0:00:02 > 0:00:07The art world, where paintings change hands for fortunes.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Selling at 95 million.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12But for every known masterpiece,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15there may be another still waiting to be discovered.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Oh, my word!
0:00:17 > 0:00:20They're known as sleepers.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23International art dealer Philip Mould hunts them down.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25In the past, we looked at pictures.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Now, almost you can look through them.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30'Using cutting edge science and investigative research,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'we've teamed up to find long-lost works by the great masters.'
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Wow!
0:00:38 > 0:00:41'The problem is, not every painting is quite what it seems.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:43When these paintings were thought to be genuine,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45- how much were they worth?- Millions.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48'It's a journey that can end in joy...'
0:00:48 > 0:00:51- Isn't that great?!- Yeah!
0:00:51 > 0:00:53'..or bitter disappointment.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I can't get my head around it, I really can't.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00'Our latest investigation takes us into uncharted waters.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04'We're scouring the nation's museums and archives for unrecognised
0:01:04 > 0:01:08'works by one of Britain's finest artists - Thomas Gainsborough.'
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Get it right and we can return to the nation a small trophy
0:01:14 > 0:01:16by the great artist Gainsborough.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'With not one but two paintings to investigate,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'we make links back over 200 years.'
0:01:22 > 0:01:25I can definitely see a family resemblance with the eyebrows.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Diana, what do you think?
0:01:26 > 0:01:28I think...yes!
0:01:29 > 0:01:30'We travel to America,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33'where Gainsborough's most famous works hold clues.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38'But there are pitfalls ahead as forensic tests
0:01:38 > 0:01:40'raise unexpected doubts.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:42If this is early 19th century, it's dead in the water.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Every art detective lives for the first glimpse of a lost masterpiece.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Waiting for that moment can take a lifetime.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02But Philip Mould and our head of research, Dr Bendor Grosvenor,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06believe they know exactly where to find unrecognised work
0:02:06 > 0:02:07by great artists -
0:02:07 > 0:02:11an extraordinary new website called Your Paintings.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16OK, so what are the chances there are lost masterpieces,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19- or sleepers, in there?- Well, there are over 200,000 paintings
0:02:19 > 0:02:21on this site to be able to choose from.
0:02:21 > 0:02:2517,000 of these have no artistic attribution at all,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28they're just "unknown artist" and there's thousands more copies
0:02:28 > 0:02:30of things, which are called "follower of".
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Any of which could be the real thing.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'This ground-breaking website, a unique collaboration between the BBC
0:02:37 > 0:02:41'and the Public Catalogue Foundation, records every oil painting
0:02:41 > 0:02:43'in public galleries across the UK -
0:02:43 > 0:02:46'the nation's entire collection.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48'They are our paintings.'
0:02:48 > 0:02:51'Our challenge is to find a lost national treasure,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54'a painting languishing unloved that we can prove
0:02:54 > 0:02:57'is in fact by one of our greatest artists.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59'But where to start?'
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I think in this, like, melee of possibilities,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04I'd like to suggest we refine our focus
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and go for one artist in particular - Thomas Gainsborough.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10So one of Britain's greatest artists?
0:03:10 > 0:03:13For as long as I've been interested in art, I've loved Gainsborough
0:03:13 > 0:03:17and we have had some success in the past, Bendor and I, with Gainsborough.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18Look at this.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Cornard Wood - Gainsborough's long-established masterpiece.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Now, this is a Gainsborough I discovered - of a scene nearby.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30And you think there really could be lost Gainsboroughs amongst that lot?
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Well, we've drawn up a short list of six possible pictures
0:03:33 > 0:03:35spread across the country.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But a screen can only tell us so much,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39we've got to see these things in the flesh.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42In which case, we're going to have to get out on the road.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Gainsborough was famous for both portraits and landscapes
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and we've found potential candidates for each online.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52They're spread right across the country.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54'I'm starting with contenders in Leicester...'
0:03:54 > 0:03:56It's a very decent-looking picture.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58'..and Liverpool.'
0:03:58 > 0:04:00That probably is a Gainsborough.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02The problem is it's a major restoration job.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05'I'm joining Philip to assess a possible contender
0:04:05 > 0:04:07'at the Courtauld Institute, in London.'
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I think we'd be failing in our duty
0:04:09 > 0:04:11if we didn't take this one further.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13'Meanwhile, Bendor is in St Albans.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16'Like most of the paintings displayed on the website,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19'this portrait is hidden in the stores.'
0:04:19 > 0:04:23It's a really nice picture. I think it's got a chance, actually.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27'Another contender lies deep in the basement
0:04:27 > 0:04:29'of Wolverhampton Art Gallery.'
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It looks like a pastiche, a follower of Gainsborough.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'And finally, we check out one in the stores of the Tate Gallery.'
0:04:40 > 0:04:42So this looks like a Gainsborough to you?
0:04:42 > 0:04:44A potential treasure could be lurking.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52Now, we've scoured the country,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55let's think about which are our strongest contenders.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And given that Gainsborough painted both portraits and landscapes,
0:04:58 > 0:04:59can we take one of each?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I think that's a great idea and, for my money,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05it's that landscape at the Courtauld Institute.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- I think it looks really interesting. - Now, that, at the moment,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10is thought to be by a follower of Gainsborough's,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12it's someone who admired him and copied him,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14but you think it's actually by Gainsborough himself?
0:05:14 > 0:05:18- I think it's got a real chance.- All right, what about a portrait then?
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Well, I reckon this portrait of Joseph Gape in St Albans
0:05:22 > 0:05:24is quite a good one to look into.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26It's currently got no connection to Gainsborough whatsoever.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30It just says "unknown artist", but I think it's got a good chance.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I reckon that, as we say in the trade, this picture is right.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36So if we can transform that then from a painting by an unknown hand
0:05:36 > 0:05:39to by one of Britain's greatest masters, that's a real coup.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Well, let's go for that then.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44OK, so our two paintings are Imaginary Landscape,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47by a follower of Gainsborough at the Courtauld.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48And the portrait of Joseph Gape,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51by an unknown artist at the St Albans Museum.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53And we are saying that by the end of this process,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56we will be able to say, for at least one of the paintings, that it
0:05:56 > 0:06:01- is by Thomas Gainsborough. - Good plan - a face and a place.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04But it's not going to be easy, because, unfortunately,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08all his personal accounts were destroyed after his death,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11so this is a case of actually looking at the physical evidence,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15looking at the brushstrokes, working out whether it's by Gainsborough
0:06:15 > 0:06:18on those grounds rather than anything else.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20And there's another challenge -
0:06:20 > 0:06:23there's a man in the art world who we have to convince.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27He is perceived as the authority on the works of Gainsborough.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28His name is Hugh Belsey.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32He sees one, two, possibly three pictures a week,
0:06:32 > 0:06:36but of the hundreds he sees, he only accepts one or two.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Hugh Belsey is a hard nut to crack.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47The best way to understand what we are trying to find
0:06:47 > 0:06:51in our sleepers is to see Gainsborough at his best.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54And where better to do that than the National Gallery.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It's home to many wonderful Gainsboroughs.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Including my favourite painting anywhere in the world.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05The sublime Artist's Daughters Chasing A Butterfly.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09There has never been a more perfect portrayal of childhood.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Gainsborough was born in 1727, in Sudbury, in Suffolk,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17the son of a well-to-do cloth merchant.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Even as a child, he displayed a prodigious talent
0:07:20 > 0:07:22and was soon painting portraits.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28He rose to prominence when he moved to Bath, in 1759,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31the destination of choice for society
0:07:31 > 0:07:32keen to take the waters
0:07:32 > 0:07:35and use the opportunity to have their portrait painted.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Although it was portraits that initially brought him fame,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43his true love was English landscapes,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46an art form in its infancy in the mid 18th century.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51It's an early work, Mr And Mrs Andrews,
0:07:51 > 0:07:52that we've come here to study,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56to look for clues that could help us understand our two paintings.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00This was new, wasn't it? Because, prior to this,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04portraits were the things that people wanted, weren't they?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Yeah, this is a new type of portraiture,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08done with both people and landscape.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14'He had a supreme skill in capturing character
0:08:14 > 0:08:17'and this is one of the qualities we should look for in our portrait.'
