0:00:02 > 0:00:04- ..500,000, 19 million... - The art world -
0:00:04 > 0:00:08glamour, wealth, intrigue.
0:00:09 > 0:00:1195? Selling at 95 million.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Beneath the surface there's a darker place - a world of high stakes and gambles.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24International art dealer Philip Mould knows the risks.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28He hunts down sleepers - paintings that hide secrets.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33- In 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.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I'm Fiona Bruce, with over 20 years' experience as a journalist.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Every picture tells its own story, and it's up to us to try and uncover it.
0:00:48 > 0:00:54We're teaming up to investigate human dramas and mysterious tales locked in paint.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02This story began with a magical discovery at an Antiques Roadshow.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05You've got a picture worth up to £30,000.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Bingo!
0:01:07 > 0:01:13A rubbish-tip find took Tony and his daughter, Selina, halfway around the world.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Bidding here now at 120,000. I have 130,000.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22But no-one could have predicted how it would end.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28- That's the first time I've seen it in nearly 15 years.- Really?- In the business. This last-minute, yes. Yes.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32And I'm selling at 300,000.
0:01:32 > 0:01:33Sold.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48Right, here we are.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51We're at Cobh - or COVE, I think it's pronounced.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56- Are you good at sort of shouting out as we go along? - I'm very good at shouting.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01- Whether I'm good at map reading and shouting, I don't know.- So you can be like a talking sat nav.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04"When the ferry docks, turn left."
0:02:04 > 0:02:06That's what I reckon.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08You've got one of those sort of
0:02:08 > 0:02:11"you must obey" but also seductive voices.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14In fact, you'd actually make a rather good sat nav.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Philip and I found ourselves in an unusual spot for an art investigation.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25We were brought to this quiet corner on the southwest coast of Ireland
0:02:25 > 0:02:28by a chance encounter at an Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:30 > 0:02:36So you went on a fishing trip but you came back with more than just fish, you came back with these.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Yeah, it's my local spot I fish
0:02:40 > 0:02:44cos it's only half a mile walking distance to where I fish,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and so I just gathered them up and took them home.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52Most interesting. Have you actually reflected on what's written in the bottom right-hand corner?
0:02:52 > 0:02:57"Winslow Homer." Winslow Homer is about the most important water colourist
0:02:57 > 0:02:59- at work in America in the 19th century.- Yeah?
0:02:59 > 0:03:04He's one of the great artists who define American art heritage.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09You netted something else that day. You've got a picture worth up to £30,000.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14THEY LAUGH AND GASP
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Bingo! You don't have to cry, my love. It's yours.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27It took a couple of days for it to sink in, quite what had happened.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31The name Winslow Homer is hugely important.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37I mean, he's not known to all people in this country, but in America he's got almost mythical status.
0:03:37 > 0:03:44The combination of a great name like that and a painting that had been found on a rubbish dump
0:03:44 > 0:03:46was the stuff of fairy-tales.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51- HE SIGHS - I can't wait to get to this place.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53I've got this bleary image
0:03:53 > 0:03:58of rubbish dumps and treasures and all this sort of business.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Also, once we see it, we'll get a clearer idea of how on earth it could have got there
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and who might have put it there.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10Tony Varney was the lucky fisherman who found that bundle of pictures
0:04:10 > 0:04:1420 years ago, next to a rubbish tip in Youghal, County Cork.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17He was living there at the time.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20We're hoping that by coming back here we can establish
0:04:20 > 0:04:25how they got to the dump and just who the children in this painting might be.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It all started just here.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- What? Just here?- Just here.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34- Just this patch of dirt? That's where you found it?- Yes.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I pulled up the vehicle here and there were the pictures, simple as that.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Take us back 20 years ago - what was here then?
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Just a dirt bank up here,
0:04:44 > 0:04:49where you could pull in a vehicle, and a hole in the fence where you could go fishing.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52And there was a tip here then, wasn't there?
0:04:52 > 0:04:57There was a tip here then which has now, as you can see, it's been turned into a recycling centre.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The thing that intrigues me is who owns this picture?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03If you pick something up on a tip, there's the issue...
0:05:03 > 0:05:07- OUTSIDE the tip.- Outside the tip. That's an important differentiation.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12The legality of whoever brought it here, should they have owned it, had they half-inched it,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16then is it finders keepers? If you find it, does it automatically belong to you?
0:05:16 > 0:05:22- I don't know. We need to find out. - I don't know.- Looking around me here, looking back to Youghal,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26looking out to those mountains, I feel there must be someone out there,
0:05:26 > 0:05:31- within the vicinity, who had a connection with these pictures.- So a local person?
0:05:31 > 0:05:36- It stands to reason, doesn't it? Otherwise why dump it here?- I think it's absolutely fascinating,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41and I feel that if we can crack that, we can crack a lot of what these pictures are all about.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47I get the impression with Tony, cos he's so laid back,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49- that if he hadn't gone by car that day...- Quite!
0:05:49 > 0:05:54- If those paintings had been there and he'd been on foot, he would have just left them.- I know.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58- It's amazing!- He's obviously a passionate hoarder-type collector, isn't he?
0:05:58 > 0:06:02He's one of those people that will pick up anything, and he's picked up a Winslow Homer.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- As long as it is a Winslow Homer. - That's a good point!
0:06:05 > 0:06:11- If it's not a Winslow Homer, of course, everything goes flat. - Yeah.- But I'm convinced it is.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21I hope that Philip's right, because when I met Tony and his daughter, Selina, at the Roadshow,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24I got the feeling there's a lot riding on this for them.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26We haven't had time to think,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and all I can say is that we can't believe our luck.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35We don't like the picture. It will be restored and sold,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40- and the daughter and my grandchildren will benefit from it.- Very nice, too.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Tony had given the painting to his daughter before the Roadshow.
0:06:43 > 0:06:50If my valuation is right, she could now benefit to the tune of £30,000 when this picture sells.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01With Tony and Selina keen to sell the picture, we need to get to work,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04because there are many unanswered questions.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07We're regrouping at our base in the heart of London's art world,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12where Philip's head of research, Dr Bendor Grosvenor, has been preparing the ground.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15The thing is, I don't want to sound like a total pleb here,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18but I'm just not that impressed by this Winslow Homer painting.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22I mean, it just doesn't look that great to me, to be honest.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26You really have to get your head around how big a name Winslow Homer is.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30I mean, in the 19th century, in America, frankly, this man has got no equals.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Have a look at some of these.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37This was once the most expensive American painting ever sold.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It now belongs to Bill Gates, and he bought it for a reported 30 million.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45- 30 million?!- It's entitled Lost On The Grand Banks.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49There's almost a sort of cinematic feeling that the artist is there,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51hanging over the event with a camera.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56This is entitled Life Line, and it's exactly that - someone being saved out to sea.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01I mean, I agree. Those are dramatic, they're gripping, I mean, they're wonderful.
