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The art world, where paintings change hands for fortunes. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:08 | |
Selling at $95 million. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:10 | |
But for every known masterpiece, | 0:00:10 | 0:00:11 | |
there may be another still waiting to be discovered. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
That's it! That's it, isn't it? | 0:00:14 | 0:00:15 | |
That is it. That is our painting. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:17 | |
International art dealer Philip Mould and I have teamed up | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
to hunt for lost works by great artists. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
We use old-fashioned detective work and state-of-the-art science to get to the truth. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
Science can enable us to see beyond the human eye. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
Da-da! Oh! Wow! | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
The problem is, not every painting is quite what it seems. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
You successfully faked Lowrys while you were at school, didn't you? | 0:00:39 | 0:00:43 | |
Yes. It's a journey that can end in joy... | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
Oh, dear. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:47 | |
Isn't that great? | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
It's wonderful. ..or bitter disappointment. | 0:00:49 | 0:00:51 | |
I can't cope with this roller-coaster. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
What a nightmare. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:55 | |
In this episode, a first for Fake Or Fortune, | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
we're going to investigate three paintings, | 0:01:01 | 0:01:03 | |
each one a bewitching portrait with a mystery behind it. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
I'd just like to know who painted it. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
Can we find answers to the questions that have obsessed their owners? | 0:01:11 | 0:01:16 | |
Who is it? Somebody's daughter, and we want to know. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:19 | |
We'd love to know. It's a journey that takes us | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
from the south coast of England to the east coast of America, | 0:01:22 | 0:01:26 | |
and plunges us into the dark days of the Second World War. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:30 | |
That's a time when fakers and criminals were very busy. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:35 | |
It's an art world whodunnit with three key suspects. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:39 | |
We could be talking about either a real Willem de Kooning, or a really good old fake. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:45 | |
A very good fake. But as we unlock long-held secrets and carry out | 0:01:45 | 0:01:49 | |
in-depth scientific research, how many stories will have a happy ending? | 0:01:49 | 0:01:55 | |
If the people who sold it to you did not have the right to sell it... | 0:01:55 | 0:01:59 | |
..you don't own it. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:01 | |
Every year, we receive hundreds of requests for help from viewers, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
and out of all the pictures we receive, | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
nothing captures the imagination quite like a portrait. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
We're sorting the contenders from the pretenders with our specialist | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
researcher, Dr Bendor Grosvenor. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
This is one of the most copied pictures that we ever see. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:29 | |
So, a copy, or a lesser artist? | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
Not quite as dynamic as it should be. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
And we're going to choose three of the most promising to investigate further. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
We want to know who the subject of the painting is, | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
and who painted it. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:41 | |
Starting with this striking portrait of a child holding a ball. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
It's edgy, it's captivating. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:49 | |
I like its rather sort of abstract qualities, its strong blast of red. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
The owners are from Belgium. They are called Jan and Chris Starckx. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
And does the owner have any idea who it might be by? | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
The suggestion is that it's actually an original work by Willem de Kooning, | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
an early painting. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
Wow! Well, that would be something. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
Willem de Kooning, I think, one of the great names of 20th-century art, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
contemporary of Jackson Pollock. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:11 | |
His paintings sell for hundreds of millions. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:14 | |
As an early figurative work, this would be an extremely rare thing. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
I mean, there's just a handful of them known. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
We've got our first candidate, | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
a portrait of a child attributed to Willem de Kooning. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
As an early work, it could be worth over ?50,000. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:30 | |
Next up, a portrait that's been hand-delivered for examination. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
I really like this picture. It's by, or purports to be by, | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
a great German 19th-century artist called Adolph von Menzel, | 0:03:37 | 0:03:41 | |
who in the 19th century in Germany was big news. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
He is a fascinating figure, a sort of self-taught genius. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
I've got an e-mail here from the owner. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
It's from a chap called Lance Miller, who worked in advertising, | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
and actually, his e-mail reads like a brilliantly concise bit of | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
advertising copy. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
"My German grandfather bought what we all have known to be a Menzel just after the war. | 0:03:56 | 0:04:01 | |
"Documentation was lost in the annals of time. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:03 | |
"If not a Menzel, then who?" | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
You know, I really like this. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:07 | |
It's swift and certain in the handling. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
I like the characterisation. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:10 | |
It rather grabs you. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:12 | |
And if we can actually prove that this is by Menzel, | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
it's a picture that's also very valuable. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
We've got our second picture - | 0:04:17 | 0:04:19 | |
Portrait Of An Old Gentleman attributed to Adolph von Menzel. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
Another ?50,000 for this chap if it's genuine. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:28 | |
Just one more to find. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
Take a look at this one, which caught my eye, this rather charming young lady looking down at us | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
through the centuries. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:35 | |
She belongs to a retired couple, Jenny and Richard Williams, | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
who live down on the south coast, | 0:04:38 | 0:04:39 | |
and they think it could be by an artist called Mercier. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
I've always really liked Philippe Mercier, actually. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