0:08:17 > 0:08:19They're quite an unlikeable couple, aren't they?
0:08:19 > 0:08:21They're not a couple that you warm to.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Yes, but they're posing, they're being painted for posterity.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29But there's just a little whiff of...I don't know, what is it?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Humour? Sarcasm?
0:08:31 > 0:08:35'Gainsborough was renowned for his skill in painting fabrics.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39'He took great interest in the clothes that his sitters wore.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'Now, this should help us with our portrait of Joseph Gape.'
0:08:42 > 0:08:47She's dressed as if she's going to a party. And look at those slippers.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Imagine what the mud would do to those.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Maybe that's why she looks so uncomfortable.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55'This painting is a sign of Gainsborough becoming
0:08:55 > 0:08:58'the artist of choice for the landed gentry and aristocracy.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'Does our sitter fit the bill?'
0:09:01 > 0:09:04As a piece of social commentary, it's so fascinating, isn't it?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Because when he married her, she brought into the marriage
0:09:07 > 0:09:10a lot of land and made him considerably wealthier.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11And so, it's as if he's saying,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14"Here's my wife. Slope-shouldered and flat-chested,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16"slightly sad-looking but, nonetheless,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"here's my wife and here's my land."
0:09:22 > 0:09:25'And although young, Gainsborough was already showing a deep
0:09:25 > 0:09:27'connection to the English landscape,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30'pushing the boundaries of what was possible.'
0:09:30 > 0:09:33What we begin to get here is an artist who has got
0:09:33 > 0:09:35a naturalist's feel for landscape.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38He's really observed it, but with a poet's eye as well.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40There's an untidiness,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42with little observations of things like this,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44falling over stoops,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47there's trees in the background that sort of bend and twist.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51'Did the fresh-faced artist who painted this,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54'grow into the man capable of painting something
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'as bold as our candidate, Imaginary Landscape?
0:09:57 > 0:09:59'There are clues here.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'Each of our two contenders is going to require its own investigation.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Our journey starts back at the Courtauld Institute,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14the home of Imaginary Landscape.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18For years, it was thought to be by Gainsborough,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22but then, 20 years ago, it was stripped of its attribution
0:10:22 > 0:10:26and since then, has been languishing as a late follower of Gainsborough.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30In other words, by someone who copied him maybe as much as a century later.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'I'm joining Karen Serres, Curator of Paintings at the Courtauld
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'to start the investigation.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'The first step is to remove the backing to show the stretcher.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45'Immediately, we reveal a label saying "Humphry" -
0:10:45 > 0:10:47'a clue perhaps to a previous owner?
0:10:49 > 0:10:52'But I'm most excited about seeing the picture itself
0:10:52 > 0:10:57'liberated from its clunky frame and without its protective glass.'
0:10:59 > 0:11:00Mm...
0:11:02 > 0:11:07I mean, it's fluent. It almost feels impressionistic, doesn't it?
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Almost like it's one of your Renoirs downstairs in the gallery.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13- Absolutely.- It's an intuitive type of painting.
0:11:13 > 0:11:14Something that almost seems to come
0:11:14 > 0:11:17- from his imagination, don't you think?- Absolutely.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19If this is Gainsborough, there's...
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- And I know you're not saying it is. - Yes, exactly.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It would definitely be from the end of his career,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28in the 1770s and the 1780s, where he let his palette
0:11:28 > 0:11:33and his brushstroke kind of roam freer than he had previously.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'It's such a bold, experimental painting,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49'and now that I'm getting up close to look at it, I'm surer than ever
0:11:49 > 0:11:51'that it reads like a Gainsborough.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53'The audacious brushstrokes,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56'the intuitive understanding of nature,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00'the style of the vegetation, they all bear his hallmarks.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04'But this is also my first chance to study one of the painting's
0:12:04 > 0:12:07'more unusual features.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11'Imaginary Landscape is not like most oil paintings -
0:12:11 > 0:12:15'it's been painted on paper which has then been stuck onto the canvas
0:12:15 > 0:12:19'rather that painted directly onto the canvas.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23'We know that this unusual technique was used by Gainsborough,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25'so could this be useful evidence?
0:12:25 > 0:12:28'With all these things going for it, I'm beginning to wonder
0:12:28 > 0:12:32'why experts decided that this was not by Gainsborough.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38'Indeed, Hugh Belsey saw it ten years ago, but didn't reinstate it.'
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I think there was the feeling that it was a little bit different,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49but in the technique and style,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52maybe a little bit too loose and also,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56he was such a popular artist, many artists painted in his manner.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00And so, it was thought to be by one of those very, very late followers.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03So even as late as the 1920s.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08'That would place this picture over 100 years after Gainsborough's death,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10'which doesn't seem right to me.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:14I mean, in my bones, I feel this is by Gainsborough,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17but it's Gainsborough at his most experimental, and my only hope
0:13:17 > 0:13:22is that Hugh Belsey, who saw the painting, didn't see it as we did.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Out of its frame, it's very different.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29We've really got to make the case for this. Get it right
0:13:29 > 0:13:32and we can return to the nation a small trophy
0:13:32 > 0:13:34by the great artist Gainsborough.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Back at the gallery,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Bendor is hot on the paperwork trail of Imaginary Landscape.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42Rather helpfully,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44our Imaginary Landscape already comes
0:13:44 > 0:13:46with a certain amount of paperwork.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49The first thing is a letter from the Courtauld Institute,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53dated 1989, to the Government Art Collection,
0:13:53 > 0:13:54that's the body that looks after
0:13:54 > 0:13:56all the paintings in government buildings.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00And it says, "I've given thought to the Prime Minister's request..."
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Now, at the time, Mrs Thatcher was Prime Minister.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06"..and I'm willing to expend the loan for a further five
0:14:06 > 0:14:08"years from January 1990."
0:14:08 > 0:14:11So this is Mrs Thatcher saying, "I like this painting and I'd like to
0:14:11 > 0:14:14"have it for a little bit longer in Downing Street."
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Very nice to have.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20And we can go back a bit further cos I've also got a bill of sale here
0:14:20 > 0:14:23from Spink & Sons, famous art dealers, dated 1946.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27And they were selling the picture to Viscount Lee Of Fareham,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29who was a founder of the Courtauld collection.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31And they call it "Landscape by Thomas Gainsborough,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34"oils on paper, mounted on canvas..."
0:14:34 > 0:14:35and it has a little bit of provenance.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38"From the collection of the late A P Humphry..."
0:14:38 > 0:14:40That's the name that Philip saw on the back of the painting.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43"..whose direct ancestor, William Humphry,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45"was five times Mayor of Sudbury..."