0:08:01 > 0:08:08But the little watercolour that Selina and Tony got, it doesn't look anything like these.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12That's the key thing about Selina's picture - the fact that it's a watercolour,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15because Winslow Homer is the pre-eminent American watercolourist,
0:08:15 > 0:08:20- and the auction record for one of his watercolours is nearly 5 million. - Five million?!
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And so what we're doing is showing you the type of stuff
0:08:24 > 0:08:29that by association will make those three children highly desirable.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35The power of that association is about to be tested.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Selina and Tony have taken the picture to Sotheby's in London,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41who bounced it to their art team in New York,
0:08:41 > 0:08:46where the leading American experts in Winslow Homer are keen to verify it before putting it up for sale.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00The picture has jet-setted a long way from the dusty loft in Selina's home in the West Midlands.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06Well, this is basically where the painting's spent half of its life in my loft.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11As you can see, it's full of bits and bobs,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15lots of it being my father's, as you see here -
0:09:15 > 0:09:20some more of his bits he's brought over. Old things that he's had over the years.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Magazines that he just hasn't thrown.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28He keeps them. And these are like 1960s.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Some are even older than that. And here's some cards.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36It's just full of bits. This is a painting he gave me.
0:09:36 > 0:09:43I haven't thrown it. I just put it in the loft, as I treated the other one.
0:09:45 > 0:09:51What lay in Selina's loft all those years was the work of one of America's most influential artists,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55but my research shows that Winslow Homer was deeply influenced by a period
0:09:55 > 0:09:59surprisingly spent in Britain, in 1881.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02His love of marine pictures drew him to Cullercoats
0:10:02 > 0:10:07on the northeast coast, just a few miles from Newcastle.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11I want to show Fiona where Homer honed his skills.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20Was there some kind of artistic community here, or did he just happen upon Cullercoats?
0:10:20 > 0:10:23By the time he arrived, there were a few artists here.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27It's possible he had a conversation on the ship over and someone recommended it.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31There's another reason, though - he loved fishing. Fishing populates his pictures.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35It's quite possible he just came here because of his enthusiasm.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40One critic said that after Cullercoats things completely changed, and they did.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43His artistic style completely changed?
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Before he came to England, in the early part of his career, in the 1860s,
0:10:47 > 0:10:54he was an illustrator of the Civil War, so he always thought like someone who needs to tell a story.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57What is it about his paintings and his techniques?
0:10:57 > 0:11:01It's the sketchiness, the freedom, the fluency of them.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05He would just stand out here on the beach, on the breakwater, and just dash the painting off?
0:11:05 > 0:11:10You can't sit down and put up an easel when there's a storm out at sea.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15I think what he did was he used sketches. He would have done quick sketches,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19but he also used photography, and there are photographs by Winslow Homer.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23And I think it was a combination of those things and a great memory.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Artists, great artists, often have that really powerful, visual memory.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32I mean, the word "impressionist" is overused,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35but I think you can use that word about Winslow Homer.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38He was, perhaps, the first American impressionist.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45I mean, one of the techniques he used to great effect was to profile his figures.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51And in order to heighten the drama, he loved to silhouette his figures against
0:11:51 > 0:11:53a big sky or a high sea,
0:11:53 > 0:12:01so the sea acts almost like a sort of wall, but a wall for different characters.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05This is an example of his love of real, live drama.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Do you recognise where that is?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- That's that building just back there, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14It was the lifeboat lookout house, wasn't it?
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Yeah. Just look at the quality of the colouring in that.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21It's almost like he's a journalistic photographer on the scene.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Yes, it's like it's a snapshot - a moment in time.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31I mean, they're very different from the picture that turned up that day at the Antiques Roadshow.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35How was it so obvious to you? I know it was signed, but it could have been a fake.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40How could you tell that it had the stamp of authenticity, that it really was a Winslow Homer?
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Well, have a look at this one. That again is very close to here.
0:12:45 > 0:12:52Two or three things. One, there's a crispness and a confidence, and the use of the washes.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54And if you look at the colours,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58there's a sort of taste for exoticism which we see in that watercolour.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00This one, I can begin to see,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05has echoes of the painting we saw at the Antiques Roadshow, and the way the faces are done, actually.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08The shadow - look, there - on the eye and the eye socket.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13You're absolutely right. There's a similar look to our kids.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20There were five other pictures found by Tony on the tip.
0:13:20 > 0:13:26Perhaps they're the clues we need to unpick the mystery of how they got there.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29My head of research, Bendor, has called us back to base
0:13:29 > 0:13:33to bring us up to date with some important information about the other pictures.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39The most interesting one was this watercolour on the bottom left here.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43It's actually a scene of a beach in the Bahamas.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46And there's an inscription at the bottom which identifies
0:13:46 > 0:13:49that it was painted by someone described as "Her Excellency, Mrs Blake".
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Now, Mrs Blake was the wife of the governor of the Bahama Islands,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58so that's presumably why she's painting a beach in the Bahamas.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04Amongst the other stuff found on the tip was this invitation here, to an exhibition in Jamaica.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09And this, it turns out, is a likeness of the Blakes themselves.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13- I don't believe it. - So that's Lady Blake there? - That's Lady Blake.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18- How can you be sure?- We found other pictures of them and other likenesses, and it all matches up.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22- And that's her?- And this here is the governor himself.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26- The governor!- I can't believe it! We've been looking at them all the time.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29- So that was with the painting?- Yeah. - And there they are.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31We've got a connection here.
0:14:31 > 0:14:38The really intriguing thing is the fact that the Blakes were in the Bahamas in the mid-1880s.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43We also know that Winslow Homer was in the Bahamas in the mid-1880s.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47So, it's possible, given that the Homer was found amongst
0:14:47 > 0:14:51this Blake stuff, that there's a connection here that we need to check out.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54So, they could have been there at the same time?
0:14:54 > 0:14:56- They could have.- They could have met?
0:14:56 > 0:15:01They could possibly have met. Or it's possible that the picture was painted in the Bahamas,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05- and that's why there's this beach scene together with it.- How are we going to take it further?
