotted "i". Also it is not in line with the table edge but is aligned with the edge of the painting, horizontally like a word would be. Check it out
You may be right. Also, not two of one's signatures are exactly the same. Anyway, the experts don't seem to be absolutely sure that the painting is not a Guaguin. There's no rule against signing after the paint dried.
There is one problem with the drawing in that the 1928 Basel catalogue repertories the drawing under the No. 190, when the label for that exhibit refers it as a No 180 ?
With all due respect. Just because Fiona hasn't heard of Bernard, doesn't mean she should suggest that he is an unheard of artist. He was good friends of van Gogh's, and his meetings with him are well documented. There is even a very rare photo of Bernard and possibly the back of Vincent sitting at a table.
She said that he was a nobody in the art world compared to Gauguin, and that the average person has heard of Gauguin and not of Bernard. She's not wrong
Come on, she's just making a point that Gaugin is a celebrity. Bernard, who was a great painter and remains very underrated, is not. Nothing she said was untrue
She's not wrong. Some people outside the art circle might of known about Gauguin, but almost none if absolute none know's of Bernard. Stop being art snobs thinking everyone knows every artist ever in history xD
For the crouching Tahitian, the cut sketch does not have the very distinct horizontal line just below the right hand that starts from outside and crosses into the skirt that is present in the whole page.
@@genicabre I thought of that at first. But take screenshots of both images and zoom in. No chance it won’t come up since it’s very distinct on the whole page, and very absent in the cut image. The lighter lines even showed up on the cut image.
I can't ignore the intuitive feeling I get that the Painting is actually a Gaughan, I'm getting a visual of him applying the signature and dedication with a focus on it being "done well", as he had some extra interest in the Recipient, he had an appreciation for the man and possibly also his family. This painting will come to be realized as Authentic, through some paperworks, possibly a letter in his own handwriting. I'd be curious to know if anything has transpired since this filming. I wish the owner well, would encourage him to readjust his Thoughts and Feelings on the painting, and apply a strong belief feeling, a knowing level, and "let it manifest", because, it is Absolute", the "Law of Attraction" is Powerfully Absolute. ✨ Best Thoughts ...
The still life might be by Louis Anquetin. Maybe that's not a squiggle. I kinda read Anquetin's signature in that squiggle. Even twice. It's hard to tell in low resolution.
The Sketch: I find the Provenance to be worth far more that an Individual or Institution. For Egos really do taint the truths. ✨ (I think/feel the Painting is fabulous.). ... not at all bothered by the opinions of the others. It's authentic in my mind.
To be honest I also thought since the beginning that the still-life was not by Gauguin. The colors were not bright enough as we know his paintings have.
The expression on that girls face is very telling. Its interesting how you include that disturbing photo without even saying that perhaps raping children is bad.
so, - the wildenstein institute approved the sketch - thank God the grandfather wildenstein had never got a chance to see it, and declare it a "fake" hohoho
One possibility that occurred to me.... Gaugains' friend and fellow painter sold several (6 ?) Gaugains to an auction house after his death. What if this other painter thought he knew Gaugains style well enough to forge a few to pick up some quick money when the Gaugains work would be going up in value? Who would question his friend over just a few paintings?
i write graffiti. Had 20 plus people directly copy my style a week after I did something. I guarantee people in the trade were copying him moments after his death. Without a doubt. His 'frienhds', who watched him paint for years. Know his style. He dies. Bang Boom make a few new ones, sell them asap. Starving artists are all poor. They will bend most morals for some dosh
@@celtoloco788 I haven't had many responses but I am glad I got yours since you can relate so well to what may have happened. I hope you are successful with your own art. It must be difficult to put a piece of yourself out there for people to critique.
These people do realize that someone's signature can look different, that it doesn't always look exactly the same, and isn't always perfect right? 🤔 My signature and initials look VASTLY different when i'm in a rush and don't care what it looks like versus when i'm actually taking my time and care what it looks like- in fact sometimes while i'm in a rush I don't even do my entire name whereas when I care it's fully spelled out and immaculate. Tbh if I didn't know it was my handwriting i'd think it was two different people that's how vastly different it can look 🤷🏻♀️ So just because the two aren't EXACTLY the same doesn't automatically mean one isn't genuine plus if the one was actually a fake then the person who made the fake would actually TRY to make it look genuine (i've seen fakes that look real that's how good some counterfeits are) versus this mess. Obviously this doesn't prove it's real but it also doesn't prove it's fake either it's literally people just guessing and their opinion not fact 🤷🏻♀️
The problem with these indigent artists is, after their deaths their agents went round their ateliers and "finished" stuff. There's some particularly nasty Cézannes in the Tate. When you read the labels you see the Tate thinks they're nasty too. Too me the most important gauge is is it beautiful? The oranges aren't the Tahitian lady is. In the book it's "Le" Seigner, on the painting it's "au". It makes more sense on the painting, and could be a typo in the book.