He's one of those French artists who comes to Britain in the 18th century | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
and sort of brings a cultural infusion of French work. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
I've handled a number of Merciers in my time. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
He's an artist who is actually worth proving. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
He is represented in a number of art galleries and museums throughout Britain. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:59 | |
I think this has got a real chance. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
Our final contender - Portrait Of A Lady, attributed to Philippe Mercier. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:08 | |
Worth ?5,000-?10,000 if right. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
The challenge has been set - three mystery paintings: Portrait Of A Lady, | 0:05:11 | 0:05:17 | |
the Old Gentleman, and Portrait Of A Child, | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
believed to be by three important artists. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
Can we get to the truth? | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
It's a good three-horse race, then. I want to get going. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
We've contacted the owners of all three paintings to find out more about | 0:05:30 | 0:05:34 | |
their works, starting with two viewers in Belgium, Jan Starckx, | 0:05:34 | 0:05:38 | |
the retired head of youth services in the town of Turnhout, and his wife, Chris. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:44 | |
They want us to examine Portrait Of A Child, | 0:05:44 | 0:05:46 | |
a painting they bought online at the end of 2015, | 0:05:46 | 0:05:50 | |
so they've travelled to London to meet me in person. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
Jan, how nice to meet you. | 0:05:53 | 0:05:54 | |
Nice to meet you. Chris, very good to meet you as well. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
So, you've just brought this over on the train from Brussels? | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
Yes. Could they have discovered a lost work by one of the most celebrated | 0:05:59 | 0:06:04 | |
and valuable modern artists, Willem de Kooning? | 0:06:04 | 0:06:08 | |
So, this is a portrait of a child. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
Looks like a boy, | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
but it's not your normal sentimental type of painting of a young person of that date. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:17 | |
The way that it's all structured is so interesting. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:21 | |
It's quite angular. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:23 | |
It's quite tough. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
Look at the sharpness of the fringe of the child. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
I mean, could it... | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
Could it just be the beginnings of an artist who turns into one of the | 0:06:30 | 0:06:35 | |
great abstract painters? | 0:06:35 | 0:06:36 | |
De Kooning is best known as a leader of the abstract expressionist | 0:06:36 | 0:06:40 | |
movement that emerged in America after the war, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
renowned for his spontaneous approach and bold use of colour, | 0:06:43 | 0:06:47 | |
as seen in Interchange, reportedly sold in 2015 for $300 million. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:52 | |
He achieved his greatest success in America, | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
where he spent most of his life, | 0:06:57 | 0:06:58 | |
yet he was born in Rotterdam in 1904 and raised in Holland. | 0:06:58 | 0:07:02 | |
And in 1924, just before he emigrated to the USA, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:07 | |
he spent several months in the Belgian capital, Brussels. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
Could Jan's painting be a lost portrait of a child he encountered during | 0:07:11 | 0:07:15 | |
this little-known period of his early life? | 0:07:15 | 0:07:19 | |
One thing I did notice, though, is that it's signed. | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
It looks like Wim Kooning. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
Wim Kooning, yes. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
But not Willem de Kooning. No. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:27 | |
The signature is carved into the wet paint. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
It must have been done by the back of a brush or something with a point to it. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
That's rather key to me, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
because it would appear that the signature has been put on at the same | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
date that the picture was created. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:43 | |
And it looks like an old painting, | 0:07:43 | 0:07:45 | |
so we could be talking about either a real Willem de Kooning or a really good old fake. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:51 | |
Yes, a very good fake. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
How did you come by it? | 0:07:54 | 0:07:55 | |
Each evening, I spend my time scanning the internet, | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
looking for small artworks. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
I came across this and I was struck by the portrait in its totality, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:07 | |
so we decided to go to Brussels. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
We met the vendors. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:10 | |
They also sold a bike and a sewing machine and some other portraits. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
It could have been a bike, a sewing machine or a de Kooning. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
So, Chris, how much did you have to pay for it? | 0:08:17 | 0:08:19 | |
450 euros. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
And did you at that point ask where the owner may have got the picture from? | 0:08:22 | 0:08:26 | |
I asked him, and he told me it was from a friend of his, | 0:08:26 | 0:08:31 | |
and that it was his friend's father when he was eight. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:36 | |
And have you managed to confirm that? | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
No. If we could prove that this was by Willem de Kooning, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:44 | |
it would be a real achievement. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:46 | |
Now, it's not, of course, | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
a late work of the type that people spill blood for at auction | 0:08:49 | 0:08:54 | |
in America, but it is still a significant work. | 0:08:54 | 0:09:00 | |
So, there's a lot to fight for here. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
Fight for, yes. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:04 | |
If Jan and Chris' portrait is a genuine work by Willem de Kooning, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
it would be valuable in terms of art history as so little of his early | 0:09:10 | 0:09:15 | |
work survives. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
The only in-depth study of de Kooning's time in Europe was made by | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
historian Dr Judith Wolfe in 1996, and our specialist researcher, | 0:09:20 | 0:09:25 | |
Dr Bendor Grosvenor, is hoping it might contain vital evidence. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:30 | |
This dissertation gives us a fascinating insight into the short time that | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
de Kooning spent in Belgium, and it describes how, in 1924, | 0:09:33 | 0:09:38 | |
he went to Brussels with his friend and a fellow artist, | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
someone called Wimpy Klop. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
Who am I to make a comment about someone's unusual name? | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
But apparently, they work for a decorating firm called van Genechten, | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
and what's really good for us is that when he was working for the van Genechtens, | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
de Kooning left a number of works. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
Some of these were signed Wim Kooning. | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
That's the same signature we find on Jan's picture. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