0:15:05 > 0:15:10I've taken this as far as I can go here in the libraries and on the internet.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14If we're going to prove this connection between Winslow Homer and the Blakes,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18one of us needs to go and have a rummage around in the archives in the Bahamas.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23Well, that's straightforward. I'm off to New York this week and I'll go via the Bahamas.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Hang on a minute! You're going to the Bahamas, and I get to go to Coventry?
0:15:27 > 0:15:28What's wrong with that?
0:15:35 > 0:15:41As well as working as a part-time carer, single mum Selina has four kids.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43I can't believe you've got four kids!
0:15:43 > 0:15:46You must a been a child-bride! So, talk me through the kids, then.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48How old are they?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Eleanor's 17.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Anthony's 15.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Ricky's 12,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58and Rose is ten.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01They are lovely kids.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06They've stuck by me. They are very, very good, loyal, loving children.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09They are what I get up each day for. They are good.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11So, how do you feel at the moment?
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Are you kind of excited, a bit anxious?
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I'm excited, but I'm also nervous
0:16:19 > 0:16:23cos at the moment, the painting's at Sotheby's,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27waiting to find out if it is an original, because they could ring
0:16:27 > 0:16:32or write any time now and say, "It's just a copy." So, that's it...
0:16:32 > 0:16:38If it does go for what Philip thinks it might, 30 grand or so, that's a lot of money.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- What difference would it make to you to have that kind of money? - Gosh, loads.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I've never had anything like that. £30, let alone 30 grand!
0:16:45 > 0:16:50I just know that the four children will have a secure little nest-egg
0:16:50 > 0:16:52for them, between the four of them.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55It'll give them a good start, so, yeah.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05I'm following in Winslow Homer's footsteps to Nassau in the Bahamas.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11I want to know why he painted our picture and who the subjects are.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16From Homer's letters, we know he landed here in December 1884
0:17:16 > 0:17:20and that he stayed at the Royal Victoria Hotel.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23I'm hoping they have a record of his visit.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29This is looking a bit strange.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32There's no obvious hotel here.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37And over there, there looks...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40like a slightly grand-looking building.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And then there's something over there in that corner, but...
0:17:45 > 0:17:48..this is the place where the hotel should be.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55The Royal Victoria Hotel was the only hotel on the island when Homer came here to paint.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59It was a glamorous retreat for the social elite.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05The only thing that remains is the silk cotton tree, a feature of the hotel for almost a century.
0:18:05 > 0:18:11Bendor's research says it was from this perch a calypso band played for guests like Homer.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16That's disappointing. These great gateposts that promised a story
0:18:16 > 0:18:18and sort of delivered nothing, really.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24But it's not all bad, because I know that there is the National Records Office in town, open tomorrow,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and with any luck, it'll throw up something.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Back in London, I'm eager to get some legal advice, because what worries me
0:18:36 > 0:18:40is whether Tony and Selina really own the picture.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43What exactly does the saying "finders keepers" mean?
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And what checks need to be done?
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Dick Ellis set up the Art and Antiques Squad at Scotland Yard in 1989.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58He now works as an investigator, recovering stolen works of art.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05Sotheby's say they are doing what's called "due diligence". What does that involve?
0:19:05 > 0:19:08It's looking through the background, the provenance of an object.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Is the person who's offering it for sale a genuine owner?
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Everything that the major auction houses sell is checked against
0:19:15 > 0:19:20the stolen art databases to ensure that these things aren't recorded somewhere as stolen.
0:19:20 > 0:19:28So, due diligence now is a very, very important part of buying and selling works of art.
0:19:28 > 0:19:35The thing that struck me is that Tony found this painting with a few other paintings just outside a dump.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40- Does that mean it's his? It doesn't belong to the council? - No, it doesn't entirely.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45As this was in Ireland, you have to look at the Irish law, but it's very similar to the English law.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50And what the common law, going way back,
0:19:50 > 0:19:56said was that property which you find, if you take it at appropriation,
0:19:56 > 0:20:02if you do that with no dishonesty, in other words, you think, "This has been abandoned, it's dumped."
0:20:02 > 0:20:09In law, you actually have a title to that property, as you found it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Is that a posh way of saying "finders keepers"?
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Yes, that's exactly what they say.
0:20:14 > 0:20:21The only person who has a superior claim of title to that object is, if you like, the real owner.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25- The person who... - This is important, then. Even if I'd thrown something away,
0:20:25 > 0:20:33- knowingly thrown it away, I could change my mind and then have a claim on getting it back?- Yes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38So not entirely straightforward for Tony and Selina.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41The painting's owners could come forward and claim it.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44But we still don't know how the picture ended up in Ireland.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47And with Philip investigating in the Bahamas,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Bendor has been digging deeper, too.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Homer was commissioned by Century Magazine in 1884 to go out to the Bahamas,
0:20:54 > 0:21:00to illustrate an article which was designed to get wealthy Americans to go to the islands in the winter.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06These are some of the illustrations that he used, but what I really want to find out is whether there's proof
0:21:06 > 0:21:13of any link between Homer's trip to the Bahamas and the Blakes' time as governor of the Bahamas.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16And I think the evidence is quite encouraging so far.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20First of all, we've got Mrs Blake herself, who was a talented amateur painter,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25so she probably would have taken some interest in this famous American coming to the islands.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28And then we've got Governor Blake.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30He was quite an enlightened colonial governor,
0:21:30 > 0:21:36and he wanted to get new people to his island, and more importantly, new money to his island.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39So he probably also would have taken an interest in Winslow Homer's work
0:21:39 > 0:21:42in trying to get all these rich Americans to the Bahamas.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48I just really hope that Philip can find some direct evidence that the Blakes met Homer when he was there.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The local newspaper could be the place to find evidence that Homer met the Blakes.
0:22:04 > 0:22:11From Homer's letters, we know he landed in Nassau in December of 1884 and spent most of the winter here.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16So at least I know which year to pinpoint.
0:22:16 > 0:22:23It seems that the first newspaper that's published in December is the Nassau Guardian,
0:22:23 > 0:22:29and even the front page is just full of government notices all starting, "His Excellency, the Governor".
0:22:29 > 0:22:33Blake must have looked like a powerful man in his time.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36What I'm looking for is some sort of social occasion
0:22:36 > 0:22:41or some major ceremonial event in which the artist was involved,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43because there's probably a fairly small pool
0:22:43 > 0:22:46of international famous figures that come and go here.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50You'd have thought there may have been some brushing up with the governor.