I thought the opposite, since final works usually do not look identical to preparatory sketches. I noticed how the shadows on the left arm match, and suspected the drawing was made after the painting.
I think that might be a particular phenomenon, to sync up with the person you're walking with (at least if you like them). I remember hearing that people often have to physically push themselves to walk out of step with someone they're walking with, so I tested it with a friend. It was definitely hard- we kept falling in step together once we stopped focusing on walking at a different tempo. A fun experiment to try though! Definitely recommend it.
One cant help but to laugh at Phillip's buffoonery at times, the way in which he foists and then crumples the letter which he previously glorified as the 'vindicating evidence' does make one shudder - Also is this the only episode in which Fiona Bruce doesnt speak a foreign language or reminisce on her time studying in Paris?
My niece is a natural artist like my father…y her dad once said,she got it from me but she was in a catholic Universidad the oldest Spanish school in Asia(most Pres went or not the American established one) …she switched to pharmacology course (grad y certified)into another catholic college in the same ciudad ; yes it was expensive the Art School was 😂; y it’s hard to live off with that course…that’s what I thought though my gf then wanted me to take it( she is teacher in NY fr our lowly archipelagic town or a retired 😢 a man artist a musically cultured 😊)
Sold for 3x the estimate -- about $924K! Even minus the auction house's cut, I think she can if she's got good financial advice. Of course she may love nursing so, who knows.
The sketch really doesn't add up to me, the discrepancy in numbering - surely someone should have picked that up? I also wouldn't say it lined up perfectly the shoukder was a little off, any forger would've done all the homework in copying all the irregularities on the periphery
A Danish friend of my family was a close descendant of Gauguin's Danish wife, whom he abondoned. He treated his wife and children badly and spent a lot of time away from them before going to Tahiti and abandoning them for good. What a rotten person. But can we see any of that egocentricity and disdain for other people in his art? Should it matter?
Sometimes the egocentricity of artists is actually what allows them to be great. When you don't really care about how you treat other people, you can just concentrate TOTALLY on art. I've met several famous modern artists who fall into this category, and many I would describe as borderline autistic - bad with people but brilliant with art.
Well, she (the Danish wife, Mette Gad) basically told him to leave. It was probably easier for her to live without him. Today two of his descendants are well known and respected musicians here in Denmark.
Gauguin’s wife was a posh gal that dumped her husband because he stopped buying her expensive dresses after he quit his lucrative life as a stock trader. She had her brothers physically remove Gauguin from seeing his children. She was no angel, just like him. Yes we can see him mistreating people in his art, he acknowledges 1.that he has syphilis in some of his art, and 2. That he has sex with very young, vulnerable females in his art. This was a death sentence for many of the girls involved and that is what the pictures are documents of. Should it matter? That my dear, is a question only you can answer for yourself.
Remember, it works both ways, at the time Gauguin had to marry someone his family chose and do the stock broker grind. Yes, women had few choices at the time, but men also. Mme Gauguin wasn't supportive of her husband at all. Today they would just divorce and go separate ways, which is essentially what they did.
I thought this SHOW was clearly titled “Fake or Fortune”…?….what on Earth could that possibly mean….?. (So puzzling) I think it might have to do with investigating art in terms of art market valuation, but I’m still confused. I know! They should change the name of this RUclips CHANNEL the show is on from Perspective to 'It Ain't Art Unless it is Worth Millions'… Because one viewer is an illiterate. Who can’t tell the difference between a RUclips channel airing at tv show and the whole channel, itself. Welcome to the internet, folks!
200 million for that are you kidding me the picture on my refrigerator must be worth at least 60 million then and it's a lot newer not old and falling apart mine is definitely authentic, because I recognize my five-year-old signature are there any opening bids for 14 million dollars🎨 I've got a Play-Doh sculpture willing to part with for about 18 million
She’s a reporter. That’s what they do. It’s a technique of getting people to agree to the obvious in order to charm them toward your opinion. (In order to rise that far in the BBC you have to be a natural propagandist)
I’m proud of the people, and the efforts made to find all the art the Nazis stole. I’m glad that even today the search still continues. And that stolen works of art are still being repatriated where they belong.
I don't find Gauguins art very attractive, and I especially don't like Picasso. Rembrandt, Turner and Vermeer would be my favourites and Landseer's animals are unmatched. Realism rules for me.
A lot of art ‘critics’ in the comments down here. People can be so vitriolic and full of hate, no wonder painters and other artists hate people like these
I believe by including a picture of a Japanese print Gauguin was trying to focus attention on the technique of flattening out the image into outlined blocks of color… that’s why to me his picture is of an entirely different quality than his friends.
