Fake or Fortune?

Editorial

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

BBC Two Northern Ireland

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 11

BBC One Nightlight

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 Cambridgeshire

BBC One Cambridgeshire HD

BBC One North East & Cumbria HD

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

BBC One South HD

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

BBC One London HD

BBC One Channel Islands

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

BBC One HD

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

BBC One East HD

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

BBC One South

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

BBC One London

London

BBC One East

BBC One Channel Islands HD

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands HD

BBC One Oxfordshire

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 South West HD

BBC One West Midlands HD

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Yorkshire HD

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

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One South East HD

BBC One Oxfordshire HD

BBC One North West

BBC One North West HD

BBC One West HD

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

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

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

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

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

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

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland 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

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Fiona Bruce

Philip Mould

Robert Murphy

Kirsty  Brettle

Julia Foot

Fake or Fortune?: Series 11: Cezanne and Pissarro

Magazines & Reviews

Cezanne and Pissarro

BBC One - Fake or Fortune?, Series 11, Cezanne and Pissarro

Could two simple sketches be works by great French artists Pissarro and Cezanne?

Could two simple sketches be by great French artists Pissarro and Cezanne? The team set out to gather evidence to prove they’re genuine.

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to France on the trail of two of the greatest Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, Camille Pissarro and his friend and protege, Paul Cezanne.

Fiona travels to the stunning Provencal landscape on the trail of a simple watercolour, owned by Dominique Rogers. She is the great- great-niece of Anthony Valabregue, a poet, art critic and great personal friend of Cezanne who painted him several times. Dominique – who doesn’t admire Cezanne’s artistic style – believes the painting was a direct gift from Cezanne, passed on by Valabregue’s widow to her father in the 1920s.

Fiona visits Cezanne’s studio in his hometown of Aix-en-Provence and strolls in the nearby quarries in the shadow of Mont Sainte-Victoire, where the rich ochre-coloured boulders and spindly trees so influenced the artist’s work. Could this be where Dominique’s tree was painted?

Investigation into the paper and palette will prove crucial to establish the provenance, particularly after Fiona learns that Cezanne wasn’t copied in his lifetime. But what if an admirer or, even worse, a faker, meticulously copied it after his death? 

Meanwhile Philip travels to northern France, to the town of Pontoise where Pissarro set up home with his large family and was often joined by other artists, including Cezanne. Pissarro had grown to love painting rural landscapes and the hard-working country folk tilling the soil.

Zana Glaser inherited a drawing of cabbage sellers from her father Tom, a keen art buyer and collector. It was accepted that the outline of the drawing and signature were by Pissarro, but when Tom tried to sell the drawing at auction in 2012, it was rejected by the Pissarro committee who felt it had been coloured by another hand.

Zana turns to the Fake or Fortune team for help. Can science prove that the outline and colouring were done at the same time? Or was the colouring done by someone wanting to enhance the appeal and value of the drawing – perhaps even by a member of Pissarro’s own family, many of whom became artists?
 
If the Pissarro is right, it may be worth as much as £50,000, if not – despite the outline being done by the great artist – its value is probably no more than £1,000. And if the Cezanne is proved to be by the artist, it could be worth a massive £100,000, as the artist’s work has never been more popular. If not, it’s worth virtually nothing. Can the team gather enough evidence to persuade the relevant authorities?

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Fake or Fortune?

Series 11

Cezanne and Pissarro

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Two Northern Ireland

About BBC Two