0:22:50 > 0:22:57So this is now January the 3rd. Now, things are livening up in town. There's a party
0:22:57 > 0:23:01for adults, and for children, given by the governor.
0:23:01 > 0:23:07Not exactly listed prominently, but in a bunch of other attendees, look what I've just found.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11"Mr Homer". So Mr Homer's at the big ball.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13It also lists what everyone wore.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18It seems that the theme of the ball was Arabian, so you can imagine all the sort of colour,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20an excuse for really going over the top.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24How extraordinary. They've identified what the children are wearing.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29"Miss Blake, Princess Parizade."
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Cripes!
0:23:33 > 0:23:36"Master A Blake, Prince Bahman.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39"M Blake, Prince Perviz."
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Winslow Homer could have been doing a portrait
0:23:47 > 0:23:50of the children dressed up for the ball.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54This now explains it.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Winslow Homer was portraying the children of the governor and Lady Blake.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Isn't it astonishing how you have a hunch
0:24:04 > 0:24:11and you roll up your sleeves and go deep into the times and the preoccupations
0:24:11 > 0:24:14of the times, and in the trivia, the sort of celebrity trivia,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19just like the sort of stuff we get in "Hello!" magazine-type stuff today,
0:24:19 > 0:24:27there lies a reference which gives us the key into determining what this picture is about.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31So Homer and the Blakes met each other.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36To find such provenance for a picture like this is a great step forward.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43My next stop is New York.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48Sotheby's has met the deadline to complete their due diligence checks on the picture.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52It's been given the go-ahead to make the sale in a week's time.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58But the picture must still be authenticated for sale by American Winslow Homer experts.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02They've just returned their verdict and I'm anxious to hear it.
0:25:02 > 0:25:09Liz Beaman from Sotheby's has their report and our freshly-restored watercolour.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Liz, this looks amazing. The colours are so much fresher.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15The whole thing looks crisper. It's almost as if it's got a complete new set of clothing.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Now, put me out of my misery. I committed myself on national television.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22I valued this at £30,000.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25I now need to find out what your authority has said.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Is it or is it not a work by Winslow Homer?
0:25:28 > 0:25:35Well, it was a lengthy process. We sent it to Abigail Booth Gerdts, who's the director of a project
0:25:35 > 0:25:39on Homer, trying to compile all known works that the artist has ever done.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44And after a careful inspection, she is able to confirm its authenticity as a Homer.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Praise the Lord!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49OK, so now what impact is that going to have on value?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52I put 30 grand on it, as you know. Can we improve on that?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55We think it's actually worth significantly more.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- We've placed a value of 150 to 250,000.- Wow!
0:25:59 > 0:26:03- I mean, that's £100,000-plus for us?- Yes.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07- Do you really think it'll make that? - I have to think that at that enticing estimate
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and with this exciting story
0:26:09 > 0:26:12of the discovery, it should do quite well.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16That amazing news has reached back home.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19In Coventry, Selina has received an important delivery.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24Here I have my catalogue that Sotheby's New York
0:26:24 > 0:26:30have sent over to me, with, hopefully, a print of the picture in there.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I am so excited.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36This is it. I know it's all happening now.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Sotheby's contacted me to say that they'd had great news, that it was an original,
0:26:40 > 0:26:47and then they actually told me that the value was wrong.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52And so instantly, I thought, "Oh, you know, nowhere near as much,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55"but I'm grateful of everything and anything."
0:26:55 > 0:27:01And she said, "No, the actual value is 150 to 250."
0:27:01 > 0:27:03And I said, "pounds"?
0:27:03 > 0:27:05She says, "No, thousands."
0:27:05 > 0:27:09And I didn't take it very well.
0:27:09 > 0:27:17She rings me up at work and she told me what they had valued it at, sort of anywhere from 150,000.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20I said, "You do realise that's a quarter of a million?"
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And with that, off she went to be sick again!
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Oh, my God! There it is.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34"Winslow Homer, 1836-1910, Children Under A Palm."
0:27:34 > 0:27:39SHE LAUGHS 150,000 to 250,000.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44So, as you can see, I'm very...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Very chuffed.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55I'm so pleased for her, and, erm,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59just happy. I'm stuck for words, actually, so...
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Oh. Oh, I see.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15"150,000 to 250,000."
0:28:15 > 0:28:20- All that for that.- I know. - I can't believe it until it's sold.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22That's all I can say.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Then I you'll see me excited.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28And probably bloody legless!
0:28:28 > 0:28:31So, good health to Winslot Homer.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38- "Winslow," Dad.- I... What's his name? I don't even know his name yet!
0:28:38 > 0:28:43- Winslow!- W-W-Winslow? - Winslow.- My teeth...
0:28:46 > 0:28:51Four days before the sale, and Selina is ready to fly to New York.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- Selina, what have you got in these bags?- I'll slide it. I don't know.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58- I'm sure someone's put bricks in them.- How long are you going for? Two months(?)
0:28:58 > 0:29:03- So this is it?- Yeah. - The big off. How are you feeling?
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Very, very nervous. Very nervous.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Yeah. Very tearful.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Are you? Why are you tearful?
0:29:11 > 0:29:15- I am just... I don't want to leave the kids.- Mum, can I have a hug?
0:29:18 > 0:29:21- Yeah, we're ready.- Come on, then. - Well, we are, I don't know about you, Dad.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25How many cases have you got?! 'Selina's dad, Tony, and her partner, Bob
0:29:25 > 0:29:29'are travelling to the sale with her. It's their first visit to America.'
0:29:29 > 0:29:31See ya!
0:29:31 > 0:29:34- Bye! Goodbye!- Good luck!
0:29:34 > 0:29:38It just means so much to Selina and to her family.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43I desperately hope that it all works out for her as she wants it to,
0:29:43 > 0:29:48and that the painting sells, that it makes money for her and her gorgeous, gorgeous kids.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52# New York
0:29:52 > 0:29:56# Concrete jungle where dreams are made up
0:29:56 > 0:29:59# There's nothing you can't do
0:29:59 > 0:30:01# Now you're in New York... #
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Oh, wow, look at that big cluster of buildings.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06What is that?
