0:00:02 > 0:00:04- 18,400,000. 19 million. - 'The art world.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08'Glamour. Wealth. Intrigue.'
0:00:08 > 0:00:1295. Selling at 95 million.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15'But beneath the surface, there's a darker place.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'A world of high stakes and gambles.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24'International art dealer Philip Mould knows the risks.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29'He hunts down sleepers, paintings that hide secrets.'
0:00:29 > 0:00:33In the past, we looked at pictures. Now, almost, you can look through them.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Paint almost acts like blood at a crime scene.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'I'm Fiona Bruce and I've over 20 years' experience as a journalist.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Ever picture tells its own story
0:00:46 > 0:00:48and it's up to us to try and uncover it.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55'We're teaming up to investigate human dramas and mysterious tales
0:00:55 > 0:00:57'locked in paint.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'Our first case - we help one man in his struggle
0:01:02 > 0:01:07'to try and prove his painting is by one of the world's most famous and sought-after artists.'
0:01:07 > 0:01:10And there's no doubting who it's intended to be by.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15'We follow the painstaking process to establish whether a work of art is genuine.'
0:01:15 > 0:01:20It seems outrageous that the Wildenstein Institute can just defy international opinion like that.
0:01:20 > 0:01:26It's absolutely infuriating and I think to challenge it with this painting is something we must do now.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30'And we use cutting-edge forensics to try to solve the mystery.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35'Our investigation takes us from the banks of the River Seine near Paris...'
0:01:36 > 0:01:40- You think this could be the spot? - I think it could be.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44'..to Cairo to a grand palace on the Nile.'
0:01:55 > 0:01:59And now the Monet, lot number 14.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02We'll start the bidding here at £22 million.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'In the art world, Monet means money.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'Wealthy collectors will bid tens of millions of pounds
0:02:09 > 0:02:14- 'to own a work by this famous Impressionist who's captivated the world.'- 28 million.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18'But sometimes even stupendous sums like this aren't enough.'
0:02:18 > 0:02:23At £29 million.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- HAMMER BANGS - It's a pass at 29 million.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31Wow. I have never seen anything like that. It was going up in millions by the second.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36I know, but even at £29 million, the owner wasn't prepared to sell it.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38This is how much these pictures are worth.
0:02:38 > 0:02:44But for even a Monet to get to auction, it first has to be approved by a very powerful family.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50'The Wildensteins are a family dynasty of billionaire art dealers.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54'For nearly 40 years, they've published the Monet Catalogue Raisonne,
0:02:54 > 0:02:59'a five-volume tome which is meant to list every genuine Monet.
0:02:59 > 0:03:05'No Monet is ever sold in a major auction house without being listed.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11'Art historian Daniel Wildenstein first published the catalogue in 1974.
0:03:11 > 0:03:19'Since his death in 2001, his son Guy has inherited the power to decide what is or isn't a Monet.'
0:03:23 > 0:03:29'We're on our way to see a painting both generations of Wildensteins have rejected.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33'But Philip thinks they may have overlooked something.'
0:03:37 > 0:03:40- Hi, David! Nice to meet you. Hiya. - How do you do?
0:03:40 > 0:03:44- How do you do?- How do you do? - Very nice to meet you. - Welcome to the lighthouse.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50'82-year-old David Joel has been fighting a long battle to get his painting accepted.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54'We hope we might be able to help him.'
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- Here it is.- Wow.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03- Well, it's a beautiful painting. - And there's no doubting who it's intended to be by.- None whatsoever.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11So the banks of the Seine at Argenteuil, 1875. Lovely.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14- The big question is, how did you come by it?- Yes.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Well, I first saw it in a saleroom in Norwich.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20I couldn't possibly afford it
0:04:20 > 0:04:23because it was supposed to go for half a million pounds.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I really loved it but there was nothing I could do about it.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31- But then it's here. - Well, two years later, I heard there was a possibility
0:04:31 > 0:04:33that I could buy it from the owner.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39- And I bought it for £40,000. - 40 grand?- Yes.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43I mean, 40 grand may sound a lot, but of course,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47it's a fraction of its value if it turns out to be by Monet.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52Yes, but if it's not by Monet, I mean, I could be worth 40 quid.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Yeah, but I take a more upside view on this.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01- If this were included in the book... - In the Wildensteins' book?- Yeah.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06..it would be very different. People would look at it differently, value it remarkably differently.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11- It could be worth, who knows, over a million.- Well, I've been trying for 18 years to get Wildenstein
0:05:11 > 0:05:15- to accept it for his catalogue. - 18 years?- Yes.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19It's a long haul, but I shall win in the end, I think.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25Well, I admire your style. In the first place, putting down the money for this painting on a hunch
0:05:25 > 0:05:27and then taking on the might of the Wildensteins.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31So you've been writing letters
0:05:31 > 0:05:34and they've been writing back to you, the Wildensteins, for 18 years?
0:05:34 > 0:05:37- Yes.- Crikey.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42Dear Mr Joel. I regret to tell you I still do not believe the picture to be by the artist.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Daniel Wildenstein.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50Six years later. Dear Mr Joel. I have not changed my mind about your painting. That's just one sentence!
0:05:50 > 0:05:56Dear Mr Joel. I am sorry to have to convey Mr Wildenstein's negative answer concerning your painting.
0:05:56 > 0:06:02Crikey O'Reilly. I mean, some of these letters are brief to the point of...
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Well, they're not very encouraging, are they?
0:06:05 > 0:06:10I tell you, some of those letters are quite long for Wildenstein.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15- He wrote one very famous letter and said, "Jamais!" That's all he said.- Never.- Never.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22'By examining the painting with a halogen torch, I can study its brushstrokes,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24'the unique handwriting of the artist.'
0:06:24 > 0:06:28So, the Wildensteins presumably think that this is a fake,
0:06:28 > 0:06:34that this is by another artist who's ripping off arguably the greatest Impressionist who ever lived.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39But I have to say, I disagree. I think it's too clever, it's too complex.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45I really hope that we can progress this. I feel David has had a lot of bad luck with this picture.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Do you ever feel worn down by it all, after all this time?
0:06:48 > 0:06:54No. I gave up for a few months at a time and then came back to the attack.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57I'm a fairly stubborn individual.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01I have to say, I would never want to argue with you, cos I think I'd lose.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Oh, no, I never argue with a lady. SHE LAUGHS
0:07:05 > 0:07:10I can really see why David bought this picture. And he believes in it.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And I have to say, the more time I've spent with it, I believe in it.