Heartbreaking to know that the Artist died impoverished and never got to bask in the admiration that we now have for their work, not to mention the money that is now being made over their backs.. Really sad.
I swear he is stuck on 200,000 pounds. Gauguin! an unknown! Is he only allowed to say 200,000 pounds for all of them? Why didnt they take a flake of paint from a positive one and this one and compare. They have done it before. Maybe the peaches will eventually be proven as Gauguin. Lets hope.
Is it just me ,or does anyone else hate the ornate ,fat gold frames on these works of modern art? I really think they detract from the simple elegance of the paintings.
As a statue, outside the BBC, is the subject of attack, due to the sexual nature of it's creator, what are we to think of works like this, created by a man who had sexual relationships with girls as young as 13? I honestly don't know the "correct" response - though, I suspect that, in the current climate, it does not look good for anyone putting these works on their walls!
As someone who has advanced degrees in Art History..connoisseurship...is one of the most ridiculous things on earth....some fool who thinks they are "experts" based solely on their "eye' make or break a work of art. The Gauguin woman is a fool.
Art is such bs. Lol if I drew a sketch like the one here; no one would even look at it twice, let alone say it's "stunning" or "powerful" I'd put my life on that. It's a simple, ugly sketch lol same with the oranges painting smh that is basic still life art. People see dollar signs with certain artists names and think they are "stunning or powerful" If one of the masters sneezed on a canvas, it would be a mastersneeze, I mean masterpiece. Smh
Worth mentioning is that the Wildenstein Institute is now shut down, after serious doubts about their impartiality was shown, and more importantly, after 30 million pounds in stolen artwork was found in their institute. Oh, and they're also being charged with about 500 million in tax fraud.
BRILLIANT . Arrogant thieves
Excellent. Pompous asses.
Really? Shocked….
Bastards
WOW!
I can't properly draw a stick figure, yet I find this program series fascinating. The search for truths is itself, fascinating further, Im learning a bit about art from the very best. Thanks for all your hard work!
Your speaking, expressive delivery, Philip is so so so warm, full of life and the appreciation of Beauty on this planet. Bless you and yours. I also very much love Fiona and her love and passion.
The owner of the false attribution really took the news standing up. He looks well-heeled but still that would be disappointing. One wonders how one would handle such news oneself. I don’t think I would be as stoical as he.
Superb episode. Authenticating works clearly comes down to a lot more than the opinion of an expert. It seems that there are a lot more tools at hand today than merely expertise and provenance to draw upon. Amazing sleuthing!!
Putting discussion of the results below to avoid spoilers just in case my post appears anywhere early on in the comment list. Wonderful episode as always, and even more than the art, I was especially captivated by the tale of Steffie's grandfather. Very moving--and educational. I've never heard about the Reich's plans for Great Britain once they invaded. Chilling enough to hear that there was such a gruesome list... but to learn one's grandfather was on it! My father's relatives died anonymously, like millions of others, which is more horrific obviously, but there is something so malicious and sterile about writing out such a roster of desired victims like a frickin' grocery shopping list.
A shame about James's piece, but how lovely for Steffie! The sketch went for $924K, three times its estimate.
How exciting for her!
That discovery must have been emotional for you. What a horrible time for a lot of people! Take care of you.
Well said indeed!
Now I understand why forgers are succeeding and why authentic paintings are being refused, and is because it's just based on visual appraisal instead of an in-deep research.
Well, what would I do? Take it out of the frame and match up all the lines of the other figures intruding to near the crouched woman. Why they didn't do this is puzzling.
Copy with digital robot with charcoal. Would make a close reproduction.
@@donaldkasper8346 Refusing to properly screen artwork is why the institute doesn't exist today.
Provence is everything.
@filmbuff000 you might not have understood what I wrote. I was talking in general, and it happened with both artworks presenter here: before the research was done by this show, at some point, both of those pieces were wrongfully categorized by the experts.
Fascinating journey, as always, and what a great result for the team, and especially for Steffie. The Nazi's were very precise with their lists... Most of my father's family were on such, some because of prominence, but most simply for being Jewish and the majority did not survive the Holocaust. I am here because my mother's family hid my father up in their attic, inside a false ceiling space, for three whole years until the end of that war. The entire family's lives being at daily risk during that period. They all survived, despite suspicions by the occupiers and two pre-dawn raids that fortunately discovered nothing. Like all the others, my paternal grandparents house and valuables were simply appropriated by the Germans. The family were certainly not massively wealthy but definitely comfortably upper middle class, and as my grandfather was a professional concert musician, they moved within artistic circles. Who knows what little recognised treasures, if any, they then possessed!? I guess we will never know.