0:30:06 > 0:30:09# ..There's nothing you can't do
0:30:09 > 0:30:13# Now you're in New York
0:30:14 > 0:30:18# These streets will make you feel brand new
0:30:18 > 0:30:20# Big lights will inspire you
0:30:20 > 0:30:23# Let's hear it for New York
0:30:23 > 0:30:26# New York, New York... #
0:30:26 > 0:30:30I can't believe that we are over here from a painting.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33It was just a piece of junk,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36a piece of trash, as they call it here!
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Just a bit of rubbish, you know, that somebody had discarded and...
0:30:40 > 0:30:45Gosh, and the journey it's now brought us on - exciting one,
0:30:45 > 0:30:46thrilling one.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50# Big lights will inspire you
0:30:50 > 0:30:53# Let's hear it for New York
0:30:53 > 0:30:56# New York, New York... #
0:30:57 > 0:31:02Coming to America gives Selina the chance to learn more about Winslow Homer.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07Two days before the sale, she's travelled to see one of the best collections of the artist
0:31:07 > 0:31:11on the east coast and to meet Mark Simpson, the collection's curator.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14I love the ones of the sea, because they're the ones...
0:31:14 > 0:31:18- He's done a lot of them, hasn't he? - He has.- A lot of sea paintings.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23- The picture that you have, I mean, it's 1885, is that right?- Yes.
0:31:23 > 0:31:31It is in '84, '85 and '86 that he makes the biggest statements about the human figure, so it's great that
0:31:31 > 0:31:36your watercolour concentrates on those three little kids and gives them so much space in the picture.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40The only other times when that really happens in his oil paintings
0:31:40 > 0:31:44is in the '80s in a painting like this, called Undertow,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47which is one of those great dramatic scenes.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Now, to see this, though, we need to walk back, we need to see it from afar,
0:31:51 > 0:31:56because Homer anticipated that his pictures would be seen from a distance.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59- Gosh. That's a big painting! - THEY LAUGH
0:31:59 > 0:32:03It is bigger... It is big, it is, and it is, in fact,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06the one of the biggest that he did, that's his kind of grand scale.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09- That's an original of his, that is an original.- Yes.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12What are you thinking about when you see it for the first time?
0:32:12 > 0:32:14I'm just actually amazed.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Just the detail, everything.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21Don't you get the feeling of the sea and the water and the cold?
0:32:21 > 0:32:24What's the story? What do you think's going on?
0:32:24 > 0:32:28It's just... I don't know really, it's bit of a mix there, really.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32You know, you've got one going off that way, one helping the other,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36and I just... I don't know, I just don't understand art,
0:32:36 > 0:32:38- if you understand me! - HE LAUGHS
0:32:38 > 0:32:43But I'll bet you do, because what you said just then is absolutely right.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48It is about helping one another. Something else is going on,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51something maybe about the idea of how it is that...
0:32:51 > 0:32:54we can all empathise with
0:32:54 > 0:32:58the struggles that take place in the world,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02we're all part of it, we all work against forces that weigh us down,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05or push against us in ways we don't want to go.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09You could put... Certain ones you could put yourself in that picture.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14- Yeah.- Yeah, yes... And like you said about her struggling.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18A lot of emotional struggles I've had,
0:33:18 > 0:33:22so I suppose that would probably be one, you know,
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I say I could put myself in.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28And you start to express the feelings, don't you?
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Feel what they're feeling and actually look into it,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35wonder what's going on, rather than just looking at it and walking past.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45It's a very powerful painting, isn't it?
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Back in London, I'm trying to dig up more information about how the
0:33:58 > 0:34:01picture could have ended up by a tip in a remote corner of Ireland.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09I've been doing some digging for the lives of Sir Henry and Lady Blake, and I'm beginning to get a picture
0:34:09 > 0:34:12of how these two paintings came to Ireland.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16Now, the Blakes had a pretty amazing life - they travelled the world.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19After Sir Henry finished as Governor of the Bahamas, he and Lady Blake,
0:34:19 > 0:34:25they went on to similar postings in Jamaica, then they went to Hong Kong until he retired.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29And then in the early days of the 20th century, they returned to the place of their birth,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33to Ireland and to a house called Myrtle Grove, which is a pretty
0:34:33 > 0:34:37important house in Irish history, because Sir Walter Raleigh lived there, as it turns out.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Now, the thing is Myrtle Grove
0:34:40 > 0:34:42in Youghal
0:34:42 > 0:34:46is just three miles from the dump where Tony found the pictures,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49so the question is... how did they get there?
0:34:52 > 0:34:57In New York, 24 hours before the sale, a major problem emerges.
0:34:57 > 0:35:03Philip, on business in another part of America, gets a call from Selina, desperate for advice.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Hi, Selina, how are you?
0:35:05 > 0:35:08- Hi, Philip. I've been better. - SHE LAUGHS
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- A lot better. - Oh, dear, what's the problem?
0:35:11 > 0:35:16I was out in New York today and had a phone call from Sotheby's,
0:35:16 > 0:35:21asking me to come in any time and just have a discussion
0:35:21 > 0:35:24in regards to a phone conversation they've had with the Blakes.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- So I said, "No, I'll come straight in."- Sorry, say that again.- Had a...
0:35:28 > 0:35:32- They've had a conversation with the Blakes?- The Blakes, yeah.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34- Some descendants of the Blakes. - Yeah.- Right.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39So, basically been told that they've put a claim onto the painting.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45I've got three options, really - either withdraw it from sale and Sotheby's keep ownership of it
0:35:45 > 0:35:49till I get a lawyer and prove that it's mine,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53sell the painting and give them a percentage,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56which they've come back with they want 75% of the sale price.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59- Right.- Or sell the painting
0:35:59 > 0:36:04and the money stays ownership of Sotheby's in their bank
0:36:04 > 0:36:06until ownership of the painting
0:36:06 > 0:36:09has been proven again, so...
0:36:09 > 0:36:14So have you considered those three options?
0:36:14 > 0:36:16I have considered them,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18but it's like out here I've got...
0:36:19 > 0:36:23It's the afternoon here, England's all shut up, it's late now,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29I've got no legal advice, nothing, so I really don't know what to do, what to do for the best.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34It's come as a mass, mass blow, this has, this was not what I expected.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40'No, I feel for you, and I can understand how that must put you in
0:36:40 > 0:36:44'a real quandary at this late date, this late time of day.'