0:07:13 > 0:07:20What would it mean to you if the Wildensteins do give it the thumbs up and do say, "It is a Monet"?
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Well, it would be a remarkable victory.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28I would've thought that all my work was justified.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33I would have to sell it. After all, I'm getting on a bit...
0:07:33 > 0:07:36A sprightly 82? I won't hear a word if it.
0:07:36 > 0:07:44I'd rather sell it than have to leave it to my wife and children to do that.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48It's better that I should sell it than that they should be forced to after my death.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'After 18 years of hard work and research,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57'David has agreed to allow us to take his treasured painting away
0:07:57 > 0:08:00'so that we can help him with his investigation.'
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- Look after it.- OK.- Bye-bye.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Yes. Hopeful. SHE LAUGHS
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Well, that was interesting. So you think that this could be a Monet?
0:08:18 > 0:08:23- I do.- But the thing is, it's all very well you having a feeling in your water,
0:08:23 > 0:08:28but if we are going to go to the Wildensteins and convince them,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31we are going to need an awful lot more evidence, clearly.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'The first stage of our investigation is to have the painting examined
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'at an art research lab.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46'Dr Nicholas Eastaugh, an expert in the scientific study of paintings,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50'is using high-resolution, infra-red and X-ray photography
0:08:50 > 0:08:53'to unlock clues within the canvas.'
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Nick is looking at the back of the picture. As absurd as it sounds,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01you often find that the back of a painting will tell you more than the front.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Having had a brief look at the back, I've seen a myriad of inscriptions and labels.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Any of those could take us closer to Monet.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16In the old days, finding out who a painting was by was a process of connoisseurship,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21looking deep into the strokes of the painting, trying to work out whether an artist painted it.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Combined, of course, with provenance, looking into the history of the painting,
0:09:25 > 0:09:31working back through the years, the centuries, the decades in order to get back to the artist.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Now, however, science is playing a much greater role.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39In the last 18 years since David has had this picture, it has advanced massively.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43They can establish all sorts of things which before couldn't be.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47You can look into a picture and see the various layers, see how it evolved.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50What you can say is that in the past, we looked at pictures.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Now, almost, you can look through them.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'Back at base, Philip's head of research, Dr Bendor Grosvenor,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01'has been studying the images from the lab.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06'He has years of experience proving whether paintings are genuine or fake.'
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Here is some fascinating footage of the man at the centre of our mystery,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Claude Monet, done in the 1920s when he was about 80 years old.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17- Amazing to see him, isn't it? - Oh, it's wonderful.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21I love to see him painting so quickly and his fag balancing in his mouth.
0:10:23 > 0:10:29What's it going to take to prove to the Wildensteins that David's painting was painted by that man?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Well, what they're looking for is documentary evidence
0:10:32 > 0:10:36that his painting existed in Monet's lifetime.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Monet died in 1926, so we need to find something from before that date.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- Why?- The reason is, if Monet is around to check the picture,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47- it's not that easy to sell a fake. - Quite.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53And there are cases of art dealers sending photographs of suspect pictures to Monet
0:10:53 > 0:10:55to ask him if they were real or not.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59So if this painting existed while Monet was alive,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- it's much less likely to be a fake. - Exactly.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07And I've been having a look at the back of the picture, which is covered with an array of labels.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13It's possible that any one of these could help put this picture into the right place at the right time.
0:11:13 > 0:11:19Absolutely. The first thing I want to point out is this stamp in the middle which says Latouche.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Now, Latouche is what we call an artists' colourman
0:11:23 > 0:11:26or someone who supplied artists with canvasses and paints.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31And we know that Latouche supplied artists within Monet's circle.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37- So we need to prove that Latouche supplied canvasses to Monet.- Yes.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41And the next clue which I think helps put David's painting in the right location, at least,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44is a baggage stamp from the French railways
0:11:44 > 0:11:50which says here from Paris Banlieue Station to Argenteuil.
0:11:50 > 0:11:56Which is highly significant because the title of the picture is Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01- And where is Argenteuil?- Argenteuil is a suburb just outside Paris
0:12:01 > 0:12:04where Monet lived between 1871 and 1878.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07So it would be good to go to Argenteuil and find, if we can,
0:12:07 > 0:12:12the same view, if it exists, that is in that painting.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- Absolutely.- If we could.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19And finally, the most important set of clues are going to be these dealer stamps in the back here.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- What do they show? - Well, they have stock numbers on
0:12:22 > 0:12:28and we can trace those stock numbers back using the ledgers and the records of those art dealers
0:12:28 > 0:12:34to try and find out the previous owners before that crucial date in 1926 to satisfy the Wildensteins.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38So we need to follow this trail of clues, then,
0:12:38 > 0:12:44to prove to the Wildensteins that this painting was painted by Monet
0:12:44 > 0:12:47at exactly the right time in his life.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49- Yeah.- Precisely.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03'Our first stop, Paris, where the Impressionist movement began.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08'We're heading to the Musee Marmottan,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12'which holds the largest collection of Monets in the world.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19'Monet was one of a group of revolutionary artists
0:13:19 > 0:13:23'who breathed new life and light into art.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29'He brought painting out of the confines of the studio
0:13:29 > 0:13:31'and into the open air.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37'Monet spent 70 years and over 2,000 canvasses
0:13:37 > 0:13:41'trying to capture the shifting moods of the landscape
0:13:41 > 0:13:44'and there was one painting which began it all.'
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Now this is the picture I wanted to show you.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I used to have a postcard of this on my wall when I was a student.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I imagine it probably looked rather good.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Even in reproduction, this picture works. It's called Impression Sunrise
0:13:58 > 0:14:01and this is where Impressionism gets it name.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04It was exhibited in 1874
0:14:04 > 0:14:08and compared to what was going on in art at the time,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- this was a real departure, this was very, very radical.- Really?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15What was so shocking about it, to one critic in particular,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18was that it was so unfinished.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24A chap called Louis Leroy said, "Even embryonic wallpaper looks more finished than this."
0:14:24 > 0:14:28So the critics didn't like it because they thought it looked a bit kind of slap-dash?