As to the Still Life, now attributed to 'one of'* Gauguin's contemporaries; it's still a beautiful piece, and of that period and 'artistic'set', so I was surprised that the valuation was so low. Is it so devalued because of the 'heinous crime' of the forged signature? {
* Is there any way- brush strokes etc.- the picture could be confirmed as being by one of these others? }
Surely Gauguin, were he present today and sitting around a table of these same artists, would have been utterly astounded at the prices his works, and even his discarded sketches, now command. One wonders whether, he being intimately acquainted with the vicissitudes of poverty, might have {Posthumously!} even encouraged his former friends to make use of his signature if that then secured them a roof overhead and full belly! 🤔😄
Thank you for your interesting comment. Did your father write about those three years? Is it correct to assume that your mother’s family was not Jewish? I always welcome hearing stories like yours. They attest that there were people like your mother’s family who did the right thing. In addition, there were also stories of survival, even though those were the exceptions in a period that continues to defy comprehension.
It doesn't defy comprehension. Look at what's happening currently in Ukraine and a number of other parts of the world. Humankind remains far less than 'kind' and the world seems to be getting more self absorbed and less compassionate year by year. Yes, my mother's family were Dutch Orthodox and, no, my father never wrote, nor spoke about his experiences. He preferred to look forward, not back. A survival strategy that had both positives and negatives. @@Ephilates2024
So happy for Steffie.
Always when it's about a great master, I know it'll be an extremely interesting investigation!
A new auction record for a print by Paul Gauguin was achieved when ‘Crouching Tahitian Woman Seen From The Back’ sold for £577,250 ($924,466), over three times the estimate (£180,000-220,000).
A ten year old can do the same! I don't get it!!! Such rubbish in the art world! All fraud for people who know nothing about art!! Without a nice frame it would look like a street artist did it, as best. because some street artists are so much better!!!
Ill take a Bob Ross over these any day!!
@@torlandmusiq For the titanium white clouds and some happy little trees? ;)
@@Dan-xx5jq While I don’t find the Impressionists particularly my style, and modern art even less, they had an episode with two paintings with persons of color, and they were both stunning. There is a saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is a Twilight Zone episode, Eye of the Beholder, you might want to watch.
thats not the same picture though
I wish they would do follow ups on what happened next. What did it sell for?
Another comment said $924,000.
@@risk5riskmks93 A sketch that a ten year old can do??? I used to draw so much better when I was a kid! I don't understand this rubbish. His proportions are all wrong. He paints like a kid using a coloring book??? They didn't know about Tahiti then, big deal!! Just another fraud of this bogus art world!!! Full of fraudsters!!
@@risk5riskmks93
No that’s not the same one.
I adore this series but the spoilers the start are infuriating
Even the most renown forgery experts can’t always succeed at determining what’s a fake or not. Some forgers really are that good.
Eric Hebborn being a brilliant example of the kind of forger you refer to. I'm more than happy, having read his book, to believe that to this day a major US art museum still shows a work of his wrongly attributed to a Dutch old master.
Humans are brilliant at many things including being able to make detailed comparisons. Humans are also fallible.
@@rumblef1sh im willing to bet people who love crime, collect forged art. By famous forgers. Its a niche all of its own
As long as they can forge materials age..
The background and 'human interest' stories behind these works are always an interesting part of this series.
to be a true artist your whole life should be insane, not just your art. Half the heroes of the past are famous for who they were, not so much what they did. Van Gogh. Carravaggio. Warhol. I could go on. Great art gets you in the door. But if you just a stick in the mud, thats as far as you will make it. Picasso. Famous not for his great art, but for being 'Picasso'......
Dali. Keith Haring. Even Anish Kapoor. The man's aura is as important as what he does
rejecting a painting or sketch doesnt mean it isnt authentic. those who deny its authenticity will keep track of it and wait to purchase the picture at a fraction of its value by the discouraged owner
You make sure you never sell it to them, or sell it based on a legal contract that if reassigned, you get your percentage.
Great Point!
seen one where the artist left a fingerprint on the back. Other than that experts can divest all day, this way and that. Yes, No. Really cant prove it at all. When you buy art, take a photos of you and the artist with the painting. Shaking hands. Done it a few times. There's your damn provenance
Charles Lavalle and Emile Bernard were tremendous artists. I certainly know who they are. My grandmother was trained in Paris and met all these great names. Later she painted impressionist landscapes . I really don't know who trained her, but I know she spent time in Paris learning from the impressionists, she died before I was born. But one of her paintings reminded me of Pissarro or an Early Gaugiin
I love these shows. So interesting.