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Now, whatever I have to say must be predicated with the fact
0:36:48 > 0:36:53that this is your decision and I can't influence it at all, but what would concern me, and
0:36:53 > 0:36:58I'm now just speaking purely from a professional point of view, what would concern me is a picture that
0:36:58 > 0:37:02people are razzed up to consider and possibly commit funds to which
0:37:02 > 0:37:08is then withdrawn can sometimes damage the picture's commercial prospects in the short term.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13It might be rather difficult to re-present it with the same energy
0:37:13 > 0:37:15in a sale in four or five months' time.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24I can't believe this, I really can't believe it!
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Dad's going to be wondering what the hell's happened.
0:37:31 > 0:37:37It turns out that Sotheby's legal checks had already established a link with the Blake family.
0:37:39 > 0:37:45'Back home, their European general counsel, Tom Christopherson, explains.' So who did you talk to?
0:37:45 > 0:37:49We spoke to Iona Murray, who lives at Myrtle Grove,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52which is the Blake house,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and she is the granddaughter of Lady Blake.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58And what did she tell you?
0:37:58 > 0:38:02We explained to her that we'd received a very valuable Homer
0:38:02 > 0:38:06which had been found 20 years ago on a disused tip nearby.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11We said we wanted to know whether she had any records or recollection of this painting or having owned it,
0:38:11 > 0:38:17or whether in fact she'd had any burglaries as well that could explain its appearance.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20She called us back few weeks later to confirm that she'd
0:38:20 > 0:38:25discussed this with members of the family and that they had no record of owning the painting
0:38:25 > 0:38:29and hadn't registered any burglaries at Myrtle Grove with the police.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33When you were doing your due diligence, did you show a photo
0:38:33 > 0:38:36of the painting to the Blake family?
0:38:36 > 0:38:39No, we didn't. When we went to see them at the beginning,
0:38:39 > 0:38:45we described that we'd found a valuable painting by Homer, in fact had a long conversation about Homer,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49and Iona Murray told us about a family story that they thought
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Homer had once painted with Lady Blake, so she knew exactly who he was.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- Why didn't you show them a photo? It would have been easily done. - I'm not sure we had one then.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59We did show her one later.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04We didn't at that point, we just described the painting and asked her to see if they owned any.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Bit of a mistake in hindsight, do you think?
0:39:06 > 0:39:09I don't think so. If they'd asked for it, we'd have sent it.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14And we sent them a sale catalogue several weeks before the sale, and it was in there.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17- And did they respond to that?- No.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28Well, what this whole episode has shown me is that no matter how much due diligence you do,
0:39:28 > 0:39:33at the last minute, someone somewhere can come out of nowhere
0:39:33 > 0:39:38and say, "This painting is mine," and there's nothing you can do to prevent that happening.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Late night in New York,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47and the Blake descendants contesting ownership
0:39:47 > 0:39:52have told Sotheby's they think the picture should be sold and have suggested that Selina
0:39:52 > 0:39:56should be entitled to a quarter share of the proceeds.
0:39:56 > 0:40:02We've now heard she's rejected the offer and is asking for them to provide proof of ownership.
0:40:02 > 0:40:08Both parties have, however, agreed to let the sale go ahead and sort out the proceeds later.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Selina wants to see the picture one last time.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18There it is.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21I just cannot believe
0:40:21 > 0:40:23that it's the same one.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Oh, God.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30I don't think I want to get rid of it now, it looks really nice.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36God, you... Of course,
0:40:36 > 0:40:38- you have... - SHE LAUGHS
0:40:39 > 0:40:41God, that is absolutely wonderful.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Even though I've moaned about it, to be honest, if I would be honest,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50I won't let Dad hear me say this, though,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54but I am actually... honoured to have had,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58for the nine years that I've had it,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02to be actually to say I've had a piece of art by him.
0:41:19 > 0:41:25Tony and Selina have decided to join me in the auction room to watch the painting being sold.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29I have 120,000, bidding here now at 120,000.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33I have 130,000. 140,000. 150,000.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35160,000.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39At 160,000, still on my left now at 160...
0:41:39 > 0:41:41The room is filling up with eager art buyers.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Our picture is lot 16, so we won't have long to wait.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Just seeing if Philip's bidding on anything.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55Down in the centre now, lady's bid. At 115,000, then, in the centre.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00Then in a dramatic development, ten minutes before the painting
0:42:00 > 0:42:04is due to sell, Selina is summoned by Sotheby's staff.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08I've just been called into a side room and basically been informed
0:42:08 > 0:42:12that I either take 25% sale price
0:42:12 > 0:42:16or...the opposition, whatever you want to call them,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19are stopping me selling the painting.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23And I have asked, being as the painting as in my name,
0:42:23 > 0:42:27it's legally mine to sell, as far as I was concerned, and they've
0:42:27 > 0:42:31said it's not, they've took legal advice and can stop the sale.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33We must try and find the legal department
0:42:33 > 0:42:37and find out what's going on, because you're not being given enough information on this.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40I mean, if there is an injunction or a legal process has taken place,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44I think you at least need to know about it, you know.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47- Let's go and find somebody, shall we?- Come on, then, let's go.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49I don't know where the hell anybody is.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02But it seems that this is not a negotiation at this point, this is an ultimatum.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Why are they doing this now?
0:43:11 > 0:43:14How have they got the legal right to do this to me now?
0:43:14 > 0:43:15What have they got?
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Did you not know any of this yesterday?
0:43:18 > 0:43:22I mean, that they'd got the legal right to stop the auction.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30I thought the three options I was given yesterday were my options.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33I didn't know they'd changed.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37Do they have any legal basis for that. Is there an injunction?
0:43:39 > 0:43:42So why are you responding as you are, then?
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Even though it could damage the commercial prospect for the picture by withdrawing it at this stage?
0:44:14 > 0:44:16No. No, OK.
0:44:20 > 0:44:21Can we withdraw it?
0:44:21 > 0:44:24No, withdraw it, then. That's it, no other option, have we?
0:44:24 > 0:44:27- The decision is yours. - Well, no. No.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36Yeah, just let them know that they've damaged the painting.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40But I think Selina's message is clear.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54OK, thank you. I understand your position.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Selina must now break the news to Tony.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Are you all right, Dad?
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Right.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Did you hear?
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Did you hear?
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Did you hear? Lots 16 and something else has been withdrawn.
0:45:19 > 0:45:20No? Lot 16.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22Yeah, what about it?
0:45:24 > 0:45:27- That one. It's been withdrawn. - Has it been withdrawn?
0:45:27 > 0:45:29- Yeah.- Why?
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Because...the others...