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Yes, and for all the reasons the critics didn't like it,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33you can see how Impressionism works.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I mean, the sense of movement in the picture,
0:14:36 > 0:14:41the feeling of just the blink of an eye, capturing a sense of atmosphere.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46He's out there, he's actually in the docks, this is Le Havre docks.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51He's doing something which is spontaneous, is fresh, is energetic.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56And you just respond to it kind of sensually rather than anything else.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01- And I think anyone can grasp that, can't they?- Yeah, I think that's a very important point.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06- This art is not art that you have to be trained to like.- Mm.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Can you imagine if David's Monet ends up hanging amongst all these?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14That would be really something.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17And do you know something? I think it could.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22I have to say, having seen these here, I believe in that picture more and more and more.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28'As well as this amazing collection of Monet works,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33'the Musee Marmottan also holds the artist's letters and account books.
0:15:33 > 0:15:39'We hope we might find a link to one of the clues on the back of the canvas, the Latouche stamp.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44'Latouche was a Paris-based artists' colourman
0:15:44 > 0:15:48'who supplied paints, materials and canvasses to the Impressionists.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51'But did he supply Monet?'
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Monsieur Taddei, thank you for agreeing to see us about what we think
0:15:56 > 0:15:59could be a Monet, a new Monet.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02- I hope, for you. - Well, we certainly hope.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06As a director of this museum, if anyone's going to know, you're going to know.
0:16:06 > 0:16:12Did Latouche have any dealings directly with Monet?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Yes, sure. If you wait five minutes,
0:16:15 > 0:16:20I will show you something to tell that Monet and Latouche were friends.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24- Great!- That sounds rather hopeful. - It does! It sounds like he thinks he's got something.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29He's on the scent of something. But, of course, here there is so much archival material,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34- anything could pop out of the woodwork. - Mm. Come on, Monsieur Taddei. Oh.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41- Did you have any luck? Yes.- I have the account book
0:16:41 > 0:16:45for the year 1872
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and you can see, "Monsieur Latouche".
0:16:48 > 0:16:53- Let's have a look. Thank you! Here we are, look. - In beautiful script, as well.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58- So this is Monet's account book. - Yes. He wrote that.- Gosh!
0:16:58 > 0:17:03Here we go. Tableau vendu 1872, so that's picture sold 1872.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06To Monsieur Latouche.
0:17:06 > 0:17:12That is so fascinating because suddenly now that name on the back of the picture means something.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16This unequivocally states, in Monet's own hand,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20- that he dealt with Latouche.- There's a direct link between the two. - Correct.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I'm waiting at the Gare du Nord in Paris
0:17:24 > 0:17:28because David and Jennifer Joel are about to turn up any minute
0:17:28 > 0:17:30and then we're going to go hot on the trail of
0:17:30 > 0:17:36all those clues on the back of the canvas and see where they take us. Oh, here they are.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Hi there! Nice to meet you, Jennifer! Hiya!
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Hi, David, how you doing?
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- Welcome to Paris!- Thank you!
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- We've got quite a lot of work to do. - We have, haven't we?
0:17:50 > 0:17:53'We're on the trail of another clue on the back of the canvas.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'A railway baggage stamp which reads Paris to Argenteuil.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04'In the 19th century, Argenteuil was a rapidly expanding suburb of Paris,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07'a playground for city-dwellers who would travel by railway
0:18:07 > 0:18:10'to spend a day by the river.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14'It was also a favourite haunt of Monet.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19'He moved to Argenteuil in 1871 with his wife Camille
0:18:19 > 0:18:21'and their young son, Jean.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27'Monet was fascinated by this landscape teeming with modern life,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29'a place of leisure and pleasure.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32'But also a place launching headlong into the industrial age
0:18:32 > 0:18:36'with its factories, bridges and steam trains.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45'Argenteuil has changed dramatically
0:18:45 > 0:18:50'but just a short walk from the railway station, Monet's house still stands.'
0:18:51 > 0:18:53So there's the station
0:18:53 > 0:18:58and here is Monet's house where he was living at the time.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03If he did indeed paint your picture, this is where he would've been living.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06- It's a lovely house! - I've never seen it before.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- It's quite a substantial building, isn't it?- There it is.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14And you can just imagine... I've got a picture here of the baggage stamp on the back of your picture.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Paris Banlieue a Argenteuil.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22And we know that lots of colourmen, artists' suppliers, were in Paris
0:19:22 > 0:19:27and they shipped bundles of art supplies and canvasses down using the trains,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32so you can just imagine, the canvasses come down on the train, arrive at the station,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- Monet picks them up. - What a very convenient way of getting your extra supplies.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38- Exactly.- And so quick.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44What do you think, Jennifer, about the fact that David has been doggedly researching this Monet
0:19:44 > 0:19:47for 18 years? What do you make of it all?
0:19:48 > 0:19:53- What, the truth?- Yes.- I can't tell you how much time it's taken up.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58But I admire what he's done, I really do, cos he really believes in the painting.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01And it is beautiful. Really beautiful.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Yeah, it's OK.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13'Back in Paris, I'm heading to a research lab
0:20:13 > 0:20:18'which is undertaking pioneering work in the field of art authentication.'
0:20:18 > 0:20:21The team working in the lab behind me are at the absolute forefront
0:20:21 > 0:20:24of a whole new way of looking at art.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27There's a lot of speculation in the art world generally
0:20:27 > 0:20:30about how science is able to take the process of attribution forward.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35And these guys have got techniques and machinery and technology
0:20:35 > 0:20:38which is really pushing the boundaries. The question is,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41will they be able to help David authenticate his picture?
0:20:44 > 0:20:48'David's painting is being scanned under a revolutionary new camera
0:20:48 > 0:20:54'which provides images of unprecedented resolution and colour accuracy.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59'An ordinary digital camera provides a resolution of 12 million pixels.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04'The Lumiere camera provides 240 million pixels.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10'It also uses 13 different light filters from ultraviolet to infra-red.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15'This enables us not just to view the surface of the painting in greater detail,
0:21:15 > 0:21:20'but to see through the layers of paint to reveal the artist's technique.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27'The multi-spectral scan takes a couple of hours to complete, so I'm meeting with inventor Pascal Cotte.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Pascal, hello! 'He's used his camera to remarkable effect
0:21:31 > 0:21:35'on the world's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.'
0:21:35 > 0:21:39So you've been doing some very interesting research on the Mona Lisa.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41What has your camera been able to tell us?
0:21:41 > 0:21:47The camera can peel back the layers of paint like an onion
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and see how the artist painted it.