Art is so subjective! Art is in the eye of the beholder… I paint, has anyone seen my paintings besides my family, friends, and maybe some co-worker’s? No! So I’m not a priceless artist according to this show. But my family values my work. And maybe someday someone will. I’m the meantime I will continue to paint for myself, and grow. Someday I may create an Instagram or yt. But I don’t need Sotheby’s to tell me what art is!
It's a kind of Wall Strret...And actual artists can be made or broken...
The whole thing of obvious oranges was the squiggle of crap in the front. So prominent and lazy. Right there, not the real thing.
Sadly now art is in the eye of the banks/ hedge funds/ pension funds etc
Ashley you already have the self obsession which most great artists habituate. I don’t know if you didn’t know this show and this comment section wasn’t about you. But one thing is obvious, if your work is as unoriginal as your sentiment that Sotheby’s doesn’t need to tell you what great art is- than by all means please stop making such unoriginal art.
Hopefully you’re better at painting then at getting people excited about a non existent Instagram or yt!
Maybe you should move to Tahiti like Paul Gauguin did and spread syphilis among the population of native women? (just a thought)
So defensive, Ashley.
The Wildenstein Institute actually got it right with that Gauguin sketch! See, if one has an airtight provenance trail, this haughty Parisian bastion will gladly declare the work of art in question as authentic. Being an authority figure can sometimes be exhausting and annoying-everyone fears you, secretly hates you or outright fights you. I know that from personal experience. I can’t imagine that the Wildenstein Institute isn’t vexed in the same way by so many rich and powerful people who demand that their works of art are authentic. Well, you need that provenance trail!
45:07 the number doesn't match! frame says "180" - exhibition catalogue says "190" ... for doing full due diligence there should be a look at what was listed as "180" in the catalogue and that picture found and checked at rear if that one says "190" on the frame
Some really nasty comments below: never seen such spite before. Makes one hesitate to read them. I found the programme fascinating and that is enough for me. Thank you, Fiona and Philip.
The yellow "squiggle" on James' painting sure looks like a word to me. Capital A followed by some letters that could spell Augustin. There is even a dotted "i". Also it is not in line with the table edge but is aligned with the edge of the painting, horizontally like a word would be. Check it out
You may be right. Also, not two of one's signatures are exactly the same. Anyway, the experts don't seem to be absolutely sure that the painting is not a Guaguin. There's no rule against signing after the paint dried.
It was probably the original signature of the real artist.
Wonderful finish…great detective work as usual…well done…
I just watch these episodes for the scarves
There is one problem with the drawing in that the 1928 Basel catalogue repertories the drawing under the No. 190, when the label for that exhibit refers it as a No 180 ?
I love this program. I understand there is a new series coming in 2023. Can someone confirm?
No
They shouldn’t give false hopes nor “investigate” a clearly fake art. I’m not expert in Gauguin , but took me 3 seconds to notice that a clear fake
Great show. Love it as an artist myself.
When there was confusion about whether they are oranges 🍊 or peaches 🍑, I knew there was going to be trouble.
same as in the - Good Book - . Was Adam given by Eve an Apple or a Peach...
Obviously oranges.
@@donaldkasper8346 because it was written on the back. and in the description and catalogues...
@@benediktmorak4409 Doesn't matter what the descriptions say, it matters what they are.
@@benediktmorak4409 I think Adam gave Eve the 🍆, no?
With all due respect. Just because Fiona hasn't heard of Bernard, doesn't mean she should suggest that he is an unheard of artist. He was good friends of van Gogh's, and his meetings with him are well documented. There is even a very rare photo of Bernard and possibly the back of Vincent sitting at a table.
She said that he was a nobody in the art world compared to Gauguin, and that the average person has heard of Gauguin and not of Bernard. She's not wrong
Not her first stab at art snobbery, either. See her Winslow Homer episode.
Come on, she's just making a point that Gaugin is a celebrity. Bernard, who was a great painter and remains very underrated, is not. Nothing she said was untrue
@@shenanigans3710 but could he be the painter of James' painting??
She's not wrong. Some people outside the art circle might of known about Gauguin, but almost none if absolute none know's of Bernard. Stop being art snobs thinking everyone knows every artist ever in history xD
Amazing detective work!
For the crouching Tahitian, the cut sketch does not have the very distinct horizontal line just below the right hand that starts from outside and crosses into the skirt that is present in the whole page.
47:33
@@Amtcboy The cut sketch is much much lighter, hence probably no longer visible to us from far-away camera view...
@@genicabre
I thought of that at first.
But take screenshots of both images and zoom in. No chance it won’t come up since it’s very distinct on the whole page, and very absent in the cut image. The lighter lines even showed up on the cut image.