0:45:32 > 0:45:37have stopped it without any legal documents, stopped the sale.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42They wanted to give me 25% of the sale and they have 75,
0:45:42 > 0:45:45and I weren't willing to do it.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47So the grand finale's gone, then?
0:45:47 > 0:45:49That's it.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59It's real meltdown. I've known some dramatic moments at auction, but not quite like this.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Referring back to the catalogue, particular attention to article one....
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Can you believe it? I just got a tap on the shoulder.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09It's from the descendant of the Blakes, he's over here in America, and he wants to claim his picture!
0:46:09 > 0:46:11He also wants to talk to me.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Simon Murray is the brother of Iona Murray,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22who was Sotheby's original contact at Myrtle Grove in Ireland.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25He's agreed to speak to us on camera.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28Am I right in thinking that you are
0:46:28 > 0:46:32a descendant of the Blakes and you are the other party in all of this?
0:46:32 > 0:46:37That's correct, yeah. Sir Henry Blake is my great-great-grandfather.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39How did you get to hear about the picture coming up at auction?
0:46:39 > 0:46:43Really, we were on holiday in New York,
0:46:43 > 0:46:48and my mother rang up in a bit of a state on Tuesday morning and said, "I see in the Daily Telegraph today,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52"and I only bought it because I wanted to get the news
0:46:52 > 0:46:59"about the Chelsea Flower Show, I see that they're selling the picture in Sotheby's New York."
0:46:59 > 0:47:01And she asked me to see what I could do.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06But am I right in thinking though that Sotheby's contacted your mother
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and asked her whether there'd been any thefts?
0:47:09 > 0:47:11No, not directly.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15What happened was the Irish contact for Sotheby's
0:47:15 > 0:47:19made contact with my mother's house, Myrtle Grove,
0:47:19 > 0:47:23and left some telephone numbers asking them to communicate,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and unfortunately,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29there was something wrong with the numbers, they didn't work.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32And my mother was in fact out of Ireland at the time,
0:47:32 > 0:47:38so for one reason and another, those calls were never chased up by Sotheby's.
0:47:38 > 0:47:43- They never sent her a photograph of the painting.- But didn't she have the catalogue, though?
0:47:43 > 0:47:45No. They never sent the catalogue.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48Was not a catalogue, then, in the receipt of some part of the family?
0:47:48 > 0:47:51No, no, she's not had the catalogue.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54She's wasn't told that it was in the sale, and the first thing she knew about it
0:47:54 > 0:47:56was when it appeared in the Telegraph.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00Are you confident, looking back on this, that enough due diligence was done?
0:48:00 > 0:48:03I'm confident about the due diligence. That was done here,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07and we established a link at the beginning or a potential link,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09and we followed the link up.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12We checked with the local police, the local press,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15we checked with Art Loss Register, and then we checked with the family.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Because you've got Simon Murray, who is claiming that
0:48:18 > 0:48:23if he'd known about it or that if his mother had known about it, they would never have
0:48:23 > 0:48:27let the sale go ahead, and the first they knew about was they saw an article in a newspaper.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32- I'm quite surprised about that. - That's what he's claiming. - I'm still surprised.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35We spoke to his sister, who confirmed she'd spoken to his mother.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I'm mindful of the fact that you have also, in order to allow
0:48:40 > 0:48:45this sale to proceed, offered the family a proportion of the proceeds.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Why have you done that if it's your property?
0:48:49 > 0:48:52Well, I view it really as...
0:48:52 > 0:48:57Miss Rendall must have had an emotional roller-coaster, I can see that, and I sympathise
0:48:57 > 0:49:01with her greatly, it must have been horrifying for her,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04and I wanted to avoid years of litigation.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08And also it was, if you like, a kind of finder's fee.
0:49:08 > 0:49:14- What is it that you do for a living, as a matter of interest? - I'm a... I'm a...
0:49:14 > 0:49:17I was formerly a criminal barrister...
0:49:18 > 0:49:21..and now I do civil...civil law.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24So you're pretty well equipped to handle this yourself, then?
0:49:24 > 0:49:27I really hope it doesn't get down to that.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30As I say, I empathise sincerely with
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Miss Rendall's position.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35It must be horrible, she thought she'd won the jackpot.
0:49:35 > 0:49:41They picked up some rubbish off a tip, they discovered it was worth £100,000, and she's probably already
0:49:41 > 0:49:45in her mind spending it on swimming pools and cars and so forth,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49but the reality is this is a family picture.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52If this is a family portrait, why don't you want the portrait?
0:49:52 > 0:49:58You know, why don't you want the memory of the three ancestors, rather than the money?
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Myrtle Grove, like all these old houses,
0:50:00 > 0:50:04needs a lot of money to maintain it,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08and unfortunately, it seems that this is a valuable picture.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10We haven't got any other valuable pictures.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13We've got a lot of pictures of members of the family,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15but none of this quality.
0:50:15 > 0:50:20And so it seems unfortunately that the best way to raise funds to repair the house would be to sell it.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23This is our painting that was stolen from us.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Well, you don't know that for sure, though, do you? I mean, there's...
0:50:27 > 0:50:31The circumstantial evidence, Philip, is overwhelming.
0:50:31 > 0:50:32I mean, it really is.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35- It couldn't have been given away? - It seems...
0:50:35 > 0:50:37That is...
0:50:37 > 0:50:39very highly unlikely.
0:50:39 > 0:50:45How customary is it that something like this can happen at the last minute like this?
0:50:45 > 0:50:49It's the first time I've seen it in nearly 15 years in the business.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53- Really?- This last minute? Yes, yes.
0:50:53 > 0:50:54It's rare.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00Three weeks later, and the painting is locked in the vaults of Sotheby's New York.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03I decided to see how Selina was doing back home.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10At the moment, we're just waiting for him to come forward with some evidence.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14- What? Evidence that... - They had the painting.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16That the painting WAS in the possession of the Blake family.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Yeah, or in their home, because they're saying it was stolen 20 years ago.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25But they never knew they had it, they never reported a break-in.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28That's what I'm saying, I can't get my head round it, I really can't.
0:51:28 > 0:51:34I just don't know how somebody can say, "That's ours, although we never knew we had it."
0:51:34 > 0:51:40- What did you say to the kids when you came home? I did think about that.- Oh, actually, not a lot.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42The kids met at the airport, which was lovely, erm...