0:21:50 > 0:21:57Looking at her, she's covered with a varnish which seems to obscure the paint beneath.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Yes, and the varnish is totally yellow.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03And the sky appears to turn green.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08And with the camera, we can remove the varnish.
0:22:10 > 0:22:17- Actually, that's fascinating. So the sky is not green at all, it's blue. - Yes.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22And the next step, now we can recover the genuine colour.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26How extraordinary. You're looking at the paints
0:22:26 > 0:22:32as if they have not degraded, as if they haven't changed over the 400 or 500 years.
0:22:32 > 0:22:39- Yes.- So one is going back to the appearance of the picture when it left Leonardo's studio.- Exactly.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41- She's got chestnut-brown hair.- Yes.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46And the veil which one could just make out before is so much more clear.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50- You can see its transparency. She's a different looking woman.- Yes.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Totally, yeah.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56And now we can look at what we have behind the painting.
0:22:56 > 0:23:03- Using what? - We use infra-red. So you are like Superman and you can see behind.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Let's try it. Wow.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Look at this.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11We discover for the first time
0:23:11 > 0:23:15that she has a kind of blanket on her knee.
0:23:15 > 0:23:23She has, hasn't she? So what just looked like a dark and incoherent area
0:23:23 > 0:23:28- is in fact her fingers holding a shawl.- Yes.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34This is all really fascinating stuff when dealing with the world's most famous portrait,
0:23:34 > 0:23:40- but the question is, what can this process tell us about David's painting?- We shall see.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54'Back at Argenteuil, we're about to head out on the River Seine
0:23:54 > 0:23:56'to try and find the view in David's painting.'
0:23:56 > 0:24:01Here come the firemen with our lifejackets.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Bonjour. Merci.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08'It means hitching a lift with some friendly French firemen,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11'as they have the only boat available to take us out.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18'Olivier Millot, director of the local museum, agrees to be our guide.'
0:24:18 > 0:24:22- You look like you're enjoying yourself. - I am! I think this is great!
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- See you!- A bientot! There we are.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Down the Seine. Here we go.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'Monet would've taken a rather more leisurely journey down the river
0:24:39 > 0:24:43'in a boat he had specially converted to paint in.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46'He called it his bateau-atelier, or studio boat.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54'But the waterway has changed dramatically and industry now dominates the landscape.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59'It's proving difficult to find the spot where Monet laid anchor to paint our view.'
0:24:59 > 0:25:04To the right. SHE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:25:04 > 0:25:06- A bit more. - A bit more to the right.- Bit more.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I mean, that's as good as you can get.
0:25:11 > 0:25:17- N'est-ce pas?- Yeah, it could be. But is this Argenteuil?
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Non? C'est pas Argenteuil?
0:25:19 > 0:25:23You see, it could be that there,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27except that building, which apparently was built when this was painted, isn't there,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31and also this isn't Argenteuil. Argenteuil is more that way.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35- So why don't we go and have a look that way?- All right?- Shall we?- Sure.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40- Yes. I'm not fussy.- Oh, God! I don't believe that for a moment!
0:25:41 > 0:25:45'Olivier suggests we head towards a place once known as Ile Marante,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49'an island near Argenteuil painted many times by Monet.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56'The island no longer exists as it's now joined to the riverbank.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00'But despite these changes in the landscape, it's still possible to find the view.'
0:26:03 > 0:26:06So if we look now,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I don't know, Olivier, what you think, but David, look.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13- C'est bon!- Because this used to be an island before, here.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17- Imagine that is there, there's the river. You see the hills?- Yes.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20There. Of course, none of those buildings were there.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24And the trees here. What do you think?
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- Let's go for it.- You think this could be the spot?- I think it could be.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32It fulfils the business of Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36- because this is Argenteuil.- On the banks of the Seine in Argenteuil.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40But in a flat calm. Today there is a little wind, as you can see.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- Yes, cos there's a perfect reflection here.- Yes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46And do you like to think about Monet painting here?
0:26:46 > 0:26:51- Painting this painting that you love so much?- Oh, I love the idea, yes.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'Back in Paris, the scan is almost complete.
0:26:58 > 0:27:05'To help me interpret the images, I've invited Iris Schaefer from the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10'She's a leading authority in the use of scientific techniques to study Monet's works
0:27:10 > 0:27:16'and she recently exposed a fake that had been accepted as genuine by Daniel Wildenstein.'
0:27:16 > 0:27:22- Here's the painting. - Ah, so Daniel Wildenstein didn't always get it right.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25- It's in the actual Catalogue Raisonne itself.- Yes, indeed.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27So how could you tell this was a fake?
0:27:27 > 0:27:33First of all, the paint application is done with a palette knife, which you can see here.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38A palette knife was never used by Monet in the 1880s.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43- So you detected that the technique was wrong.- Yes, the technique was wrong for this time and for Monet.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The second thing was the signature. It was done twice.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50The first three letters were written with a greyish paint
0:27:50 > 0:27:56and afterwards, the whole signature was enlarged in a bigger size done with a brownish paint.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01- That's completely unusual for Monet. - You can see it's a bit cack-handed, can't you?
0:28:01 > 0:28:06- Yes.- It's clear now you've pointed it out, particularly with this high-definition photography.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10This is a lovely example of how science can move an attribution backwards,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12take an attribution away, or move it forwards.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17'It's with some trepidation that I show Iris
0:28:17 > 0:28:23'the Lumiere camera's high-resolution images of David's painting.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27'Will she see signs of another fake Monet?'
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Please can you switch the light?
0:28:31 > 0:28:33That is so striking, isn't it?
0:28:33 > 0:28:39With the light coming from the side, it's throwing the brush marks into strong relief.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42It's making the painting look three-dimensional.
0:28:45 > 0:28:53- I wish I had one of these at home. - Yes, it reminds me of looking at my paintings under the microscope.- Yes.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59'Iris spends what seems like an eternity scrutinising the scan.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04'Having undertaken the scientific study of scores of Impressionist works,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07'she understands exactly how Monet painted.'
0:29:08 > 0:29:12You've got up close to many Monets.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Would you say that the techniques we're seeing here are typical of him?
0:29:16 > 0:29:21Yes, indeed. You can see every step of the construction of the painting,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23which seems to be in this case typical for Monet.