I can't ignore the intuitive feeling I get that the Painting is actually a Gaughan, I'm getting a visual of him applying the signature and dedication with a focus on it being "done well", as he had some extra interest in the Recipient, he had an appreciation for the man and possibly also his family.
This painting will come to be realized as Authentic, through some paperworks, possibly a letter in his own handwriting.
I'd be curious to know if anything has transpired since this filming.
I wish the owner well, would encourage him to readjust his Thoughts and Feelings on the painting, and apply a strong belief feeling, a knowing level, and "let it manifest", because, it is Absolute", the "Law of Attraction" is Powerfully Absolute. ✨
Best Thoughts ...
Greatest show ever!
The still life might be by Louis Anquetin. Maybe that's not a squiggle. I kinda read Anquetin's signature in that squiggle. Even twice. It's hard to tell in low resolution.
That was a great episode. Fake and Real art by Paul Gauguin and a Nazi secret book of names as well. Very exciting.
The Sketch: I find the Provenance to be worth far more that an Individual or Institution. For Egos really do taint the truths.
✨ (I think/feel the Painting is fabulous.). ... not at all bothered by the opinions of the others. It's authentic in my mind.
To be honest I also thought since the beginning that the still-life was not by Gauguin. The colors were not bright enough as we know his paintings have.
Excellent program and job well done.
The expression on that girls face is very telling. Its interesting how you include that disturbing photo without even saying that perhaps raping children is bad.
so, - the wildenstein institute approved the sketch - thank God the grandfather wildenstein had never got a chance to see it, and declare it a "fake" hohoho
55:46 What a wonderful feeling. She hasn't sold it yet
One possibility that occurred to me.... Gaugains' friend and fellow painter sold several (6 ?) Gaugains to an auction house after his death. What if this other painter thought he knew Gaugains style well enough to forge a few to pick up some quick money when the Gaugains work would be going up in value? Who would question his friend over just a few paintings?
i write graffiti. Had 20 plus people directly copy my style a week after I did something. I guarantee people in the trade were copying him moments after his death. Without a doubt. His 'frienhds', who watched him paint for years. Know his style. He dies. Bang Boom make a few new ones, sell them asap. Starving artists are all poor. They will bend most morals for some dosh
@@celtoloco788 I haven't had many responses but I am glad I got yours since you can relate so well to what may have happened. I hope you are successful with your own art. It must be difficult to put a piece of yourself out there for people to critique.
Wonderful !
These people do realize that someone's signature can look different, that it doesn't always look exactly the same, and isn't always perfect right? 🤔 My signature and initials look VASTLY different when i'm in a rush and don't care what it looks like versus when i'm actually taking my time and care what it looks like- in fact sometimes while i'm in a rush I don't even do my entire name whereas when I care it's fully spelled out and immaculate. Tbh if I didn't know it was my handwriting i'd think it was two different people that's how vastly different it can look 🤷🏻♀️ So just because the two aren't EXACTLY the same doesn't automatically mean one isn't genuine plus if the one was actually a fake then the person who made the fake would actually TRY to make it look genuine (i've seen fakes that look real that's how good some counterfeits are) versus this mess. Obviously this doesn't prove it's real but it also doesn't prove it's fake either it's literally people just guessing and their opinion not fact 🤷🏻♀️
Some of you should go on RUclips and prove you know more than the experts!
I have always wondered how the heck did he get his paints, brushes, medium, canvas - way out in Tahiti ?
would have to carry lots of materials with him.take a long time by post eh back then
travelled by ship, not limited to 22 kg or pqy excess baggage.
He got art materials by ship from Paris, but he often ran low on supplies and would need to "make do" with local alternatives.
Am I the only one OCD about their needing to send these pictures to Julian?
Could it be this is a later work by Ganguin ? Perhaps explains why the signature is shakey and appears not authentic.
They all had that top hook of the "g". This didn't.
If you look at cartoons by Shultz, the last he did after a stroke was extremely shakey.
You would have to explain why he was suddenly doing something totally old and different just for one (not very good) painting.
The problem with these indigent artists is, after their deaths their agents went round their ateliers and "finished" stuff. There's some particularly nasty Cézannes in the Tate. When you read the labels you see the Tate thinks they're nasty too. Too me the most important gauge is is it beautiful? The oranges aren't the Tahitian lady is.
In the book it's "Le" Seigner, on the painting it's "au". It makes more sense on the painting, and could be a typo in the book.
Does anyone know if it has gone to auction yet, and if so where did it go to, and what did they pay?
Don't laugh, but I knew the sketch was Gaughin the minute I saw it. It is so much like the painting that it screams authenticity.
It is so simplistic, it would be easy to forge. That's why provenance is so important.
@@lovingmayberry307 With no provenance we rely on the expert eye of the connoiseur.