0:14:45 > 0:14:47That's where Gainsborough was born.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50"..and a patron of Gainsborough."
0:14:50 > 0:14:52So we've got two rather august pieces of paper
0:14:52 > 0:14:54saying this is by Gainsborough
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and a possible link back to Gainsborough's place of birth.
0:14:58 > 0:14:59Very encouraging.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08With work on the landscape under way,
0:15:08 > 0:15:09I'm following the trail of evidence
0:15:09 > 0:15:13to discover who painted our other contender - the portrait.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Joseph Gape was once Mayor of St Albans.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20The painting is currently listed as "artist unknown".
0:15:22 > 0:15:25I've come to the county archives in Hertford, which house a wealth
0:15:25 > 0:15:29of information about life going back hundreds of years here.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32St Albans is just a few miles down the road
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and I'm hopeful there will be more about former mayor, Joseph Gape.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Just because he was a mayor does not necessarily make him
0:15:40 > 0:15:44important enough to have a leading artist paint his portrait.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47First, a newspaper from just over 100 years ago
0:15:47 > 0:15:48mentions the Gape family.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55"Death of Mayor Gape. Scion of an ancient family."
0:15:55 > 0:15:57So this is an article all about the Gape family.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01"By the demise of Mayor Gape is removed the senior representative
0:16:01 > 0:16:03"of the oldest family in the county,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07"whose record goes back to about 1400."
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Oh! "Another early reference of the name of Gape is included
0:16:11 > 0:16:14"in the list of those who had to provide "Corselets"..." -
0:16:14 > 0:16:15that's a kind of armour -
0:16:15 > 0:16:17"..in 1587 and 1588,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20"at the time when the "Invincible Armada" attacked England."
0:16:20 > 0:16:21Goodness me!
0:16:23 > 0:16:27'The archive also holds a detailed biography of our man.'
0:16:29 > 0:16:33"Joseph Gape..." Here we are. "..is said to have been born..."
0:16:33 > 0:16:36I love that, "he's said to have been born" - no-one's exactly sure.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40"..23rd May 1720 in the parish of St Bride's, London.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43"He's admitted to Gray's Inn, being then of the Middle Temple...",
0:16:43 > 0:16:45so he was a lawyer,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47"..and was Mayor of St Albans...", here we go,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50"..in 1746, 1761 and 1797.
0:16:50 > 0:16:56"He died 9th April 1801, aged 82 years." He lived to the age of 82.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Now, this is encouraging.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03If he was mayor three times and a leading lawyer, Joseph was clearly
0:17:03 > 0:17:06a man of distinction and came from a significant local family.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10But as I look further, there's a surprising and worrying letter
0:17:10 > 0:17:13relating to our portrait from more recent times.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18"15th May 1968," this is from David Gape.
0:17:18 > 0:17:19"Dear Mr Brett...", it says,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21"..I am writing to you officially, as Mayor,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24"to confirm the verbal arrangements which we have made
0:17:24 > 0:17:26"concerning the portrait of Joseph Gape.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29"The portrait is on loan, with its frame,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32"to the city of St Albans for an indefinite period,
0:17:32 > 0:17:38"subject to termination by either side at one month's notice."
0:17:38 > 0:17:44So, hang on a minute, this painting has been loaned to St Albans
0:17:44 > 0:17:46and to the Public Catalogue Foundation -
0:17:46 > 0:17:48they don't actually own it.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51'At some point in the past, this letter has been separated
0:17:51 > 0:17:54'from the portrait of Joseph Gape in St Albans Museum.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'That means the curator, Catherine Newley, is not aware of its contents
0:17:59 > 0:18:02'and the painting could be recalled by the family at any time
0:18:02 > 0:18:04'if it's not on public display.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06'At the moment, it's in a store cupboard.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'I've got to go to St Albans to pick up the painting and take it back
0:18:12 > 0:18:14'for our investigation,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'so I can give her the news at the same time.'
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Unfortunately, documentation has got lost along the way
0:18:19 > 0:18:21and separated from the object.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Cos obviously, if that was something that we were aware of,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- we might have acted differently. - Sure.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29'The implications are pretty serious.'
0:18:29 > 0:18:32If the Gape family wanted to, they could take the portrait back,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35even sell it, and the museum would lose a painting
0:18:35 > 0:18:37and it would disappear from public view.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40- Does it change the way you feel about it?- No.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42No, I still think it's a really lovely painting
0:18:42 > 0:18:46and I think it's something that the public should get to see,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48whether that's through the Your Paintings website
0:18:48 > 0:18:51or if it's on display in some way.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54We're going to need to contact the Gape family to clear all this up.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57But in the meantime, I want to know what Philip will make of it
0:18:57 > 0:18:59after casting an experienced eye over it.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I bring you Mayor Joseph Gape.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08How exciting!
0:19:20 > 0:19:22What do you think?
0:19:22 > 0:19:24I mean, it's just
0:19:24 > 0:19:26that sort of staggering difference
0:19:26 > 0:19:29between something you see on a screen, something
0:19:29 > 0:19:32your imagination attaches to and then it's there, in front of you.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39I suppose the first response is, it still looks like a Gainsborough.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Good. Well, that's a good start.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45But it looks like a Gainsborough that's...that's suffered.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50There's a problem with this picture - its condition.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Someone, at some point, has had a go at the face.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57They've overcleaned it, they've taken off a top layer of paint.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59And this makes it slightly strange-looking
0:19:59 > 0:20:03and it's given it a slightly sort of ghoulish appearance.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08It takes it away from what could or should be a Gainsborough appearance.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10And then, there's the shape.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13And oval is not that common in the late 18th century.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16We don't normally associate those with Gainsborough.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19But there are things that do look like Gainsborough.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21I mean, the clothes, there's a grace,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23there's a fluency that we saw in Mr And Mrs Andrews,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25which I find quite convincing.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29I mean, is this picture by Gainsborough?
0:20:29 > 0:20:32I think it probably is.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Can we prove it?
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Well, that's another matter altogether.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42'We've established that the Gapes were an important local family,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45'but there's no paper trail linking the portrait
0:20:45 > 0:20:47'of Joseph Gape to Gainsborough.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49'That could be a serious problem
0:20:49 > 0:20:52'if we're to get our painting fully authenticated.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55'But in this instance, we have access to the person
0:20:55 > 0:20:57'who will ultimately judge our paintings.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01'Hugh Belsey.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03'He has the ultimate responsibility
0:21:03 > 0:21:05'for compiling the definitive catalogue
0:21:05 > 0:21:06'of all Gainsborough's portraits,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'known as the Catalogue Raisonne.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10'So I want to meet him.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13'Can he guide us as to what might convince him to accept
0:21:13 > 0:21:15'our works as true Gainsboroughs,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17'especially the portrait.'
0:21:17 > 0:21:19When it comes to authenticating Gainsborough,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23what kind of clues might we look for, other than the brushstrokes?
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Well, I suppose you're looking for a bit of jigsaw.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29There are obviously things like the costume,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32that often gives you a good lead to dating.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34You look at the likelihood of a sitter
0:21:34 > 0:21:38being where the artist might be, which is an important point.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40You look at how it relates to other pictures,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44what might have happened to it since it was painted.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47But with Gainsborough, there's very little documentary evidence.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49And why is that?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Because I suspect, as soon as he died,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54his widow just put everything in a large skip outside his house.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55Why would she do that?