0:29:23 > 0:29:29For example, the thinly-applied paint in the river or in the sky
0:29:29 > 0:29:31and the thicker paint in the foliage.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34But it certainly is done quickly
0:29:34 > 0:29:38because you can see there are places where you can look through the ground layer.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41- Almost bits of bare canvas.- Yeah.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46There's such a feeling of spontaneity but also certainty about it.
0:29:46 > 0:29:52Yes, indeed. The painter knew what he was doing, I'm sure. But can we look at the signature?
0:29:55 > 0:30:00Yes, we can see that the signature is not painted in black or in brown
0:30:00 > 0:30:02but in a colour, a greenish-bluish colour.
0:30:02 > 0:30:09This is typical for Monet because he loved to put a signature in harmony with the colours of his paintings.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13- Like a chic pocket handkerchief? Just a bit of colour.- Yes.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18'Having dissected the front of the painting, Iris looks at the back.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'She notices that the Latouche colourman stamp
0:30:21 > 0:30:25'also appears on works that she has previously researched.'
0:30:25 > 0:30:32The left one is the Latouche stamp on the reverse of a painting made by Gauguin in our collection in Cologne
0:30:32 > 0:30:36and it is identical to the stamp which we can see here on the Bords de la Seine.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40It is dated 1875.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43- About the same date as our picture. - Yes, right.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47But as you can see here on the right, we have another Latouche stamp
0:30:47 > 0:30:52which is a slightly different design, and this belongs to a painting of Gauguin,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56but it's dated later in 1884.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Now, that's very significant, because it suggests, therefore...
0:30:59 > 0:31:03It says that David's picture must have been produced
0:31:03 > 0:31:07- before that date, before the design changed.- That's right.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11It's the sort of touch, surely, that a faker would never think of.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Yes, I think so. It's almost impossible.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17'The evidence appears to be stacking up.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20'Time to ask the burning question.'
0:31:20 > 0:31:24Do you think David's picture is by Monet, having seen all this?
0:31:24 > 0:31:29From all that I know about this painting and what I have seen,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33erm, I think nothing suggests that this is a fake.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37- Are you sure? - Yes, I strongly feel that.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44'Just as we're about to call an end to a fascinating day,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46'I get a phone call from Philip
0:31:46 > 0:31:50'who's at the Gare du Nord trying to take David's painting back to London.'
0:31:50 > 0:31:56- Philip, what is it?- "Hi. Well, spot of bother at the customs here.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00"They seized the picture. They won't let me take it back to London.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05"They expressed to me this could be a national treasure and they don't want to let it out.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09"They want to establish that it hasn't been smuggled out of England
0:32:09 > 0:32:13- "or indeed it's not stolen." - You are kidding me!
0:32:13 > 0:32:16So what do we do next?
0:32:16 > 0:32:20"David will be required to come up with paperwork
0:32:20 > 0:32:24- "to prove that it's his picture." - Have you got any paperwork, David, that proves it's yours?
0:32:24 > 0:32:28- As in?- Have you got the receipt from when you bought this painting?
0:32:29 > 0:32:33- Oh, yes.- Good.- Is that real or are they having me on?
0:32:33 > 0:32:38- No, no, this is real. That is Philip stuck at customs.- Oh, poor man.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45'After four hours of questioning, Philip is allowed to go back to London.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50'But he's had to leave the painting at the station, so it's down to us to get it back.'
0:32:51 > 0:32:56Your picture's being held here at the Gare du Nord in an office just up there.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01It's being held against its will. I've got all the documentation here
0:33:01 > 0:33:05which proves that you are the owner of this painting.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08- So shall we go and try and get it back?- Come on, then.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'We need to find the customs official dealing with our case
0:33:11 > 0:33:14'but he's proving difficult to track down.'
0:33:14 > 0:33:18- Where's the painting?- I have no idea. It's wherever he put it.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23So he needs to be got on the phone and we need to sort it out because we are not leaving without it.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27No-one has heard of this customs officer whose name I've been given.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31The Joels are confused and don't know what's going on. I don't either, really.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35But hopefully we're going to get the painting.
0:33:40 > 0:33:46'What began as a farce is becoming more serious and I am rapidly losing my sense of humour.'
0:34:04 > 0:34:06I am so angry!
0:34:06 > 0:34:12The painting is stuck in there. We have been sending documents all day to prove that it's David's painting.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16There is no question of that. Now the bloke has just upped and gone home.
0:34:16 > 0:34:22No-one there will entertain the idea of making any kind of decision. They're frankly rude!
0:34:22 > 0:34:25I said to them, "It's not a bottle of bloody perfume,
0:34:25 > 0:34:27"this is an incredibly valuable painting."
0:34:27 > 0:34:32Even if it isn't by Monet, it's really valuable. If it is by Monet, it goes through the roof.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35And they have no idea what they've got there. No idea whatsoever.
0:34:35 > 0:34:41And I feel incredibly embarrassed, actually, about this situation and sorry for David and Jennifer
0:34:41 > 0:34:45because it's all very well me being cross but this is their painting.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50'With our train about to depart, we have to make a tough decision.'
0:34:50 > 0:34:54I think we've hit a wall. We've gone as far as we can with customs.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58They are not going to budge. And we've made all the calls we can make.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03But I think, actually, I'm really sorry, we're going to have to leave your painting here
0:35:03 > 0:35:06and we're going to have to try and get the painting another way.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11We made an appointment and that rotter of a customs official did not turn up.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15- We thought we were going to see him and he buggered off home. - Let's go home.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Let's bugger off home ourselves. And get a glass of wine. I think we deserve it, don't you?
0:35:22 > 0:35:26'In the end, it takes seven days and countless phone calls,
0:35:26 > 0:35:30'but finally David's painting is liberated.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33'A diplomatic incident is narrowly avoided
0:35:33 > 0:35:37'and our researcher returns the painting safely back to British soil
0:35:37 > 0:35:40'so we can continue our investigation.'
0:35:43 > 0:35:47'With the painting safely returned and a leading scientist on our side,
0:35:47 > 0:35:52'I'm eager to show it to one of the most respected connoisseurs of Monet.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55'Connoisseurs tend not to rely on science,
0:35:55 > 0:36:01'but on something else, their trained eye, to identify works of art.'
0:36:02 > 0:36:05It can take many, many years to become a really good connoisseur
0:36:05 > 0:36:10and there's one man at the Courtauld Institute, that centre of excellence for the study of art,
0:36:10 > 0:36:16who's spent three decades studying Monet and teaching about him and researching him.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20I'm very keen to discuss it with him.