I thought the opposite, since final works usually do not look identical to preparatory sketches. I noticed how the shadows on the left arm match, and suspected the drawing was made after the painting.
Can they do a DNA test on it and see if if a gauguin's tested if any of his skin cells on there any other fluids of his on there
Good God they even synchronize their walking!
I think that might be a particular phenomenon, to sync up with the person you're walking with (at least if you like them). I remember hearing that people often have to physically push themselves to walk out of step with someone they're walking with, so I tested it with a friend. It was definitely hard- we kept falling in step together once we stopped focusing on walking at a different tempo. A fun experiment to try though! Definitely recommend it.
One cant help but to laugh at Phillip's buffoonery at times, the way in which he foists and then crumples the letter which he previously glorified as the 'vindicating evidence' does make one shudder - Also is this the only episode in which Fiona Bruce doesnt speak a foreign language or reminisce on her time studying in Paris?
My niece is a natural artist like my father…y her dad once said,she got it from me but she was in a catholic Universidad the oldest Spanish school in Asia(most Pres went or not the American established one) …she switched to pharmacology course (grad y certified)into another catholic college in the same ciudad ; yes it was expensive the Art School was 😂; y it’s hard to live off with that course…that’s what I thought though my gf then wanted me to take it( she is teacher in NY fr our lowly archipelagic town or a retired 😢 a man artist a musically cultured 😊)
On his trip through the ocean did he do art with a traveler from Hawaii cause the flower in the ear is a tradition.
So what did Steffie get for her drawing? Enough to quit nursing?
Sold for 3x the estimate -- about $924K! Even minus the auction house's cut, I think she can if she's got good financial advice. Of course she may love nursing so, who knows.
There are a lot of reimagined Gaugin paintings on the internet.
If Gaughan did that sketch on the title shot I will eat my hat.
Now I'm interested in Paintings..
So good of them to show the outside of the house in which the Six Peaches painting can be found. It makes things so much easier for would be thieves.
🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑So you’re going with “peaches” instead of “oranges”..🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑🍊🍑??
I dont think it is but I will watch and see..😊
The sketch really doesn't add up to me, the discrepancy in numbering - surely someone should have picked that up? I also wouldn't say it lined up perfectly the shoukder was a little off, any forger would've done all the homework in copying all the irregularities on the periphery
Whoever “investigated” that sketch book drawing, initially, and the rejected it….I bet this is their favorite episode of Fake or Fortune.
or not
The Wildenstein committee is so frenetic.
A Danish friend of my family was a close descendant of Gauguin's Danish wife, whom he abondoned. He treated his wife and children badly and spent a lot of time away from them before going to Tahiti and abandoning them for good. What a rotten person. But can we see any of that egocentricity and disdain for other people in his art? Should it matter?
Sometimes the egocentricity of artists is actually what allows them to be great. When you don't really care about how you treat other people, you can just concentrate TOTALLY on art. I've met several famous modern artists who fall into this category, and many I would describe as borderline autistic - bad with people but brilliant with art.
Well, she (the Danish wife, Mette Gad) basically told him to leave. It was probably easier for her to live without him. Today two of his descendants are well known and respected musicians here in Denmark.
Gauguin’s wife was a posh gal that dumped her husband because he stopped buying her expensive dresses after he quit his lucrative life as a stock trader. She had her brothers physically remove Gauguin from seeing his children. She was no angel, just like him. Yes we can see him mistreating people in his art, he acknowledges 1.that he has syphilis in some of his art, and 2. That he has sex with very young, vulnerable females in his art. This was a death sentence for many of the girls involved and that is what the pictures are documents of.
Should it matter? That my dear, is a question only you can answer for yourself.
Remember, it works both ways, at the time Gauguin had to marry someone his family chose and do the stock broker grind. Yes, women had few choices at the time, but men also. Mme Gauguin wasn't supportive of her husband at all. Today they would just divorce and go separate ways, which is essentially what they did.
@@Songbirdstress
Today he'd go to prison, he was a pedophile.
Love watching this show but hate the annoying commercial that bursts out in your face at three times the volume. Quite unnerving.
YAY now if only Rashid Sunook would return the Parthenon marbles.
Maybe you should change the name of this show from Perspective to 'It Ain't Art Unless it is Worth Millions'.
lool!!!
Ouch!
Why? No one is suggesting that. Even the most incredibly ugly dreck is called art, for example look at the old stuff of Julian schnable’s
I thought this SHOW was clearly titled “Fake or Fortune”…?….what on Earth could that possibly mean….?. (So puzzling) I think it might have to do with investigating art in terms of art market valuation, but I’m still confused. I know!