The dissertation also reveals that de Kooning also painted one portrait | 0:10:04 | 0:10:09 | |
in oil during his time in Brussels. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:12 | |
It depicts the young niece of a member of the van Genechten family, | 0:10:12 | 0:10:16 | |
and it's known as Portrait Of Renee. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
By a stroke of luck, that Portrait Of Renee actually came up for sale at auction recently. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:22 | |
It was sold at Christie's in New York in 2014 and it made | 0:10:22 | 0:10:27 | |
$50,000. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
It was actually seeing this picture online that prompted Jan to buy his | 0:10:29 | 0:10:33 | |
picture, and I've got to say, it does bear a striking resemblance to his painting. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:37 | |
So, this is a fully accepted, | 0:10:37 | 0:10:39 | |
published work by de Kooning from the same period as Jan and Chris' picture. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
It's absolutely crucial in terms of helping to authenticate our picture. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
And I think the question is, where is it now? | 0:10:46 | 0:10:50 | |
While Bendor continues his research, | 0:10:52 | 0:10:54 | |
I'm heading to Eastbourne on the south coast of England to begin my | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
investigation into Portrait Of A Lady, believed to be by Philippe Mercier, | 0:10:57 | 0:11:02 | |
an 18th-century artist who specialised in painting high society families. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:07 | |
Born in Berlin in 1689 to French Huguenot parents, | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
Philippe Mercier made his name in England, | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
where he became a court painter to the Prince and Princess of Wales in the 1720s. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:20 | |
His pictures were dubbed "fancies" for the way | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
they heightened scenes of everyday life with imaginative touches. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:30 | |
Mercier left London after he fell out of favour, | 0:11:30 | 0:11:33 | |
and settled in York in 1740, | 0:11:33 | 0:11:36 | |
where he continued painting portraits of the local gentry. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:38 | |
Could one of his handsome portraits now be hanging in the living room of | 0:11:40 | 0:11:44 | |
retired salesman Richard Williams and his wife, Jenny? | 0:11:44 | 0:11:47 | |
This is a beautiful young woman gazing down on us. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
Where did you acquire her? | 0:11:51 | 0:11:52 | |
I went to an auction in '72, '73. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:58 | |
And do you mind me asking how much you paid for her? | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
?50. When Jen said she spent ?50 on a painting... | 0:12:00 | 0:12:05 | |
"How much? ?50?" | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
But as soon as I saw it, I thought... | 0:12:07 | 0:12:09 | |
I could see the attraction. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:12 | |
It just keeps on looking at you all the time, not scarily, | 0:12:12 | 0:12:17 | |
but she's a person in the room. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:19 | |
And years later, we adopted a little girl. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
As she grew, she looked remarkably like her. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:28 | |
Did you find out anything about her? | 0:12:28 | 0:12:29 | |
What we decided to do is, | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
take a picture and send it to the National Portrait Gallery. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:34 | |
And they came back to us and said, | 0:12:34 | 0:12:36 | |
we think it's by someone called Philippe Mercier. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
And judging by the style of the dress, it's probably about 1730-40. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:44 | |
He sent a copy of the picture to John Ingamells, who is an expert in York. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:52 | |
And he came down and looked at it, did he? | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
Yeah, he came, yeah. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
And he had this great big lamp with him... | 0:12:56 | 0:12:58 | |
We're familiar with those. Philip's got one of those. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:01 | |
He shone it up the picture. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:05 | |
What did he find? He found a signature, PH Mercier, fecit, 1742. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:13 | |
So, Philippe Mercier, fecit - made it, in Latin. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:16 | |
And he, he said, oh, yes, it says it there. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
But we can't see it. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:20 | |
We've looked and looked and looked, but we can't see it. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
When was this? This was probably '74, '75. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
We don't know whether he's... | 0:13:28 | 0:13:29 | |
..put any documents or anything like that. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:33 | |
We didn't get anything. | 0:13:33 | 0:13:34 | |
You didn't get anything in writing? No. And you've not heard from him? | 0:13:34 | 0:13:37 | |
No, not heard from him since. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:40 | |
Richard and Jenny's anecdotal evidence isn't enough for the art market. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:44 | |
Can we turn up anything more substantial? | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
So what would you like to know? How can we help you? Who is it? | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
It's just, it's somebody, not just a painting. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
It's somebody's daughter, and we want to know. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
Love to know. So, you'd like to know, is it definitely by this artist, Philippe Mercier? | 0:13:56 | 0:14:00 | |
Yes, we would. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:02 | |
And who is she? | 0:14:02 | 0:14:03 | |
If we are going to help Richard and Jenny solve the mystery of the | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
Portrait Of A Lady, we'll need to find out if John Ingamells, | 0:14:09 | 0:14:13 | |
the art expert who saw the painting in the 1970s, kept any records. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:18 | |
Ingamells died in 2013, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
but Bendor has come to the library of the Courtauld Institute in London to look | 0:14:20 | 0:14:24 | |
through his papers in search of evidence. | 0:14:24 | 0:14:27 | |
I've got here a copy of Ingamells' catalogue of Mercier pictures, | 0:14:27 | 0:14:32 | |
so it contains everything that Ingamells thought was definitely by Mercier. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | |
And there is indeed an entry which sounds very like the Williams' painting. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:39 | |
It describes a half-length young lady who is facing to the left, | 0:14:39 | 0:14:43 | |
in a blue dress with a yellow wrap within a painted oval. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:47 | |
And it says, signed and dated Philippe Mercier, fecit 1742. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
But unfortunately, the catalogue is not illustrated, | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
and the ownership information just says private collection, | 0:14:56 | 0:14:58 | |
so we can't be absolutely sure that Ingamells is referring to our picture here. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:04 | |
The library also holds several boxes of loose photographs of | 0:15:06 | 0:15:09 | |
Mercier's paintings and a guide to an exhibition that may help us narrow | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
the search for our mystery young lady. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:15 | |
When you're looking into a portrait like this, you always want to try and identify the sitter, | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
because it makes the picture more interesting and also more valuable. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
If the Williams' painting is indeed signed and dated 1742, | 0:15:26 | 0:15:30 | |
then that means it was painted while Mercier was working in York, | 0:15:30 | 0:15:33 | |
where he was based from 1739 to 1751. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:37 | |