0:36:20 > 0:36:26'Having written several seminal books on Monet and curated exhibitions of the artist's work,
0:36:26 > 0:36:31'Professor John House knows the genuine article and how to spot it.'
0:36:32 > 0:36:38John, you are a world scholar on Monet. What do you make of David's painting?
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Well, I've seen it many, many times over the years
0:36:41 > 0:36:45and I've never had a moment's doubt that it was painted by Monet. It simply looks right.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49- What makes you say that? - Well, it's really in the way the brushwork looks.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52It's the way his handling of paint is so very, very recognisable.
0:36:52 > 0:36:58It's extraordinarily varied and yet it's thoroughly free and spontaneous in one sense,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01but also so much in control.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Brushstrokes are like handwriting in that way.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07Each artist's paint and the way they apply it is unique.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12- Absolutely.- But it's not just the brushstrokes which are so convincing about this picture.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17We've also got Monet's actual handwriting in the form of the signature at the bottom right.
0:37:17 > 0:37:23I've cobbled together some comparable signatures from other completely legitimate Monet paintings
0:37:23 > 0:37:28and it seems to me that the one on David's painting is completely right.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31- What do you think?- Well, I think they all look very, very similar.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37I think there's something about the flow and rhythm of the handwriting, particularly the left hook of the M.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42It seems to me there's a fluency there rather like the mark-making in the rest of the picture.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46And you are, you know, one of the world's leading authorities on Monet.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49And you believe this is the real deal.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54Absolutely. But more important, the other scholars who are also experts in Monet's work,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59particularly Monet's work of this period, have never had a moment's doubt about the picture.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02They're all convinced that it's a perfectly genuine painting.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06How can the Wildensteins not listen to that?
0:38:06 > 0:38:10Well, it's a difficult situation. The initial judgement was made by Daniel Wildenstein
0:38:10 > 0:38:13probably around 30 or 40 years ago
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and his son, Guy, after Daniel's death, has also been sent information
0:38:16 > 0:38:20- but they've simply been unwilling to change their mind. - It seems outrageous
0:38:20 > 0:38:27- that they can just defy international opinion like that. - It's absolutely infuriating.
0:38:27 > 0:38:33But the art market has given the Wildensteins the authority to say what is and what is not a Monet
0:38:33 > 0:38:37and it's very, very hard to overturn that particular authority,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41- although we're convinced it's genuine.- Isn't it time to challenge that authority?
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Absolutely. And I think to challenge it with this painting
0:38:44 > 0:38:49and demonstrate our reasons for being totally convinced that it's genuine is something we must do now.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56'With the world's Monet connoisseurs behind David's painting,
0:38:56 > 0:38:58'we now have to look at its provenance,
0:38:58 > 0:39:03'documentary evidence showing who owned the work and when.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'David has spent years tracking the history of his painting.
0:39:06 > 0:39:13'Bendor has gathered all the relevant documents to see how far the paper trail leads us.'
0:39:13 > 0:39:15- Hi, Bendor.- Hi, Fiona. - What have you got?
0:39:15 > 0:39:20Do you remember when we looked at the back of the picture, there was a large stock number?
0:39:20 > 0:39:24It comes from a London-based art dealer who was called Arthur Tooth.
0:39:24 > 0:39:31And fortunately, Arthur Tooth's stock books and ledgers all survive and we got a copy of one here.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34And the numbers from the back of David's painting,
0:39:34 > 0:39:40which is 3322, matches the stock number in Arthur Tooth's ledger.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42So here we are, here's our painting. Claude Monet.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46- Oh, look at that!- But the really crucial piece of information
0:39:46 > 0:39:51is that the provenance of the painting before he bought it was Galerie Georges Petit
0:39:51 > 0:39:53and Mohammed Bey Khalil.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58- And George Petit was a dealer in Paris?- He was a dealer in Paris. He was one of Monet's main dealers.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02And here is a fabulous picture of Georges Petit's very grand auction room.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05But I think Khalil is the most important person here.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09He was a very wealthy Egyptian art collector obsessed with everything French.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13French wife, French food, he liked French art, he liked French architecture.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18- The whole shebang.- The whole shebang. He comes from Cairo, he has a very nice palace on the Nile.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23Now, we know that he went on a bit of an art-buying spree between 1919
0:40:23 > 0:40:29and 1923 and quite a few of his pictures were bought through that gallery, Georges Petit.
0:40:30 > 0:40:36'Did Khalil buy David's picture from Georges Petit? And if so, when?
0:40:36 > 0:40:42'If we could prove the painting was in such a reputable gallery before Monet's death in 1926,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45'then it's very unlikely to be a fake.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48'This is what the Wildensteins have been asking for.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00'To finally solve the mystery of David's painting, we're travelling to Egypt.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06'Cairo was home to the man we know once owned David's painting.
0:41:07 > 0:41:12'The wealthy Egyptian collector Mohammed Mahmoud Bey Khalil.
0:41:14 > 0:41:19'For half the year, Khalil would escape the searing heat of the city for Paris.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26'But for the other half, he lived here, on the banks of the Nile.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34'His home was a glorious palace built in the French style.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37'It's now a state museum dedicated to his memory.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45'And inside is his extraordinary legacy.'
0:41:48 > 0:41:50- Look at this!- Wow!- Look at that!
0:41:50 > 0:41:53You wouldn't expect this in the middle of Cairo.
0:41:53 > 0:41:59'Records are scarce but it's thought that Khalil moved here between 1915 and 1919.
0:42:01 > 0:42:07'To furnish his home, he went on an art buying spree to end all others.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11'He was passionate about French art
0:42:11 > 0:42:16'and spent vast sums to ensure he amassed works by all the greats.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23'It's a glorious collection which includes many Impressionist works
0:42:23 > 0:42:29'and, of course, paintings by the artist at the centre of our mystery, Claude Monet.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34'It's spine-tingling to think that David's painting once hung here.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40'We've asked museum director Recin Baher
0:42:40 > 0:42:46'if she can find anything in their archives which might help our case with the Wildensteins.'
0:42:46 > 0:42:49- Morning.- Hi there.- Hi! How are you?