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Because she felt he was an artisan rather than an artist, I suspect.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03She was rather a grand woman who had rather more airs and graces
0:22:03 > 0:22:05than was useful to Gainsborough's reputation.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07But he was appreciated in his lifetime, wasn't he?
0:22:07 > 0:22:10So I'd have assumed the records would be kept.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14There is no known letter to Gainsborough that exists.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Not a single one?- Not a single one.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19There are certain letters from him and they are a delight.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20Some of them were so vulgar
0:22:20 > 0:22:23that they were actually destroyed in the 19th century, sadly.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- And what a shame. - Yes, isn't that sad?
0:22:25 > 0:22:28So it's not going to be an easy one then, when it comes to trying
0:22:28 > 0:22:31to trace the, certainly the paperwork of a Gainsborough?
0:22:31 > 0:22:33No, it's not at all.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Are you looking forward to our quest, to seeing the paintings?
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Yeah, of course, yes. It's always exciting to see new pictures.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41It's what keeps me going.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43The way Philip built up Hugh Belsey,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I was expecting this very intimidating character
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and, in fact, he's rather gentle and rather genial.
0:22:50 > 0:22:51So that was a pleasant surprise.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55I suspect that'll all change once we stick those paintings under his nose
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and the day of reckoning comes.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00And judging from what he had to say,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04I'm not sure it's going to be that easy to persuade him.
0:23:04 > 0:23:05But we'll see.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10Well, at least now we know what it will take
0:23:10 > 0:23:12if we're to convince Hugh Belsey.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I'm hoping Joseph Gape's descendants can provide some clues
0:23:15 > 0:23:16to back up our investigation.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20The Gape family was once one of the richest
0:23:20 > 0:23:23and most important in St Albans.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27St Michael's Manor was built as the family home in 1586.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32It's now a hotel, but I'm meeting two of Joseph's descendants there -
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Judy Pearson, the owner of the portrait of Joseph Gape,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38and her aunt, Diana Bennett.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39She remembers St Michael's Manor
0:23:39 > 0:23:42when it still belonged to the family.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Now, Diana, do you remember this portrait hanging in this house?
0:23:46 > 0:23:51No, I was a child, so I probably wouldn't have noticed, I'm afraid.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I can definitely see a family resemblance with the eyebrows.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Diana, what do you think?
0:23:56 > 0:23:57Well, I think yes!
0:23:57 > 0:24:00The arch of the brows there.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Mine are now moth-eaten...
0:24:02 > 0:24:04I tend not to talk about my eyebrows,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06they get talked about enough as it is.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09We've established that the painting is on long-term loan,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13but I want to know how and why that loan came about in 1968.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17And whether there's ever been any suggestion that the painting
0:24:17 > 0:24:18might be by Gainsborough.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23The Mayor of St Albans, Mr Brett at the time, wrote to my father and
0:24:23 > 0:24:25said that they were putting together
0:24:25 > 0:24:28a whole lot of history for St Albans and that
0:24:28 > 0:24:33Joseph Gape had been mayor three times, which is very unusual,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35over a period of 50 years,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39and they wondered if they could have a portrait to hang of him.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42And the feeling is that this was painted,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45as far as we know, we don't know who painted it, by somebody
0:24:45 > 0:24:47when he was mayor for the second time.
0:24:47 > 0:24:53So he sent that to St Albans for them to have on a long-term loan,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55but we never have thought it was a Gainsborough,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57so it's going to be really interesting to see.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Diana has some more helpful family information for me.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Not only was Joseph Gape
0:25:03 > 0:25:05a senior lawyer at the Middle Temple in London,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08but his brother married into the family that owned
0:25:08 > 0:25:13nearby Gorhambury House, a home with its own collection of great works.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19They had and have a fantastic collection.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Therefore, Joseph Gape would have become accustomed
0:25:22 > 0:25:26to seeing beautiful portraits by the great painters,
0:25:26 > 0:25:31so he had all sorts of reasons for knowing who was good,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33when it came to portrait painters.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35This is progress.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38We've learnt the subject of our portrait was not just
0:25:38 > 0:25:40a man of means, but also of culture.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43It seems increasingly likely that his place in society was such
0:25:43 > 0:25:46that his portrait would have been painted by an artist of note.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48But we're still a long way
0:25:48 > 0:25:51from proving that artist was Gainsborough.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54If it does turn out to be by Gainsborough, what will you do?
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Perhaps get it hung again somewhere. That'd be good.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02I really don't know.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05I mean, we're not there to grab it back and just make money out of it
0:26:05 > 0:26:07and just sell it cos it's by Gainsborough.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I think it should be restored properly and then,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12we would have to think what we did with it, wouldn't we?
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Whilst Fiona continues her enquiries about the portrait, Bendor is
0:26:16 > 0:26:19looking for more information on our other Gainsborough contender -
0:26:19 > 0:26:22the painting called Imaginary Landscape.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Worryingly, it was downgraded from a Gainsborough some years ago
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and is currently considered to be a late copy.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33But my hunch is that this is wrong.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Bendor has come to the Witt Library.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41Here they hold reference material relating to two million paintings.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Most major artists are catalogued here,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46there are photographs of the pictures,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50receipts with dates of sale, evidence of ownership...
0:26:50 > 0:26:53It's a sweet shop for researchers.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57So I found our picture, our Courtauld picture here in the files.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59There's three photos of it.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04One when it was in the Courtauld Institute, called Gainsborough.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Another one when it was in the Lee Collection.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10He's the guy who donated to Courtauld, also called Gainsborough.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13And another one when it was sold at Christie's in 1946
0:27:13 > 0:27:16as a Gainsborough, which is quite reassuring in one way,
0:27:16 > 0:27:17cos it means once upon a time,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20it's been taken seriously as a Gainsborough.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24And I've got a drawing as well, which is quite interesting
0:27:24 > 0:27:28cos it shows us a comparable arrangement of the figures,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30very close to the little group
0:27:30 > 0:27:32of figures we've got in our picture.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35These figures are so similar to me,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38they have to come from the same artist's brain.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Evidence is definitely mounting up.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47But will we be able to prove that Imaginary Landscape is indeed
0:27:47 > 0:27:49by Gainsborough and not a late copy?
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Our next move takes us to a location just a short walk
0:27:53 > 0:27:56from Gainsborough's birthplace, in Sudbury.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00We've come to the setting for Gainsborough's most famous
0:28:00 > 0:28:04early landscape - Cornard Wood, for a bit of an experiment.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09Cornard Wood is a work of enduring beauty and immense significance.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Gainsborough was barely into his twenties when he painted it,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17yet it helped to establish English landscape as an art form in itself,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19inspiring artists like Constable.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21250 years later,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24this is still clearly the place Gainsborough painted.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28But Gainsborough never let reality intrude too much
0:28:28 > 0:28:31in his search for the perfect composition.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36Many believe he moved the church to create a focus for his painting.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40As he grew older, so his taste for risk and experimentation grew.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43And the way that he painted later landscapes took him
0:28:43 > 0:28:45even further in that direction.
0:28:48 > 0:28:49Now, have a look at this.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52So early on, Gainsborough absolutely cracks nature.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56He knows how to portray it as far as he needs.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59And as he gets older, his imagination begins to take over,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03but it was not completely his imagination.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08He needed props to make it all work for him. Such as boulders like this.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11- Moss like that. - Little bits of fir tree.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13So this is a model,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17he would make models to create a landscape that he could then paint?
0:29:17 > 0:29:20And he would work out the most picturesque,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24the most beautiful, the most dramatic way of making nature work better.