And I've got here a list of some of the important families that | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
Mercier was working for. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:42 | |
They include the Irwins of Temple Newsome, | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
the Rockinghams of Wentworth Woodhouse, and the Worsleys of Hovingham. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:50 | |
In fact, I've got a photograph here of one of those Worsley portraits, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
and in the oval surround and the date, | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
it matches exactly the Williams' painting. | 0:15:56 | 0:16:00 | |
So, could it be that the Williams' sitter is actually a member of one of these families? | 0:16:00 | 0:16:05 | |
Finding a description of a painting that seems to match our Portrait Of A Lady | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
is encouraging, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
but it's vital that we prove that the portrait was indeed signed and dated | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
by the artist, Philippe Mercier. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
I've arranged for Simon Gillespie, a specialist art conservator, | 0:16:17 | 0:16:20 | |
to examine the picture in his London studio. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
And owners Richard and Jenny Williams are joining us for a closer look. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
Let's talk about the condition for a moment, because she looks as if she's hung in a smoky pub. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:32 | |
When we bought it, we hung it on the wall. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:35 | |
We were looking at it and looking at it, and we thought, | 0:16:35 | 0:16:37 | |
this deserves to be restored. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
And we told a friend of ours, who said, "Don't bother with restoration, I'll do it for you. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:45 | |
"There's nothing to this restoration." | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
She did, honestly. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:50 | |
So, she took it away, brought it back, and she was pleased with it, | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
but it's obviously not done it any good. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
I say she brought it back - she brought most of it back. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
The rest was in the sink, I think. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
It's got, you know, a lot of cracking on the surface, | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
and then there is this rather unfortunate hole here. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
Did this come with the painting? | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
No. Somebody borrowed it for an art talk, and it came back like that. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:18 | |
These days, we can repair this sort of thing quite easily. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
But in terms of the signature, it makes it all the more important, | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
I think, since we're not quite there, to prove it. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
Simon, you've had your UV light over this painting. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:32 | |
I put all sorts of different lights on it. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:33 | |
At the moment, it's very difficult to see, because it is very dirty, | 0:17:33 | 0:17:38 | |
and he signs in dark black paint. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:41 | |
It's not very helpful, is it? Not very helpful at all, no. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
We've got a replica signature here of how he signs. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:49 | |
So, he signs really quite large. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
Simon's hoping that the portrait might reveal its secrets | 0:17:53 | 0:17:56 | |
if he applies a light wash of solvent to the area where he thinks the signature should be. | 0:17:56 | 0:18:01 | |
Will that all-important name, Philippe Mercier, magically reappear? | 0:18:04 | 0:18:09 | |
So this allows us to see. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:18 | |
It's a little bit like wetting a pebble on the beach so you can see the colours come alive | 0:18:18 | 0:18:23 | |
and actually it allows one to see through the dirty varnish. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
Very obvious now. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
Philippe Mercier fecit. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
And then this funny little inscription down here. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
Little black numbers and letters. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:36 | |
Great. So we're getting closer to the mystery woman... | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
Yes. In your sitting room. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
Yes. After all these years. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:42 | |
And the great thing is, there's clearly a signature there. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:44 | |
Yes. Which looks like a Philippe Mercier signature so it's looking | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
increasingly like a genuine look. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
Ah, wonderful. Yeah. Love it. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
Finding the signature is a major breakthrough. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
But Simon is hoping that photographs taken under infrared and ultra-violet | 0:18:56 | 0:19:00 | |
light might also reveal the date it was painted, | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
which could then lead us to the identity of the sitter. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
Back in Philip's gallery, | 0:19:08 | 0:19:09 | |
we've all gathered together to take stock of the latest developments. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:13 | |
Let's talk about the Portrait Of A Young Lady to begin with. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
Have we heard anything back from Simon Gillespie? | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
They've just sent us this enhanced infrared photograph of the signature | 0:19:18 | 0:19:22 | |
and I think it's quite encouraging. | 0:19:22 | 0:19:23 | |
It says, PH Mercier | 0:19:23 | 0:19:24 | |
and then we can zoom in on the date, which says 1744. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:31 | |
Hang on, cos that's different to the date that the owners, Rich and Jenny, | 0:19:31 | 0:19:34 | |
were told by the late John Ingamells. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:36 | |
He told me it was 1742. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:39 | |
I don't think we need to get too hung up on that. | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
You can see how it might have happened, easy mistake, dirty picture, | 0:19:41 | 0:19:44 | |
blurry signature, very easy to misread. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
I think it would be quite good just to clean it a bit more. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
Just freshen it up so we can see what we're dealing with. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
In view, particularly of that date issue, | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
it would be worth getting another expert opinion on it. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
With Portrait Of A Lady heading for a makeover, | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
we're shifting our focus to our other two paintings, | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
starting with Portrait Of A Child, believed to be by Willem de Kooning. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:10 | |
I've been having a look at the label that's on the back of the de Kooning, which relates to a company | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
called Mommen in Brussels and they were making artist supplies. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
Here, in fact, is one of the brochures from 1921. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
So, in terms of the time period when we want de Kooning to have painted | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
this in Belgium, we're right in the right zone. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
It says Maison Mommen, fabrique des couleurs, tolies, panneaux et vernis. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:32 | |