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Well, I'm fine. By searching in our archives,
0:42:52 > 0:42:57I found some photos of paintings that were sent by French dealers
0:42:57 > 0:42:59to Mahmoud Khalil to choose among them.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04Oh, I see. So he would be sent these pictures so he could decide if he wanted to buy them.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09- Yes. And these. - And, of course, we still use that technique today, sending pictures.
0:43:09 > 0:43:14- Except normally now they're by computer.- And among them, we found David's painting.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Good lord. I mean, it's clearly an early photograph.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Yes. Probably one of the first photographs ever taken of it.
0:43:23 > 0:43:28- No damage. Can I look on the back? - Yes, of course.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34There we are, look. Claude Monet. Le Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil. So it's the same title.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37- Dimensions.- Yes.- The same?- Yes.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42- Look at this. What about the stock number?- 5575.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46That is the stock number on the back of my painting. It's fantastic.
0:43:47 > 0:43:53- So here we have your picture. - Yes.- On a card sent by a dealer.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57It's got your number. So whoever this card is from
0:43:57 > 0:43:59is who sold the painting to Khalil.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02And from what we know from the ledgers,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06- Georges Petit is the only likely candidate.- That's right.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10So we need to link that stock number to Georges Petit because if it was in Georges Petit's gallery,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14that would've been during Monet's lifetime and therefore genuine.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17- Precisely.- We're this close!
0:44:17 > 0:44:21I want to get...together. SHE LAUGHS
0:44:24 > 0:44:29Generally speaking, every dealer has their own style of stock label on the back of their pictures.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33We know that David's picture is most likely to have come from Georges Petit.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36So I'm going to go round all the pictures in this collection
0:44:36 > 0:44:39that we know have gone through the George Petit gallery
0:44:39 > 0:44:43and with any luck find similar labels to this one, the one on the back of David's picture.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Same design, colour of ink, serrated edge
0:44:47 > 0:44:52and roughly the same size, if possible, which is about 1.5 x 3cm.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57That way, I'll be able to prove, with any luck, conclusively that it's a Georges Petit picture.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03I've found one. Definitely the same design.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Same coloured ink. Serrated edge. We're in business.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11Yes, there it is. 4760.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15- So that is another Georges Petit sticker. - As we are now beginning to expect.
0:45:15 > 0:45:21This is by Henri Lebasque. Again, it's a Georges Petit picture and it's called Hammock.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26- And sure enough...- 6185.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Yes! Unquestionably the same design.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37Oh, wow! We've got the double whammy here. Not only have we got the stock number,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41- but what's above it? Collection Georges Petit!- Look at that!
0:45:41 > 0:45:45That means that any painting with that dealer's stamp, like our dealer's stamp,
0:45:45 > 0:45:50- was Georges Petit's collection. - Exactly.- Absolutely incredible.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54This is by Jean-Francois Millet. It's called La Toilette de la Nymph.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56And...
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Here we are. 7601.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Now, this is a particularly significant number.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08- It would've been given this when it came into the Georges Petit gallery. - Do we know when that was?
0:46:08 > 0:46:12No, but we do know when he sold it.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14May 1920.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19Hang on, 7601. This is an earlier number 5575.
0:46:19 > 0:46:25So this was catalogued by Georges Petit in his gallery before that one.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30And we had to prove that the painting was in Georges Petit's possession before Monet died.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Monet died in 1926.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38So this means that this painting was in Georges Petit's possession while Monet was alive
0:46:38 > 0:46:44and if it had been a fake, Monet would've pointed it out. So your painting is genuine. This is it!
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Wonderful! It's proven at last.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51- And how long have you been looking for this information?- 18 years.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56And I've got a lot of Georges Petit numbers, but not the significant number which has just been revealed.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59It's game, set and match.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03And as I see it now, this should be enough for the Wildensteins.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07For more than 18 years, David has been trying to find the proof that
0:47:07 > 0:47:11that painting existed while Monet was alive and therefore it was genuine.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14And he couldn't find it. And, actually, when we started on this,
0:47:14 > 0:47:18I didn't think we'd find that. But now we have
0:47:18 > 0:47:22and that is the one incontrovertible piece of proof that we needed
0:47:22 > 0:47:27and that is what the Wildenstein Institute have been asking for all this time and we've just found it.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32So if that's not enough for them, I don't know what is.
0:47:38 > 0:47:45'At last, we're ready to head back to Paris to present David's painting to the Wildenstein Institute.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51'Armed with a dossier of new evidence, I'm feeling pretty confident.
0:47:51 > 0:47:58'But in case we need extra backup, I've invited world Monet expert John House to come along.'
0:47:58 > 0:48:01So here we are. The Wildenstein Institute.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03The art world fortress.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08- Yes, it certainly doesn't look very inviting.- Well, with any luck now, this is the coup de coeur.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11This is the moment that we've been waiting for.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16- We'll keep our fingers crossed.- I have to say, I've got that slightly sick feeling of going into an exam.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20Yes, but this is the moment.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30'The protocol here is strict.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35'No-one is allowed to attend meetings with Guy Wildenstein and his Catalogue Raisonne committee.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40'We are simply instructed to deliver the painting and our dossier of evidence.'
0:48:54 > 0:48:59I'm feeling rather frustrated. We've lived and breathed this picture of the last three months
0:48:59 > 0:49:02and now it's out of our hands and I just want to be with it,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06I want to be able to be the person telling them that this is a real Monet.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09And now it's just up to the paperwork.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14And they're sitting there, they're in the room, we can't do anything, we've just got to wait.
0:49:18 > 0:49:24'We're told to expect a decision by letter within a week, so I head back to London.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31'But John is asked to return to the Wildenstein Institute at the end of the day.'
0:49:34 > 0:49:36The Monet catalogue committee's had its meeting
0:49:36 > 0:49:41and Guy Wildenstein has asked to meet with me. I don't know exactly what he wants to say.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46I hope he's going to ask me further questions. But anything further I can say, so much the better.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50HE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Ah, here we go.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06'To John's surprise, Guy Wildenstein gave him his decision that very afternoon.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10'He's headed back to London to give us the news.'
0:50:12 > 0:50:15We're about to find out the result,
0:50:15 > 0:50:20whether or not the Wildensteins have approved David's painting as a Monet.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27I can only assume they are going to, because we've got so much evidence, I don't see how they can say no!