0:29:24 > 0:29:29So he'd get something like, for example, this piece of broccoli.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31All you need to do with a piece of broccoli is
0:29:31 > 0:29:35just rip away a few of the leaves, a few of the parts.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37- The floret, I think is the technical term.- The floret...- Yes.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41And look, already, from a distance, that's beginning to look like a tree,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45- agreed?- Yes.- No, look more convincing.- Yeah, well, it could do.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47- It could do with a bit of work, yeah.- OK.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49He would then use the rock behind,
0:29:49 > 0:29:54so the rock becomes basically a sort of mountainous outcrop.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58A tree against it like that and then... Why are you eating it?
0:29:58 > 0:29:59I like it.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Coal is a brilliant form of cliff.
0:30:04 > 0:30:05So big boulders?
0:30:05 > 0:30:07- Big boulders like that. - How fascinating.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09He would add to this little models of horses,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11little models of sheep.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14I mean, it was a proper game of soldiers he was playing.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18When you look at the tree in the middle of the Imaginary Landscape,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20it does look like a twig, really large,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22rather than a tree, doesn't it?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Cos it's only got these branches at the very, very top,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27which is not what you'd expect in a tree.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Indeed, and when you know his secret tricks,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32it's almost like too much information.
0:30:32 > 0:30:33I mean, you can see the props.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42But it wasn't just a question of choosing the right object.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45It was also a question of working out the light.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49And get the right light and his brush can do the rest.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53'And to do that, he would paint by candlelight,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57'creating atmosphere that could be poetically intense.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59'You can see the effect of this technique
0:30:59 > 0:31:00'in the Imaginary Landscape,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03'particularly in the way the light falls upon the rocks.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06'It's uncanny to think that Gainsborough
0:31:06 > 0:31:08'may have created our picture in just this way.'
0:31:16 > 0:31:18We're all meeting back at the gallery for an update
0:31:18 > 0:31:22on our two paintings and to look at some new evidence we've uncovered.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27So where have we got to? I mean, we're making some progress, aren't we?
0:31:27 > 0:31:29With Imaginary Landscape, it was certainly interesting
0:31:29 > 0:31:31to see how that model worked in Cornard Wood.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34And then, those figures in the Gainsborough drawings
0:31:34 > 0:31:37in the Witt Library and the similarity with the figures
0:31:37 > 0:31:39in Imaginary Landscape was also really encouraging.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42And when it comes to the portrait of Joseph Gape,
0:31:42 > 0:31:43during the course of my research,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47I came across another portrait of Joseph Gape, a later portrait,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51when he was mayor for the third time in St Albans and this one
0:31:51 > 0:31:55painted by Thomas Lawrence. He's one of Britain's greatest artists.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I mean, his paintings are up in Windsor Castle. I've seen them.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00I love the fact that when you put them together,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03you can't mistake those eyebrows, can you? Definitely the same chap.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Yeah. But see, that's really good, cos it shows that Gape
0:32:06 > 0:32:11was a discerning man when it came to art and getting his portrait painted.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Now, in our search for clues about the Gape picture,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18we've commissioned a full range of technical analysis.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21X-ray, infrared and ultraviolet photos here
0:32:21 > 0:32:25and these are going to be really helpful for one crucial thing,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29because the big problem about our Gape picture is that it is an oval.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31Gainsborough didn't paint ovals.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36However, what he did paint was an oval within a larger,
0:32:36 > 0:32:38squarer picture, if that makes sense.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42So he would paint an oval and then paint around the edges in black.
0:32:42 > 0:32:48Now, if I show you an ultraviolet photograph of our Gape painting,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50have a little look in the bottom left-hand corner.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Can you see that sort of dark smudgy area?
0:32:54 > 0:32:55Which is overpaint.
0:32:55 > 0:33:01- Look at that.- Someone later on has extended Mr Gape's arm.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Now, why has he done that?
0:33:03 > 0:33:05If I show you the X-ray,
0:33:05 > 0:33:07you can see, at the bottom of the arm,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11that there's actually a definitive sort of end line there.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13Yes, you can see where the arm finishes
0:33:13 > 0:33:15just before the edge of the painting.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20Now, the reason someone has extended Mr Gape's arm is
0:33:20 > 0:33:24because, originally, this picture was in fact a squarer canvas
0:33:24 > 0:33:28with the oval painted in the middle and then the corners painted out darker.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31And then someone came along and wanted to cut it into an oval.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33He got the scissors out, snip, snip, snip.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35And they left it looking like a bit of a stump,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39so they had to paint on an extra bit of arm to make it look normal,
0:33:39 > 0:33:40and that's what we've got.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45So originally, our painting would have looked like a perfectly
0:33:45 > 0:33:49- standard Gainsborough portrait, like this.- That explains it!
0:33:49 > 0:33:51That explains why it is an oval when it shouldn't be.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53For Gainsborough, it should not be that shape.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Someone's had a go at it.
0:33:56 > 0:33:57Brilliant. That is brilliant.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01And what we need to do now is take some of that technical fairy dust
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and sprinkle it over your Imaginary Landscape
0:34:04 > 0:34:05and what I suggest we do is start
0:34:05 > 0:34:09with the paper that it was painted on and take a look at that.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11I've got to go to California quite shortly on business
0:34:11 > 0:34:15and I'm going to use the opportunity to look at a couple of American-owned
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Gainsboroughs, which I think could be quite a useful comparison.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26To create the painting Imaginary Landscape, we know the artist
0:34:26 > 0:34:28used paper, which he stuck to the canvas.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32So I've asked paper expert Peter Bower to look at our picture
0:34:32 > 0:34:36and see if the paper itself can help establish the date of the painting.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39First, a lesson in how old paper was made.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43So what should we be looking for in a piece like this, for example?
0:34:43 > 0:34:48Well, in his lifetime, most paper was laid paper,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52which is formed on a mould made of wires.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55If we look at this image of forming a sheet of paper.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57This is the vatman.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01And he's holding a paper mould, which has these metal wires on it.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04He dips that into a vat of pulp
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and gives it a shake and the water starts to drain out
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and as you transfer it off,
0:35:10 > 0:35:14this impression remains in the sheet.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17The crucial thing is that, over the years, the width of
0:35:17 > 0:35:22the wires varied, making it possible to use these grids to date the paper
0:35:22 > 0:35:25and help prove this was painted during Gainsborough's lifetime.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33Now, can we see any of these?
0:35:33 > 0:35:35These chain lines and laid lines?
0:35:35 > 0:35:41Well, one of the problems with oil on paper is the paint layers obscure
0:35:41 > 0:35:43the profile of the sheet.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46But, luckily, the artist has done us a favour
0:35:46 > 0:35:48and he's worked on the wire side of the sheet,
0:35:48 > 0:35:49which is more prominent.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54Here, there are tiny indications of the laid ones.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Below the paint, but the paint is making them visible.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01And what about dating the paper to the right kind of time.
0:36:01 > 0:36:031770s, 1780s.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07The paint lines are about 27, 28 millimetres apart,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10which is an 18th-century profile. It's...