They should change the name of this RUclips CHANNEL the show is on from Perspective to 'It Ain't Art Unless it is Worth Millions'…
Because one viewer is an illiterate.
Who can’t tell the difference between a RUclips channel airing at tv show and the whole channel, itself.
Welcome to the internet, folks!
…and I cried …
Peaches or oranges? It's all so confusing.
and apparently not worth it
How come they take the labels on the back as genuine ???????
200 million for that are you kidding me the picture on my refrigerator must be worth at least 60 million then and it's a lot newer not old and falling apart mine is definitely authentic, because I recognize my five-year-old signature are there any opening bids for 14 million dollars🎨 I've got a Play-Doh sculpture willing to part with for about 18 million
Boy if you compare his artwork to the artwork of Hawaii artist .it unreal .
Fiona actually felt compelled to count the oranges? And to what end, pray tell?
Showing off?
She’s a reporter. That’s what they do. It’s a technique of getting people to agree to the obvious in order to charm them toward your opinion.
(In order to rise that far in the BBC you have to be a natural propagandist)
It IS an hour long show. Time fillers, probably.
Marv actually felt compelled to point out that Fiona counted the oranges. And to what end, pray tell?
I guess there are crisis meetings and "crisis meetings".
I’m proud of the people, and the efforts made to find all the art the Nazis stole. I’m glad that even today the search still continues. And that stolen works of art are still being repatriated where they belong.
To good to be a 'Churchill'.
I don't find Gauguins art very attractive, and I especially don't like Picasso. Rembrandt, Turner and Vermeer would be my favourites and Landseer's animals are unmatched. Realism rules for me.
All of his art looks like shit to me.
here’s a cookie and some warm milk. Now off to bed, lil’ Timmy
I always feel Turner looks like warm sick, but each to his own.
@@filmbuff000
Why not?
I'm with you. I like the Impressionists though with the feelings they bring out and the dreamy, yet recognizable subjects. And Rembrandt is exquisite.
Wow, these comments are on 🔥
👍👍👍
A lot of art ‘critics’ in the comments down here. People can be so vitriolic and full of hate, no wonder painters and other artists hate people like these
Actually, I really like that Lene Dehaan painting at 26:36! lol! His colour was better than Gauguin's
Same
I believe by including a picture of a Japanese print Gauguin was trying to focus attention on the technique of flattening out the image into outlined blocks of color… that’s why to me his picture is of an entirely different quality than his friends.
Heartbreaking to know that the Artist died impoverished and never got to bask in the admiration that we now have for their work, not to mention the money that is now being made over their backs.. Really sad.
Who knows. Knowing he was full of himself and a womanizer, ending up diseased, I assume he reaped what he sowed in life.
Yes, his child concubine could have used some monetary support.
I swear he is stuck on 200,000 pounds. Gauguin! an unknown! Is he only allowed to say 200,000 pounds for all of them? Why didnt they take a flake of paint from a positive one and this one and compare. They have done it before. Maybe the peaches will eventually be proven as Gauguin. Lets hope.
Is it just me ,or does anyone else hate the ornate ,fat gold frames on these works of modern art? I really think they detract from the simple elegance of the paintings.
👍
Love Gauguin.
Artists and the whole art market is dodgy 🤣But a whole lot of fun.
As a statue, outside the BBC, is the subject of attack, due to the sexual nature of it's creator, what are we to think of works like this, created by a man who had sexual relationships with girls as young as 13?
I honestly don't know the "correct" response - though, I suspect that, in the current climate, it does not look good for anyone putting these works on their walls!
Morals evolve. And it's always wise not to judge others.
All the paintings by Gauguin should have a add on “ probably underaged sexual explanation victim a over rated pedo”
As someone who has advanced degrees in Art History..connoisseurship...is one of the most ridiculous things on earth....some fool who thinks they are "experts" based solely on their "eye' make or break a work of art. The Gauguin woman is a fool.
Oh snap
Shame on him having a 13 year old girl
Oh, yes, better report him to those WOKE nits.
@@snuugumz
So you're FOR child-rapists???
Please don't breed.
🎉😊❤😅
the painting's texture is uncharacteristic of Gauguin
Oh please. Gauguin? Don’t make me laugh.
Well if you've had too much to drink wouldn't that change your handwriting? Go figure.
what a great show... thanks
Art is such bs. Lol if I drew a sketch like the one here; no one would even look at it twice, let alone say it's "stunning" or "powerful" I'd put my life on that. It's a simple, ugly sketch lol same with the oranges painting smh that is basic still life art. People see dollar signs with certain artists names and think they are "stunning or powerful" If one of the masters sneezed on a canvas, it would be a mastersneeze, I mean masterpiece. Smh
Will you marry is overvalued. By hundreds of millions.