0:50:27 > 0:50:30If they do, there is no justice. I'm hugely excited about it.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34And actually, more than anything, I really want this for David and for his wife
0:50:34 > 0:50:38because they have tried for so long to prove that this is a Monet.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41I'm convinced now. I wasn't at the beginning but I am now.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And I really, really want it for them.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49- John, at last!- Hello!
0:50:49 > 0:50:54- How nice to see you! - Good to see you.- So, come on, then!
0:50:54 > 0:50:56The answer is no.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59- No!- Big, total no.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02They didn't seem to have taken the dossier very seriously.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06- You're joking?- I'm not joking, no, no. I'm absolutely serious.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10I was summoned in and given this very peremptory sort of casual dismissal.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12- You're kidding! - I'm not kidding at all.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16They simply said, "No, it's not a Monet. We don't think it looks right."
0:51:16 > 0:51:20But all the stuff about the stamps on the back of the paintings...
0:51:20 > 0:51:25All of this... If it doesn't look like a Monet, all this is irrelevant.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27And he also said, which was so telling,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30that it had been seen by his father, the late Daniel Wildenstein,
0:51:30 > 0:51:36that he had not thought it was a Monet and he said he couldn't go against his father's opinion.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38I'm finding this almost absurd.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43They asked for two things - proof that it was in existence before Monet's death
0:51:43 > 0:51:48and secondly that it was in the Khalil collection. We have found both of those bits of evidence.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53Absolutely. It left one kind of speechless, startled, shocked, upset,
0:51:53 > 0:51:57and infinitely convinced that, you know, this is just deeply, deeply wrong.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01The fact that they've turned it down leaves us with a black hole, frankly,
0:52:01 > 0:52:06in terms of the attribution and the official acceptance of works being by Monet,
0:52:06 > 0:52:11that it's being done by people who, obviously, I cannot respect their judgement.
0:52:11 > 0:52:16- This just shows how flawed many aspects of the art world are.- Yes.
0:52:21 > 0:52:27What we need with the case of Monet is not this dynastic,
0:52:27 > 0:52:32art-dealing, extremely wealthy institution
0:52:32 > 0:52:36that seems to be able to make decisions without actually having to justify them.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41What we need instead is a committee like we have for Van Gogh or Rembrandt,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43an academically-appointed group of individuals,
0:52:43 > 0:52:49all of whom have done important things in the area of research and studies
0:52:49 > 0:52:55who have earned those positions, whose opinions, when they come together, we can believe.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01Surely not a system like this, the one we've just encountered. It is not right.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05I have to say, I feel utterly deflated.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Utterly deflated.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15And the thing is, you know, the Wildensteins asked for some facts, we got those facts.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18And what I'm used to, in journalism anyway,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22is that if you compile your facts, you do your work, you investigate,
0:53:22 > 0:53:27you put everything together, the facts speak for themselves. That's the business I'm in.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30And...here, the facts seem to count for nothing.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34The Wildensteins appear to have moved the goal posts. And now...
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Now we have to tell David.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49I have really come to love David during the making of this programme. That is not something I say easily.
0:53:49 > 0:53:55But he's relentlessly enthusiastic, charming, passionate about his painting.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58He is just a really brilliant, brilliant man.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04And... I feel I've let him down
0:54:04 > 0:54:07and I'm really dreading telling him.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18- Hi there!- Ah, hello! - How lovely to see you!
0:54:18 > 0:54:23- Where have you been? - Hello!- Hello, Philip!- Well, we've been working, haven't we?- You have.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27- It's lovely to see you! - Hello!- Lovely to see you.
0:54:27 > 0:54:32- What have you got in there?- Well, this, of course, is your painting.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36Now, John House had a meeting with Guy Wildenstein.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41It didn't go brilliantly well.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46And, knowing you, you'll think that I'm joking, but I'm not joking.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Guy Wildenstein has said no.
0:54:50 > 0:54:56He says, despite all the work that we've done and everything we found,
0:54:56 > 0:55:01he says, in his opinion, it is not a Monet.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04- The man's mad.- I don't believe it!
0:55:04 > 0:55:07I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
0:55:07 > 0:55:14I have to say, I can barely believe it. I mean, rarely does one come across such a strong argument
0:55:14 > 0:55:18- as we put together. - Are you pulling my leg?
0:55:18 > 0:55:21- No, we're not pulling your leg. I'm really not.- I'm afraid we're not.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26- I knew that's what you'd think. - You're really not?- I'm really not. I would never, ever...
0:55:26 > 0:55:29Well, the man's crazy. It's irrefutable.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31- Of course it is. - Absolutely irrefutable.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34But do you know what the really alarming thing was?
0:55:34 > 0:55:38It seemed to be that they didn't really want to take account of the argument.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42It was almost as if, according to John, that they'd made up their mind already.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Yeah.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47I mean, honestly, I feel desperately sorry
0:55:47 > 0:55:50that we've all gone on this journey together
0:55:50 > 0:55:55and that, you know, you always hope you're going to come with a "Ta-da!" ending
0:55:55 > 0:55:57and actually we haven't.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00We haven't, despite all our best efforts.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02I'm completely gobsmacked.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05- Are you?- I absolutely am.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I mean, that painting needs, for itself, to be recognised.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12It's a great painting. It's a lovely painting.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16But I'm really sorry for everybody, really.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20- So much has gone into... - As Paul Tucker said,
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Paul is the great American expert,
0:56:23 > 0:56:29he said, "Well, anyway, David, you've got a beautiful picture by Monet". And I feel like that, too.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37'We're not the only ones who feel an injustice has been done here.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41'Those regarded as the world's leading Monet scholars agree
0:56:41 > 0:56:43'that David's painting is genuine
0:56:43 > 0:56:46'and should be accepted into the Wildenstein Catalogue Raisonne.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53'Guy Wildenstein has put his rejection in writing, saying...'
0:57:15 > 0:57:21- Well, that was tough, wasn't it? - It was.- David and Jennifer were obviously expecting good news.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24We didn't have any to give them.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27No, but it is a tough and aggressive business.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30There are other pictures out there, a lot of pictures,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33that like David and Jennifer's, are in limbo.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36I mean, they have fallen foul of an aspect of the art world
0:57:36 > 0:57:39which, personally, I'm not very proud to be part of,
0:57:39 > 0:57:45and that is the dependence upon individuals who aren't necessarily the people you ought to be going to.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50- Well, let's hope that one day the picture gets the recognition it deserves.- Quite.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:00 > 0:58:04E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:58:04 > 0:58:04.