0:36:10 > 0:36:14- Late 18th century?- Mid to late.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19- The wire profile that's visible is right.- That's promising.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28My business trip to Los Angeles allows me to take
0:36:28 > 0:36:32the opportunity to do more work on the Courtauld's Imaginary Landscape.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38It may seem a surprising place to investigate a British artist,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42but over a third of all Gainsboroughs are now in America,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45many bought by new money in the early 20th century.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51This is the Huntington Gallery, in Pasadena,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53established in 1928 by real estate
0:36:53 > 0:36:56and railroad magnate Henry Huntington.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00He was at the forefront of the American drive to collect British art
0:37:00 > 0:37:03of the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07This is now home to some of Britain's greatest works,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09the most famous of which
0:37:09 > 0:37:12is Gainsborough's Blue Boy.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21I've spent my life admiring Gainsborough.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23As a result of my studies,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I've been able to find many lost works by the painter.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29The Cottage Door is one of Gainsborough's
0:37:29 > 0:37:31most famous later paintings.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35Two very similar works were long thought to be copies by another hand.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37But in the past year, I've succeeded in proving now
0:37:37 > 0:37:39that they are all by Gainsborough,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42shedding new light on his working processes -
0:37:42 > 0:37:44three paintings on the same theme.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51One of those that I had to convince was the man who will judge
0:37:51 > 0:37:53our two contenders - Hugh Belsey.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55By happy coincidence,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58he is the curator of this exhibition in Pasadena
0:37:58 > 0:38:02that is showing these three paintings together for the very first time.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08- Hugh, hello.- Hello.- This looks absolutely wonderful!- Thank you.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11I'm very pleased with it, it looks lovely.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14So seeing these three pictures together like three brothers,
0:38:14 > 0:38:18what do you think it tells us about Gainsborough?
0:38:18 > 0:38:21What's interesting, really, is that he sorted out this design
0:38:21 > 0:38:24in the picture that's in the Huntington now, and then
0:38:24 > 0:38:26he was clearly very satisfied with that composition
0:38:26 > 0:38:29and decided that he'd play around with it another two times
0:38:29 > 0:38:31and there's the other two pictures here.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34And both of them had different emphasis.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37This one, I think the figures
0:38:37 > 0:38:38and the tree on the right
0:38:38 > 0:38:40are particularly strong,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42whereas in this one, the tree
0:38:42 > 0:38:44on the left is particularly good.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49Did he work the same way with Imaginary Landscape?
0:38:49 > 0:38:53The figures that Bendor saw on the sketch at the Witt Library
0:38:53 > 0:38:57suggest he might have been working on another recurring theme.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02This is the perfect opportunity to let Hugh know which landscape
0:39:02 > 0:39:05we're looking at and, of course, to see whether he's willing
0:39:05 > 0:39:08to reconsider his previous verdict.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11So here's the picture. Do you recognise it?
0:39:11 > 0:39:13Yes. Yes, I do.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18- It's from the Courtauld Institute. - And do you recall...?
0:39:18 > 0:39:20I remember seeing it
0:39:20 > 0:39:24and I remember thinking it was well worth looking at a little deeper.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28- Right.- It's a very Gainsborough-esque theme, without any doubt at all.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33- And it's on paper, as far as I remember.- Yes.- Yeah.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37I'm very happy to look at that more, that would be very interesting.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38Well, thank you.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44These three takes on the same theme,
0:39:44 > 0:39:45but with subtle differences,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48demonstrate the experimentation of Gainsborough,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51and seeing them together helps me believe more than ever
0:39:51 > 0:39:56in our very experimental painting - Imaginary Landscape.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00I can remember so well the excitement and relief,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04I mean, genuine relief getting those pictures proved
0:40:04 > 0:40:08and I remember now, having seen them again,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12what it was that was the characteristic of Gainsborough
0:40:12 > 0:40:15that so convinced me and it was the feeling
0:40:15 > 0:40:17of one colour beneath another,
0:40:17 > 0:40:18glaze, the warm ground,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22on which the paint is painted shinning through,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26acting a bit like a sauce someone had poured over a pudding or whatever,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29but done with absolute expert skill
0:40:29 > 0:40:31and modulation in the case of Gainsborough.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34We've established that, later on his career,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Gainsborough was happy to create versions of his successful paintings,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40but he always used a similar technique.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44First, he would lay down an undercoat of warm colour.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48To this, he would add layers of half strokes and transparent strokes,
0:40:48 > 0:40:52allowing the undercoat, known as the ground, to show through.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56If we can find this tell-tale warm ground in Imaginary Landscape,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58it would help argue for its authenticity.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01And the best way to look for it is a microscope.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07I've returned to the Courtauld, where head of conservation
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Aviva Burnstock has agreed to study the painting.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13She's using a high-powered microscope that can magnify
0:41:13 > 0:41:16the image up to 400 times
0:41:16 > 0:41:20and give us close-up images of the brushstrokes and paint layers.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24But will we see the warm ground layer that I'm hoping for?
0:41:28 > 0:41:32It's been painted very quickly and directly with a very few strokes
0:41:32 > 0:41:36of white mixed with pink and yellow for the head and the flesh paint.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38This is the figure kneeling by the water.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42And you can also see the ground coming through, which is
0:41:42 > 0:41:45- a nice, light tan colour.- Wow!
0:41:45 > 0:41:48That's exactly what I was hoping we'd find on this.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Surely, this is Gainsborough's characteristic technique of one
0:41:52 > 0:41:54thin layer on top of another
0:41:54 > 0:41:56to give that sort of warmth.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01'Now, that's good, but it's just the beginning of the process.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03'We need to test the chemical make-up of other pigments
0:42:03 > 0:42:05'used in the painting.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09'We're interested in the blue paint in the distant mountains.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12'Blue is useful to test because, 20 years after Gainsborough's death,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15'a new pigment was introduced, called cobalt blue,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18'replacing the traditional pigment smalt.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22'Any trace of cobalt blue in the original paint would be bad news,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24'placing the picture after Gainsborough's death,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28'suggesting this is a late copy after all.'
0:42:31 > 0:42:34There's a lovely area which shows the blue pigment.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Does it look to you like a Gainsborough blue?
0:42:38 > 0:42:41Well, my first instinct is it's cobalt blue,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44which couldn't be by Gainsborough.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48Forgive me for saying so, but I do hope your instincts are wrong.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50If this is early 19th century, it's dead in the water.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53However, this is just looking under the microscope and it's not
0:42:53 > 0:42:57the ideal and definitive way of looking at blue pigments.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59'I thought we were almost home and dry
0:42:59 > 0:43:01'with the ground layer proving correct,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03'but now we're going to have to wait
0:43:03 > 0:43:05'for further tests to the blue paint
0:43:05 > 0:43:08'which just may show that the painting was done
0:43:08 > 0:43:10'after Gainsborough's death.'