So, makers of paints, canvases, | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
panels and varnish so they did the whole kit and caboodle. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:38 | |
I guess the question is, did they supply Willem de Kooning? | 0:20:38 | 0:20:40 | |
Do you know, I'm getting really excited about the research prospects | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
for this picture because we've come across another image done by de Kooning | 0:20:43 | 0:20:47 | |
and it is unquestionably very close to Jan and Chris'. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:52 | |
But if we can actually put the two together, put them side by side, | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
it could be transformative in getting an insight into this picture. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
The question is, though, can we get the owners to agree? | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
We've got to go via an auction house and I know full well that that can | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
be really tricky. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:07 | |
For now, we'll have to wait for further information, | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
which leaves us with our final painting - | 0:21:10 | 0:21:12 | |
the formidable looking old gentleman - attributed to German artist, Adolph von Menzel. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:16 | |
We've been comparing the initials in the bottom corner | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
with those on other known works and there are encouraging similarities. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:25 | |
I think we should take a really close look at those initials. | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
If we can prove that they were put on at the same date as the picture, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
and the picture has to be 19th century, it just looks it, | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
it could be a really significant advance in trying to prove the Menzel attribution. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
I want to talk to the owner as well, | 0:21:39 | 0:21:41 | |
this Lance Miller who sent us the e-mail. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
I want to find out more about how his grandfather did come to acquire | 0:21:43 | 0:21:47 | |
a painting by one of Germany's most revered artists in the trauma of the | 0:21:47 | 0:21:51 | |
years straight after the Second World War. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
I've arranged to meet owner Lance Miller, | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
managing director of a marketing firm, | 0:21:58 | 0:22:00 | |
to find out more about the intriguing painting that belonged to his German | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
grandfather, Erik von Rinckwitz. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:06 | |
So tell us how this painting came into your family? | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
It came from my mother. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
She's had it all her life in the family, | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
we call it the Old General and her father, Erik von Rinckwitz, who lived in Bad Honnef am Rhein, | 0:22:13 | 0:22:20 | |
bought it, we think, in about 1947. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
We've got photo albums around us. Have you got a picture of him? | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
Yeah, he's in here. I mean, actually, I've got his wedding photograph, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
which is very old and Edwardian. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:30 | |
There he is with my grandmother. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
My grandmother was English. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
His name, Rinckwitz, came from Leipzig, I believe. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
So he's Prussian. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
So was he a collector of art and would he have had the means | 0:22:39 | 0:22:42 | |
to buy a painting by someone as important as von Menzel? | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
Oh, I think he definitely had the means. They were quite wealthy. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
A picture by Adolph von Menzel would have been quite a trophy for any collector. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:54 | |
Born in 1815, | 0:22:55 | 0:22:56 | |
Menzel was a precocious talent who exhibited his first drawing at the age of 12. | 0:22:56 | 0:23:01 | |
Renowned for his attention to detail | 0:23:04 | 0:23:06 | |
and ability to evoke Germany's 18th-century past. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
Even his rough sketches are highly prized, | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
with a study for suits of armour selling for almost ?3 million in 2015. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:19 | |
Could the Old General be a sketch like this? | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
There is a letter that we found that my grandfather wrote to my mother and my father. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:29 | |
He said, "I'm just about to buy two very important paintings." | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
And when was this written? This is '47, so he died in '48. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:38 | |
We'll need to scour any records relating to Lance's grandfather - | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
a prominent industrialist - for clues about the origins of the painting. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:46 | |
But it won't be easy. Among the family photos are stark reminders | 0:23:46 | 0:23:50 | |
of the chaos and upheaval of the Second World War. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
The fact that your grandfather may have acquired this painting around | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
1947, so after the Second World War, | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
does ring some alarm bells because obviously so much art in Germany had | 0:23:59 | 0:24:03 | |
been stolen from Jewish families, appropriated by the Nazis. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:08 | |
It's a very dark time. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:09 | |
I did some homework and I've written to the Art Loss Register, | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
I showed them a picture of the painting and they said... | 0:24:12 | 0:24:14 | |
So the Art Loss Register is where paintings that were stolen from many | 0:24:14 | 0:24:18 | |
Jewish families have been, sort of, catalogued? | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
Yep, and they wrote back to me and said there's no trace, | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
this is definitely your painting, it's in your family. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:26 | |
Has anyone ever examined this painting? Have you asked anyone to give an opinion on it? | 0:24:26 | 0:24:29 | |
The National Gallery had an exhibition of Menzel and an expert said, | 0:24:29 | 0:24:34 | |
"This looks good. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
"But you'll have to take it to Germany because that's where all the big Menzel experts are, there." | 0:24:36 | 0:24:41 | |
And if it does turn out to be a von Menzel, will you continue passing it down the family or will you look at | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
it rather differently? | 0:24:46 | 0:24:47 | |
I think I would like to. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:48 | |
I think they would turn round to me and say, "Sell it, Dad, and get the money." | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
But, hey, I will educate them, I will educate them. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
What, this is your family heritage? Well, yeah, absolutely in a way and, you know, | 0:24:56 | 0:25:00 | |
I'd just like to know who painted it. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:02 | |
It's very interesting talking to Lance and hearing about | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
his family's links to that painting, | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
the Anglo-German connections in his family. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:14 | |
Clearly to investigate if this is a Menzel, | 0:25:14 | 0:25:17 | |
we're going to have to dig deep | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
into one of the darkest periods in German history. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
