Fake or Fortune?

Original version

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Journalist Fiona Bruce and art expert Philip Mould investigate mysteries behind paintings.

Fiona Bruce teams up with expert Philip Mould to investigate mysteries behind intriguing works of art. Are they potentially priceless or crafty copies?

Series 9

BBC Two

BBC One London

London

BBC One Channel Islands

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One West Midlands

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One North West

BBC One Wales

Wales

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Fiona Bruce

Philip Mould

Guy Arthur

Judith Winnan

Fake or Fortune?: Series 9: Gerome

Documentaries

Episode 2

Gerome

BBC One - Fake or Fortune?, Series 9, Gerome

Can the team prove that a painting is a genuine work by the Orientalist artist Gerome?

In 1999 Jon Swihart believed he’d bought a genuine work by the 19th century Orientalist artist Jean-Leon Gerome but the leading authority disagreed. Can the team prove Jon right?

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a small oil painting of a man praying in a mosque, a scene filled with meticulously painted and intriguing detail. Its owner, Jon Swihart, bought it at auction in 1999 and believed it to be the work of the nineteenth-century French artist Jean-Leon Gerome, who was a leading figure in the Orientalist genre of painting. 

When Jon bought the picture, it was listed as 'Circle of Gerome', having been downgraded by the leading authority on the artist at that time, Professor Gerald Ackerman. Previously, however, it had been fully attributed to Gerome, and Jon felt intuitively that it was a genuine work by the artist. Through their shared love of Gerome, Jon and Professor Ackerman had got to know each other and become friends, but Jon bought the picture without consulting him and without knowing that it was Professor Ackerman who had downgraded the picture from a genuine Gerome. It became a sore point between the two of them, and they chose never to discuss the matter again.
 
After Professor Ackerman passed away in 2016, Jon began to wonder again about the authenticity of the picture and got in touch with Fake or Fortune? to see if the team could help. On a video call from his home in Santa Monica, California, Jon reveals to Fiona and Philip that he paid over $6,000 for the painting - a high price for a work considered to be 'circle of'. But as Philip explains, if proven genuine the picture could be worth as much as £100,000.

As ever, the team use science and good old-fashioned detective work to get to the truth about this picture. The investigation leads Philip to Barnsley in South Yorkshire, where he sees a promising preparatory sketch for Jon’s picture, but he also comes across a damning letter from Professor Ackerman in the archives that raises the spectre of a faker at work. Meanwhile, Fiona follows the trail of clues in the painting itself and discovers that the historical and cultural inaccuracies common in Orientalist paintings raise more questions than answers. 

The evidence is gathered, but do they have enough to convince the new Gerome authority that Jon’s instincts were right all along?

Fake or Fortune?: Series 9

BBC One

Philip Mould and Fiona Bruce team up to investigate more art world mystery and intrigue.

Philip Mould and Fiona Bruce team up to investigate more thrilling cases of art world mystery and intrigue.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Fake or Fortune?

Series 9

Gerome

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One HD

About BBC One