0:43:14 > 0:43:17While Philip hopes for a good result from the paint tests,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I've come to Bath, where Gainsborough lived and worked.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27I'm visiting the Fashion Museum on the trail of our other painting -
0:43:27 > 0:43:30the portrait of Joseph Gape.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32We know Gainsborough was very particular
0:43:32 > 0:43:35about the costumes his sitters wore.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37I'm hoping curator Rosemary Harden may help us
0:43:37 > 0:43:41confirm a date for our portrait from the clothes Joseph Gape is wearing.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45The thing which I was drawn to immediately is the coat,
0:43:45 > 0:43:50because, in the 18th century, men's coats dramatically changed style.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53So at the beginning of the 18th century, there would be no colour
0:43:53 > 0:43:57whatsoever, so in this portrait here by Ramsay from the 1740s,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00absolutely no colour at all.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02But around this time, things were changing
0:44:02 > 0:44:05and it was all inspired by country wear.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08So here's a portrait here of a man on his horseback.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10But you can see he has a collar to this coat.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13A turnover collar which is starting to look like
0:44:13 > 0:44:14our man's coat here.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16He didn't look like the height of fashion, I have to say.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18He certainly isn't, I mean,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21this is very definitely not fashionable dress.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The next picture Rosemary shows me is a familiar friend,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26which can really help our quest.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29In the very...another very famous Gainsborough portrait,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Mr And Mrs Andrews, which is dating from 1750.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34I had a look at this in the National Gallery.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36It's such a fabulous portrait
0:44:36 > 0:44:40and you can see there's a turnover lapel there, this part of a coat.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44And then, if you move on a little bit into the 1760s,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47this is a portrait of a chap who's a young man,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50he's going off on the Grand Tour of Italy
0:44:50 > 0:44:55and he is wearing a coat with this white turnover collar,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58which is very, very similar to the one that we've got here.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02But we've also got this buttonhole here, edged with metal thread braid
0:45:02 > 0:45:05and here is a portrait of Warren Hastings,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07he was the Governor of India.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10And this is from slightly later, in 1766,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14and here we have that wonderful great, big buttonhole there,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16edged metal thread braid.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19- This is a real fashion statement, isn't it?- It is indeed,
0:45:19 > 0:45:25so that's starting to put the date, certainly from the clothes,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27in the 1760s.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29But how can you be that precise? Because, I mean,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32I've had this jacket for more years than I care to remember
0:45:32 > 0:45:34and people could hang on to their coat for ten, 20 years,
0:45:34 > 0:45:36presumably, cos there was nothing wrong with it
0:45:36 > 0:45:39and it was perfectly serviceable, as my mother would say.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42So this could have been painted later, cos he was hanging on to his coat.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46I think that's a very interesting point, but the crucial thing is you're having your portrait painted.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49So you want to be in the up-to-the-minute clothes.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51You want to present yourself in the up-to-the-minute...
0:45:51 > 0:45:55- So he wouldn't be wearing his old jacket, would he?- I think not. - You're quite right.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57I mean, certainly Gainsborough,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59who was a firm believer in his sitters wearing the clothes of
0:45:59 > 0:46:03the day, but also sometimes he did give his sitters clothes to wear.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06This famous portrait of the Blue Boy,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08and he provided the clothes for that.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11So, yes, maybe, this coat belonged to Gainsborough
0:46:11 > 0:46:14- and he lent it to Gape for the portrait.- Possibly.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16And what about the rest of his clothes,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19the shirt and the cravat that he's wearing?
0:46:19 > 0:46:23I think that it's absolutely right for that 1760s date.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27'So that seems to confirm this portrait dates from the 1760s -
0:46:27 > 0:46:30'the time Gainsborough was at the height of his fame
0:46:30 > 0:46:31'painting portraits in Bath.'
0:46:31 > 0:46:35It's looking increasingly plausible that Joseph Gape
0:46:35 > 0:46:36could have turned to Gainsborough
0:46:36 > 0:46:40to immortalise his second term as Mayor of St Albans.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47But back in London, the painting Imaginary Landscape is in trouble.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Aviva has carried out pigment analysis
0:46:49 > 0:46:52that has thrown up the possibility that the paint could come
0:46:52 > 0:46:55from after Gainsborough's death.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58We're now heading into the labs of King's College
0:46:58 > 0:46:59for the decisive test.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03Aviva is analysing a tiny sample of the blue paint
0:47:03 > 0:47:05in an electron microscope.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08It's like astronomy, isn't it?
0:47:08 > 0:47:10And we're just moving into the surface of a planet.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12This will tell us once and for all
0:47:12 > 0:47:15whether this blue is smalt, which could have been used by Gainsborough,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18or cobalt blue, only available after his death.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24- You're looking a bit nervous. - I am a bit nervous. I admit it.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27Only cobalt blue contains aluminium.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30And any trace of that and we're done for.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33I'm keeping my fingers crossed we don't find any.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Now the peaks are coming up for different elements.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49That's aluminium?
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Yeah, it's aluminium and cobalt together,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55so it looks like it is cobalt blue.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57Isn't that incredibly sad?
0:47:57 > 0:47:59It rules out Gainsborough.
0:48:05 > 0:48:11I'm incredibly surprised, but I suppose also a bit humbled.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Gainsborough is a huge inspiration to me.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17He's a figure to whom I feel really connected and it's possible
0:48:17 > 0:48:21that perhaps I don't know that man of inspiration
0:48:21 > 0:48:22as much as I thought I did.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27Time to head back to the gallery
0:48:27 > 0:48:29and prepare our findings for the verdict.
0:48:32 > 0:48:33Time is running out
0:48:33 > 0:48:36and we've got to show these paintings to Hugh Belsey very soon.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38So how are we doing?
0:48:38 > 0:48:40Obviously, not quite so great on Imaginary Landscape.
0:48:40 > 0:48:46I just can't understand it. I mean, to me, it just breathes Gainsborough.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50I mean, the whole design of the landscape, you know,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53the way he sort of constructed these things, partly from his imagination.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57The way the figures are done. The way it sort of glows.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59I mean, that's all the stuff that I identify
0:48:59 > 0:49:02with this artist to whom I'm deeply attached
0:49:02 > 0:49:05and yet, the damn science says
0:49:05 > 0:49:08that it was painted after Gainsborough died.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Well, sometimes, you might just be wrong!
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Well, I know Philip is my employer, so you might think I'm being biased,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18but I've never known him to be wrong on Gainsborough ever.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20- Could this be the first time? - Good man!
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Thank you for that.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Well, let's park that for a minute and let's talk
0:49:25 > 0:49:27about the portrait of Joseph Gape, see if we can agree on that.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31And I spent some hours in Bath at the Fashion Museum there
0:49:31 > 0:49:36looking at his wig, his hat and the coat that he's wearing and dating
0:49:36 > 0:49:39that portrait to Gainsborough's time through his clothing.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Well, you can give me your fashion view, then, on this picture,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46which is a very close portrait to our Gape.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It is, of course, Sir John Durbin, who was the Mayor of Bristol,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52and it's a fully-accepted Gainsborough
0:49:52 > 0:49:54and is currently hanging in a museum, in America.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Look at that, they're almost identical, aren't they?
0:49:56 > 0:49:58And, of course, this is why it's so interesting,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01because portrait painters hit upon a design,
0:50:01 > 0:50:04a sort of formula that could work, which they would often repeat
0:50:04 > 0:50:06and we've got another one, a secure Gainsborough
0:50:06 > 0:50:09to compare it with now that looks pretty well identical.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12It does and, then, the shape is very interesting, isn't it?