That's a time when fakers and criminals were very busy. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
Our best hope of finding answers to Lance's questions lies in Germany. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:36 | |
So Bendor has travelled to Berlin in search of evidence. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
He's arranged to meet Lance at the city's old National Gallery, | 0:25:40 | 0:25:44 | |
where many of Menzel's most important works are on display. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
Menzel was fascinated by the life of Frederick the Great, | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
who ruled Prussia in the 18th century | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
and evoked his military campaigns in epic oil paintings. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:59 | |
Could Lance's picture be a sketch for one of these historical figures | 0:25:59 | 0:26:03 | |
in the paintings? | 0:26:03 | 0:26:04 | |
These are two pictures from Menzel's Frederick II series. Mm-hm. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:09 | |
In the 1850s, he was slightly obsessed with Frederick II | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
and he did a whole series of large pictures looking back | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
to events in the mid-18th century. Right. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:18 | |
This one is Frederick II meeting the Emperor, Joseph II, in 1769. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:23 | |
And I think with your picture, we've got, have we not, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
a picture that's obviously painted in the 19th century | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
but looking back to the 18th century | 0:26:28 | 0:26:30 | |
in terms of the costume and the hair and everything. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
Well, we call him the Old General, | 0:26:33 | 0:26:34 | |
so I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, | 0:26:34 | 0:26:36 | |
well, he could be in there somewhere. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:39 | |
It's the same sort of uniforms. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
This seems unfinished, this one, this huge painting. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
Yes, this is... I love unfinished paintings, but actually, | 0:26:43 | 0:26:47 | |
what's interesting about this one is it shows us a scene outdoors | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
and they're not in the formal court dress, so with your picture, | 0:26:50 | 0:26:54 | |
we've got someone who's not in the wig. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
The hair is all blown back so he looks quite casual. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
Yes, I wonder that it's someone | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
from a more military outdoors type setting. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
You can imagine him being dropped into one of these scenes, can't you? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:07 | |
Yeah, absolutely. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:08 | |
The similarities between the Old General | 0:27:09 | 0:27:11 | |
and some of Menzel's characters would seem to support | 0:27:11 | 0:27:14 | |
our working theory that Lance's picture could be a sketch | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
for a more elaborate work. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:19 | |
Unless that's exactly what a forger wants us to believe. | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
Can we be sure Lance's portrait was painted in the mid-19th century | 0:27:27 | 0:27:32 | |
when Menzel was working on precisely this kind of subject? | 0:27:32 | 0:27:34 | |
I've arranged to meet Aviva Burnstock, | 0:27:37 | 0:27:39 | |
head conservator at the Courtauld Institute in London. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:43 | |
She's been examining the painting under the microscope | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
and under infrared lights and is ready to share her findings with us. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:49 | |
We think that von Menzel painted this portrait | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
in the mid to late 19th century. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:52 | |
Now, what have you found out about the pigments? | 0:27:52 | 0:27:54 | |
Do they come from that time? | 0:27:54 | 0:27:56 | |
There's quite a limited palette, but all the pigments, | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
which include zinc and lead white and vermillion, | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
are all available from the middle of the 19th century | 0:28:02 | 0:28:06 | |
through to the 20th century so, yes, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:08 | |
I would say that the pigments indicate that date period. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
What about the signature? What can you tell us about that? | 0:28:11 | 0:28:14 | |
Was that done at the same time as the portrait? | 0:28:14 | 0:28:17 | |
I think the black signature was put on top of the paint | 0:28:17 | 0:28:19 | |
when it was pretty much dry, | 0:28:19 | 0:28:21 | |
but there's a little flick of the A which drags into the wet paint, | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
and you can see it's blended in so it was applied just as the paint | 0:28:24 | 0:28:28 | |
was drying. So it couldn't be that someone had done this painting | 0:28:28 | 0:28:30 | |
and then years later put a fake signature on it? | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
It seems very unlikely. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:34 | |
Aviva is confident that the Old General was signed by the artist who | 0:28:35 | 0:28:39 | |
painted it and it could have been done during Menzel's lifetime. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:43 | |
But is there a risk that it's just a good quality copy | 0:28:43 | 0:28:47 | |
of a lost original work? | 0:28:47 | 0:28:49 | |
In terms of it being a copy or a genuine work, | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
what can you tell us about the way that it's been painted | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
that would suggest one way or the other? | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
A copy would normally be controlled and meticulously worked out. | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
Maybe there would be a detailed drawing underneath | 0:29:00 | 0:29:02 | |
and there isn't any detailed drawing in this case, | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
just a few strokes of something that looks like pencil or graphite. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
And secondly, you would expect the brushstrokes to be quite small and | 0:29:08 | 0:29:13 | |
careful, whereas... Very controlled. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:14 | |
Very controlled, but this is actually very freely painted. | 0:29:14 | 0:29:18 | |
It's clear that it's been done very quickly and with somebody who knows | 0:29:18 | 0:29:21 | |
how to apply paint directly to get the effects he wants. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
Aviva's appraisal is encouraging, | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
but it will fall to experts in Germany to determine whether Lance's | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
picture bears the hallmarks of Adolph von Menzel. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:33 | |
We're preparing a series of high resolution photographs | 0:29:36 | 0:29:39 | |
for them to examine and to give their first impressions. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:42 | |
While we wait for news from Germany, | 0:29:48 | 0:29:50 | |
there's an exciting development with our Portrait Of A Child, | 0:29:50 | 0:29:54 | |
believed to be by Willem de Kooning. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:56 | |
We've finally tracked down the early de Kooning portrait that sold in | 0:29:56 | 0:30:00 | |
2014, but it's in Miami, Florida. | 0:30:00 | 0:30:03 | |
I'm accompanying owners Jan and Chris Starckx on a pilgrimage | 0:30:03 | 0:30:07 | |
to see the painting that might hold the key | 0:30:07 | 0:30:10 | |
to proving theirs is the genuine article. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:13 | |
We've managed to persuade the owner of the painting, | 0:30:14 | 0:30:16 | |
art historian Mary Frank, to let us examine her picture, | 0:30:16 | 0:30:20 | |
Portrait Of Renee, painted by de Kooning in Brussels in 1924. | 0:30:20 | 0:30:25 | |
We've arranged to meet her at a conservation studio | 0:30:25 | 0:30:28 | |
and we've brought Jan and Chris's portrait with us | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