0:51:42 > 0:51:44I was just really upset.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49All I wish is that they'd have come forward when they were first contacted.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53It would have saved a lot of heartache, a lot of grief, an awful lot of money.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57This painting has cost me so much money that I never ever had in the first place.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05It's now three years since the painting was taken to the Roadshow,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07and since the auction it's been locked in a safe.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Incredibly, there's still no resolution.
0:52:11 > 0:52:16Selina and the Murrays are at loggerheads, and lawyers are involved on both sides.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Can you believe it is a year since that auction?
0:52:27 > 0:52:31- And we're no further forward. - I have to say, you know,
0:52:31 > 0:52:35for all the hopes she had for this picture have not materialised.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38The Murray family have been in touch with the Art Loss Register.
0:52:38 > 0:52:43Selina has had a visit from the police, warning her she may have handled stolen goods.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45It's got really messy.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49I really feel for Selina, my heart bleeds for her,
0:52:49 > 0:52:51but we've got to try and see it from the other point of view.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Simon Murray is claiming that this is their family portrait.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57I mean, we're in real stalemate.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01In the meantime, Simon Murray says he's found
0:53:01 > 0:53:07definitive evidence regarding the provenance of the painting and its connection with his family.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Well, let's start off, then. Who are these people?
0:53:10 > 0:53:13Well, in the middle you've got Olive, she's my great-grandmother,
0:53:13 > 0:53:17and her two little brothers, Arthur on the left and Morris on the right.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21Edith Blake, Olive's mother, was a very keen correspondent
0:53:21 > 0:53:25with her sister, writing long letters, and they were
0:53:25 > 0:53:28full of gossip and chat, and they're a wonderful record.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33Entertaining at Government House was clearly one of the key parts of colonial social life.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37She writes as follows, "The children's fancy ball last night was such a pretty sight.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41"If only you could have seen it, our children looked very well.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46"Olive, as Princess Parizade, wore a bodice and upper skirt
0:53:46 > 0:53:52"of gold colour with Nassau pearls and beads and fringed with sequins.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57"It was the same dress that I had worn years ago, of course cut down to fit Olive."
0:53:57 > 0:54:00- Oh, how wonderful. - How incredible is that!
0:54:00 > 0:54:03"With gold stars and crescents, an underskirt of crimson
0:54:03 > 0:54:07- "with oriental embroidery." - Here it is.- There it is.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11"On her head she had a veil of crimson gauze."
0:54:11 > 0:54:15"I hope to have a sketch of the three children in their fancy dresses done
0:54:15 > 0:54:20"by Mr Homer, an American artist who is spending the winter here.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23"He lunched here one day and brought some of his very clever sketches for me to see.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27"It was a great treat seeing anything in the shape of a drawing once more."
0:54:27 > 0:54:33And then, on the 21st of January, she writes another letter to her sister.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37"This morning, Mr Homer finished his sketch of the three children in their fancy dresses.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40"It is, I think, exceedingly clever.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43"It is merely a sketch, not any attempt at finish, but the colour is very good,
0:54:43 > 0:54:47"and it makes an interesting little souvenir of the ball."
0:54:47 > 0:54:54That is as good a documentation of a work of art's existence and happening you could ever get.
0:54:54 > 0:55:01And she writes of the room in Government House where the ball was held, and she writes as follows,
0:55:01 > 0:55:07"At one end of the room stood a huge earthenware jar that we picked up in the backyard of a cottage here."
0:55:07 > 0:55:11And that jar then appeared in the painting...
0:55:11 > 0:55:16and that jar is still in the possession of the family.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20- So that's at Myrtle Grove?- Yeah. - Isn't that staggering?
0:55:20 > 0:55:23- Wow.- The more you know about something and its history -
0:55:23 > 0:55:28and this is just absolutely bristling now with history - the more fascinating it becomes.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31When you first found out about the picture, you were thinking you'd sell it.
0:55:31 > 0:55:38- Now that you've found out so much about it, do you still feel like that?- I think we'd rather keep it,
0:55:38 > 0:55:40because it is such a special picture,
0:55:40 > 0:55:47and as my great-great-grandmother said, the colours are wonderful, the composition is very pleasing,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50and it's a very significant part, I think, of my family's history,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and we'd love to... Well, we really want it back.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59I like it. I actually enjoy looking at it.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03I learnt to appreciate it, I suppose.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07It's coming up to two years since we last visited Selina at home,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10where she's hung a copy of the painting on her wall.
0:56:10 > 0:56:1612 months ago, you know, I would have willingly sat and sorted this out with him, but obviously I never
0:56:16 > 0:56:20had the opportunity to, because by the time I'd got home he'd got other people involved.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24So if he was to contact me and asked to sort it out, I would
0:56:24 > 0:56:26just ask him to go through my lawyer at the moment.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32I just don't know how long this is going to go on.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36I'm just answering questions that they're throwing at us
0:56:36 > 0:56:39as honestly as we can with...with...
0:56:39 > 0:56:41That's it, erm...
0:56:41 > 0:56:45I don't know whether they're intending on striking a deal,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49I have no idea. At the moment, it's just going round and round and round.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56This small painting has had a huge emotional impact
0:56:56 > 0:57:01and pulled everyone involved with it in different and unpredictable directions.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06It's really not that unusual for a painting, particularly an old
0:57:06 > 0:57:10painting like this, to get mired in this type of controversy.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Having met Simon Murray now, I have a much greater understanding
0:57:13 > 0:57:16of why this painting means to much to him, to his family,
0:57:16 > 0:57:22but one of the questions we set out to answer at the beginning was how did that picture get to the dump?
0:57:22 > 0:57:26And we still don't know. And what about the value of the painting?
0:57:26 > 0:57:27I mean, how is that affected now?
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Ironically, the value's probably gone up, because now have provenance
0:57:31 > 0:57:36as to when it was painted, why it was painted, for whom, who it represents.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41I mean, provenance, a story like that, is so rare in our world.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46And also just think! This started out life as a piece of paper found on a rubbish dump.
0:57:46 > 0:57:51We've managed to transform it into a massively documented and significant work of art.
0:57:54 > 0:57:59The money isn't the big issue here, it's the morals, and the way
0:57:59 > 0:58:03we've been dealt with is the bit I think upsets me more.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06If Dad hadn't picked it up, the painting would've been ruined,
0:58:06 > 0:58:11you know, and then that piece of history would have been lost.
0:58:11 > 0:58:12You can only be honest.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16Whether our honesty loses us the painting, so be it.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I've had a great journey. It was never ever intended,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23never expected, and it's been a really wonderful experience.
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