0:50:12 > 0:50:13The oval shape.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Yes, the John Durbin picture was in a described oval,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19as our Gape would have been.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21And I think I might have another bit of a clincher,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23I'm quite pleased with this one.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Cos our man Gape was a member of the Society Of Arts in London
0:50:27 > 0:50:28from the late 1750s onwards.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31The Society Of Arts was a bit like the Royal Academy today.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33It was the main exhibition space for artists.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Now, Thomas Gainsborough, when he was a young lad,
0:50:36 > 0:50:40was exhibiting in the Society Of Arts from 1761 onwards,
0:50:40 > 0:50:42so we've got a little bit of a scene of the crime going on
0:50:42 > 0:50:44where they could both have met.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46They could have shaken hands.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50Well, that's all good, so we can present the portrait
0:50:50 > 0:50:53of Joseph Gape, then, to Hugh Belsey with a degree of confidence.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Shame about your dodgy landscape, Philip.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00But then, on the other hand, you are convinced, aren't you, still that it's by Gainsborough.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03So, now, we need to see what Hugh Belsey has to say.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10We've brought both paintings to Gainsborough's house in Sudbury,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12where his birthplace is now a museum.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18We're presenting our evidence to Hugh Belsey, who will be
0:51:18 > 0:51:20the ultimate judge of our work.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26The artist of the portrait of Joseph Gape is currently unknown.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29To attach the name Gainsborough to it and upgrade the listing
0:51:29 > 0:51:32on the Your Paintings website would be a real coup.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35The painting is on loan at the St Albans Museum,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39where the curator, Catherine Newley, is looking after it.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41- So this is the moment we're going to find out...- Yes, yes.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44..if indeed this is by Gainsborough or not.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47- Excited? A bit nervous? - Yes, yeah, really excited.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49I think it'll be a really big thing.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Imaginary Landscape belongs to the Courtauld Institute.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56Gainsborough was the first artist ever purchased for the collection.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Karen Serres is the curator of paintings there.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04And she's been following our work on the painting every step of the way.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08It was purchased as a Gainsborough, but in the past 20 years,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11it was considered a very, very late follower.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14So it had been effectively de-attributed to...
0:52:14 > 0:52:17So it had been turned, basically, from an 18th-century picture into...
0:52:17 > 0:52:19A very late 19th-century work.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24It's time to find out what Hugh has decided.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29So, Hugh, we're in Gainsborough's house.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31We've got two potential Gainsboroughs.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Do you feel the ghost of Gainsborough looking over your shoulder
0:52:34 > 0:52:36- in moments like this?- I've been in this house a lot, so, yes,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39he's been looking over my shoulder.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Well, OK, so now it's find-out time.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46What are your views first on the landscape?
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Um...
0:52:51 > 0:52:54I mean, it's not quite the tonality that you would
0:52:54 > 0:52:58expect of Gainsborough at this stage,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01the handling of the paint just isn't subtle enough.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04It's just a bit more laboured than Gainsborough managed.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09I think it's a Gainsborough drawing that has been
0:53:09 > 0:53:12overpainted by somebody else.
0:53:12 > 0:53:18Aha! So you concede then that this was initially a work by Gainsborough?
0:53:18 > 0:53:22Yes. If you look at this one, which is in the Met,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25you can see that it's got exactly
0:53:25 > 0:53:28the same sort of vocabulary, with the wispy tree,
0:53:28 > 0:53:30the large mass on the left,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32the smaller one on the right.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34It's all the same sort of vocabulary.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38So what Hugh believes is that Imaginary Landscape is a sketch
0:53:38 > 0:53:42by Gainsborough to which colour and paint have been added.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Maybe that's something I should have considered,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48but I'm fantastically relieved to hear that the name Gainsborough
0:53:48 > 0:53:51has now been formally re-attached.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58But if it's a Gainsborough drawing that's been painted over by somebody else,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01do you say it's by Gainsborough then?
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Well, as I've catalogued a great many Gainsboroughs
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and also his drawings,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09I suppose I should really include that in our drawings catalogue.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14- Oh, that's progress! Hang on a minute.- That's a gain, that's a real gain.- Yes, yes.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16So what do you think of that?
0:54:16 > 0:54:20I think it's so interesting, because for earlier artists, you talk about
0:54:20 > 0:54:23"after a design by" a certain artist
0:54:23 > 0:54:27and it sounds like this is exactly what's happening in this case.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31What's really important is first to be able to catalogue it
0:54:31 > 0:54:34correctly and it hadn't been so far, so that's wonderful, thank you.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36And hang it now, perhaps?
0:54:36 > 0:54:39I think yes, it will be really interesting for our visitors, so...
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Yes, I think we'll put it proudly on our walls.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45- With the right label. - With the right label, absolutely.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48We have long labels and we can explain
0:54:48 > 0:54:51in detail exactly how this work came about.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Right, the portrait then.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01Um... The portrait is about 1762.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06And it would have originally been a rectangular picture,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09but with a faint oval inside the rectangle.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13And I suspect this black mark at the bottom here
0:55:13 > 0:55:18is the edge of the faint oval that was in the original.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20So who do you think painted it?
0:55:20 > 0:55:21Oh, Gainsborough.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23- You're as certain as that?- Oh, yes.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27All of this is entirely Gainsborough.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29No-one else could quite have done that.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32- So what do you make of that? - Oh, it's really exciting.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34This was a painting that had an untitled artist,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38so, yeah, to have someone attributed to it,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41- and to have someone like Gainsborough is even better.- Yeah.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45I mean, this is a real promotion for old Joseph Gape here, isn't it?
0:55:45 > 0:55:50Unknown artist to one of Britain's greatest artists.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54- And I can see the colour coming back into his cheeks.- Yes!
0:55:54 > 0:55:57So now that he has been promoted this way,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00presumably he's going to come out of the store cupboard.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02We would love to have him back out on display.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05We'd obviously have to speak to the family that still owns the painting.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- Yes, cos that's the one uncertain thing, isn't it?- Yes.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11It's been on indefinite loan to the city of St Albans
0:56:11 > 0:56:13for quite a while, so I have to see what they say.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22Well, it's back to the gallery for our final job - to let Judy Pearson,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Joseph Gape descendant, know the results of our findings.
0:56:28 > 0:56:29Judy, last time we met,
0:56:29 > 0:56:33- we were in the house where this portrait hung originally.- Yes.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37It's been quite a journey since then. We've done quite a lot of work with it.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41As you know, the art world can be a very unpredictable business
0:56:41 > 0:56:45and this was a very protracted process,
0:56:45 > 0:56:51but I can tell you that your ancestor has been christened with an artist.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54- It's Thomas Gainsborough.- Wow!
0:56:54 > 0:56:56What do you think?
0:56:56 > 0:56:58That is very exciting indeed.
0:57:00 > 0:57:05- At the moment, it's on loan... - Yes.- ..to the St Albans Museum.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Are you happy, certainly, for the time being,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11for it to continue to be on loan to the St Albans Museum?
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Yes, I think we are.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Well, I'm sure they'll be very pleased to have it.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18Well, I just...in case you think we're making this all up
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and pulling your leg, I can actually prove to you this
0:57:21 > 0:57:24is by Gainsborough by showing you something on the website over here.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26This is the Your Paintings website and if I show you,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29you can see Joseph Gape, there he is.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31- It used to say "by an unknown artist".- Absolutely.- Now it says...
0:57:31 > 0:57:33It says "by Thomas Gainsborough".
0:57:33 > 0:57:34Thomas Gainsborough.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36That is quite something, isn't it?
0:57:36 > 0:57:37Well, thank you.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40Thank you for all that huge amount of work, thank you for finding it.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43I think that's, that's very... Cos we would never have known.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45I'm so glad it paid off.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49And if I click over to our Imaginary Landscape of the Courtauld,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52you can see that that's been changed too.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55"By Thomas Gainsborough, reworked
0:57:55 > 0:57:57"by a late 19th-century English follower."
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Well, that's two new christenings
0:58:02 > 0:58:07and just imagine how many more there might be on there.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10This could keep us busy for years.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13And if you'd like to try your hand at being an art detective,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16why not visit the Your Paintings website at...
0:58:20 > 0:58:22You'll be amazed at what you can find.