to see how it compares to a genuine early work | 0:30:31 | 0:30:35 | |
by Willem de Kooning. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:36 | |
Mary, hello, very nice to see you. | 0:30:36 | 0:30:38 | |
Very nice to meet you. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:39 | |
Jan. Hello. And Chris. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:42 | |
Nice to meet you, Chris. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:43 | |
And this is the picture we've crossed the Atlantic to see. | 0:30:43 | 0:30:46 | |
How does it look in the flesh? | 0:30:46 | 0:30:48 | |
I've seen it already a thousand times on a picture, | 0:30:48 | 0:30:51 | |
but to see it in real, | 0:30:51 | 0:30:52 | |
it's very exciting. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:53 | |
Well, Mary, as you know, | 0:30:53 | 0:30:55 | |
we've come over here to see your painting | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
and we've got to find out, how did it come into your life | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
and how do you know that it's actually by de Kooning? | 0:31:00 | 0:31:03 | |
Well, I spotted it at Christie's in New York in 2014 | 0:31:03 | 0:31:07 | |
and she immediately caught my eye. | 0:31:07 | 0:31:09 | |
De Kooning was a great draughtsman and looking at the way | 0:31:09 | 0:31:13 | |
that the hands are drawn and outlined, | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
they're outlined in charcoal and then painted in | 0:31:16 | 0:31:19 | |
and this is something that de Kooning did throughout his career. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:22 | |
So, stylistically, you're very comfortable, | 0:31:22 | 0:31:24 | |
but presumably you had provenance because isn't this in the literature? | 0:31:24 | 0:31:27 | |
Well, it came directly from the van Genechten family, | 0:31:27 | 0:31:30 | |
painted in Belgium. | 0:31:30 | 0:31:31 | |
At the same time that yours might have been. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:34 | |
So this is a solid copper-bottomed de Kooning | 0:31:34 | 0:31:37 | |
of the sort of date that we think yours might have been painted. Yes. | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
This is the moment Jan and Chris have been waiting for. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:45 | |
How does their picture look when placed side by side | 0:31:45 | 0:31:49 | |
with a genuine work? | 0:31:49 | 0:31:51 | |
Staggering. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:53 | |
I think... I'm more sure now I see the other painting | 0:31:53 | 0:31:56 | |
than I was before, because looking on a picture | 0:31:56 | 0:31:59 | |
is different because you don't see the depth of the paint. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:03 | |
It's lovely to see them together. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
It's what we were waiting for for weeks now. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
At a glance, it's so clear to me that these appear to be | 0:32:08 | 0:32:12 | |
by the same artist. | 0:32:12 | 0:32:13 | |
The line of the hair in both cases and the sort of design quality | 0:32:13 | 0:32:18 | |
of the shapes, they're like mannequins and, actually, | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
there's also another aspect of this - it's the expressions. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:25 | |
Both of them have got slightly unsettling, aloof, | 0:32:25 | 0:32:28 | |
rather distant feelings about them. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
There's a photograph of Renee as a child and she has the same | 0:32:31 | 0:32:38 | |
rather obstinate, determined look on her face in the photograph. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:41 | |
It's very interesting. | 0:32:41 | 0:32:43 | |
And the big distinction that one can immediately notice is that yours, | 0:32:43 | 0:32:47 | |
Jan and Chris, is signed and yours isn't. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:50 | |
My theory on that as an art historian | 0:32:50 | 0:32:53 | |
is that this painting was made for the van Genechten family as a gift. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:58 | |
He was staying with them, | 0:32:58 | 0:33:00 | |
little Renee was in the house so he painted her as a thank you. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:04 | |
Perhaps someone saw this painting and commissioned him | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
to do a painting of their child, | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
in which case there's a material value associated with it | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
and he would sign it. It's more logic that he would sign it, yes. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:17 | |
Shall we have a look at the backs to see if there's any further clues? | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
Yes. OK. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:21 | |
Oh, my goodness! | 0:33:27 | 0:33:29 | |
The same label! | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
The same artist's supplier! | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
It's Mommen's, from Brussels. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:35 | |
Same design of label. | 0:33:35 | 0:33:36 | |
This looks a slightly lighter colour. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:39 | |
That shows that whoever painted this picture used the same supplier, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:44 | |
the same materials and we know de Kooning used one lot | 0:33:44 | 0:33:48 | |
so why not de Kooning the other? | 0:33:48 | 0:33:50 | |
Even with evidence mounting in favour of Jan and Chris's painting, | 0:33:53 | 0:33:57 | |
convincing the art world that it's a genuine work by Willem de Kooning | 0:33:57 | 0:34:02 | |
is fraught with difficulty. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:04 | |
The American modern art market | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
is still reeling from the forgery scandal | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
that saw art dealer Glafira Rosales plead guilty in 2013 to her part in | 0:34:08 | 0:34:15 | |
the sale of fakes, said to be by artists such as Mark Rothko, | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
Organisations that might once have authenticated | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
newly discovered works of art have shut up shop | 0:34:24 | 0:34:28 | |
so I've arranged to meet Collette Loll, | 0:34:28 | 0:34:30 | |
an art detective who specialises in the authentication of modern art, | 0:34:30 | 0:34:35 | |
to see where Jan and Chris stand. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:37 | |
So, what we've discovered so far I think is really encouraging. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:41 | |
Now, normally what we would do is we would package up this information | 0:34:41 | 0:34:45 | |
and we would present it to a catalogue raisonne writer, | 0:34:45 | 0:34:47 | |
to a foundation, but, in this instance, | 0:34:47 | 0:34:49 | |
I think we've got a problem, have we not? | 0:34:49 | 0:34:51 | |
The de Kooning Foundation no longer render an opinion | 0:34:51 | 0:34:55 | |
about the authentification of a given work of art. | 0:34:55 | 0:34:58 | |
Unfortunately, in this litigious environment in the United States, | 0:34:58 | 0:35:01 | |
what worries people is being sued. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:03 | |
You can be sued if you say something is right | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
and it turns out to be wrong, and you can be sued if you say | 0:35:05 | 0:35:07 | |
it's wrong and it turns out to be right. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:09 | |
It's really a no-win situation for many experts | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
and many just don't want to take the risk of giving an opinion publicly. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:15 | |
There must be some other way round this because the evidence | 0:35:15 | 0:35:19 | |
as it's mounting, I think, is extremely convincing. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:21 | |
Right. I find it convincing. I'm in the art world. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:24 | |
So, is there some other way round this if the bodies themselves | 0:35:24 | 0:35:28 | |
are fearful of being sued? | 0:35:28 | 0:35:30 | |
I'm afraid stylistically it could be perfect, | 0:35:30 | 0:35:34 | |
but you don't have a body or... | 0:35:34 | 0:35:38 | |
That says it is. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:40 | |
Right. You need an authoritative body to say, | 0:35:40 | 0:35:43 | |
"This is or is not," | 0:35:43 | 0:35:44 | |
and when you don't have the body, like a foundation, | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
then you need one expert that's going to step up and say, | 0:35:47 | 0:35:50 | |
"I will take the risk of rendering an opinion," | 0:35:50 | 0:35:53 | |
and if you don't have that, then you really are handcuffed | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
and this picture might just be held hostage. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:01 | |
We call it painting purgatory. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:03 | |
Sometimes these pictures can sit in purgatory, in limbo, | 0:36:03 | 0:36:06 | |
for decades before the market finally accepts them as authentic. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:10 | |
Collette's sobering assessment of how difficult it might be | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
for Jan and Chris to have their painting accepted as a genuine work | 0:36:20 | 0:36:24 | |
has come as a bit of a blow after the excitement of comparing it | 0:36:24 | 0:36:28 | |
to Portrait Of Renee, | 0:36:28 | 0:36:30 | |
so I'm eager to discuss their next steps before they return to Europe. | 0:36:30 | 0:36:35 | |
We really have made some wonderful progress in Miami. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:38 | |
I mean, we've proved your picture stylistically | 0:36:38 | 0:36:42 | |
looks pretty well exactly like another known painting by de Kooning | 0:36:42 | 0:36:46 | |
from that date, but, as you've heard, | 0:36:46 | 0:36:48 | |
the art world can be a cynical and political place. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:51 | |
How do you feel about that? In the beginning, | 0:36:51 | 0:36:53 | |
I had this gut feeling that this was a de Kooning | 0:36:53 | 0:36:56 | |
and it's still not proved, but it's going in a good direction, I think. | 0:36:56 | 0:37:00 | |
And what difference would it make to you if we could prove it? | 0:37:00 | 0:37:04 | |
If it's proved to be a genuine Willem de Kooning, | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
I think we have found a very interesting work, | 0:37:08 | 0:37:13 | |
which could be a part of the puzzle in his very young life | 0:37:13 | 0:37:19 | |
and his work in Brussels. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:21 | |
The question is now can we find out more provenance? | 0:37:21 | 0:37:24 | |
Can we take that picture back to the day it was painted? | 0:37:24 | 0:37:28 | |
We hope to ask the vendor again to give us some information. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:34 | |
He is the guy who found it. | 0:37:34 | 0:37:36 | |
While Jan and Chris return to Belgium to continue their enquiries, | 0:37:42 | 0:37:46 | |
I want to take advantage of the unique opportunity we have in Miami | 0:37:46 | 0:37:50 | |
for detailed scientific analysis. | 0:37:50 | 0:37:54 | |
Scientist Dr Bruce Kaiser and conservator Emily MacDonald-Korth | 0:37:54 | 0:37:58 | |
are using a portable X-radiograph gun to identify | 0:37:58 | 0:38:02 | |
the chemical elements within the oil paint. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:06 | |
First, they analyse Portrait Of Renee to precisely identify | 0:38:06 | 0:38:10 | |
the unique ingredients in each pigment that Willem de Kooning used. | 0:38:10 | 0:38:15 | |
The red dress worn by the young girl in Portrait Of Renee | 0:38:15 | 0:38:19 | |
contains a distinctive blend of vermillion, | 0:38:19 | 0:38:22 | |
so how does the robe in Jan and Chris's picture compare? | 0:38:22 | 0:38:25 | |
Next, we're going to do the red of his robe. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
I'm ready when you are. | 0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | |
Could there possibly be a matching pigment? | 0:38:32 | 0:38:35 | |
Ready. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:38 | |
And...away we go. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:40 | |
So you've analysed the elements of the real de Kooning picture | 0:38:40 | 0:38:44 | |
and now we're trying to establish | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
if it's shared in any way by our picture. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:48 | |
That's exactly what we're doing. | 0:38:48 | 0:38:51 | |
So, what we're seeing is the elemental pattern | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
and so it's going to show us | 0:38:54 | 0:38:56 | |
basically the identity of the elements present | 0:38:56 | 0:38:59 | |
in each of the pigments, | 0:38:59 | 0:39:00 | |
and it shows them very quickly, within 30 seconds. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:04 | |
And we'll see it on the graph. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:05 | |
You'll see it on the graph. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:06 | |
Vividly. As a matter of fact, | 0:39:06 | 0:39:08 | |
I've already looked and the two pigments match. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:10 | |
Two already? It's vermillion? | 0:39:12 | 0:39:13 | |
Yes. Wow! | 0:39:13 | 0:39:15 | |
Well, that's a heartening beginning. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:17 | |
Two of the elements match. | 0:39:17 | 0:39:19 | |
Yes. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
And the amount of vermillion he's using in the paint | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
would have been very expensive, which means that he had access | 0:39:24 | 0:39:27 | |
to enough vermillion to be able to mute it down | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
and not even use it for what it's known for, | 0:39:30 | 0:39:33 | |
which is its bright red saturation. | 0:39:33 | 0:39:35 | |
And what's really interesting, this is a little brighter red, | 0:39:35 | 0:39:39 | |
so the intensity of mercury is higher, and this is | 0:39:39 | 0:39:41 | |
a little muted and, indeed, this does look a little more orange. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:45 | |
So, this expensive trait can be found in both pictures. | 0:39:45 | 0:39:48 | |
It is definitely a correlation between the two. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:51 | |
A shared profile? | 0:39:51 | 0:39:52 | |
A shared profile and something that I would not have expected. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:56 | |
We'll have to wait for Bruce to process the full results, | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
but the discovery of an identical pigment in both paintings | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
is a thrilling development. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:05 | |
While Philip has been making good progress in Miami, | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
specialist conservator Simon Gillespie | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
has been busy working on the 18th-century | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
Portrait Of A Young Lady that we believe to be by Philippe Mercier. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:19 | |
The old layer of discoloured varnish has been removed, | 0:40:20 | 0:40:23 | |
that unsightly hole patched up | 0:40:23 | 0:40:25 | |
and the final touch-ups are being applied. | 0:40:25 | 0:40:28 | |
The picture will now be inspected by Dr Brian Allen, | 0:40:30 | 0:40:34 | |
a specialist in 18th-century portraiture. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:37 | |
Will he confirm that the painting is indeed the work of Philippe Mercier? | 0:40:37 | 0:40:41 | |
With Philip back from Miami, | 0:40:43 | 0:40:44 | |
we've invited owners Richard and Jenny Williams | 0:40:44 | 0:40:47 | |
to come to the gallery to hear the verdict. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:48 | |
Hi, Jenny and Richard, this is Philip. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:51 | |
How do you do? Very nice to meet you both. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:54 | |
Nice to meet you. So, here's the painting back from Simon Gillespie - | 0:40:54 | 0:40:58 | |
patched, repaired and a little cleaned as well. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:00 | |
I think she looks just perfect. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:02 | |
Do you remember this bit here? | 0:41:02 | 0:41:03 | |
Yes, the famous hole! | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
The hole? Yes! So, look, you can hardly see that now. No. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:09 | |
It's not only this bit that's changed. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
The date, if you remember, the signature of the date over here | 0:41:11 | 0:41:14 | |
that was so hard to see and still is quite hard to see, it's not 1742, | 0:41:14 | 0:41:18 | |
which is what you understand it to be. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:20 | |
It actually says 1744, | 0:41:20 | 0:41:22 | |
so you've got the signature of Philippe Mercier | 0:41:22 | 0:41:26 | |
and the date 1744. | 0:41:26 | 0:41:27 | |
So, we decided to engage the services | 0:41:29 | 0:41:31 | |
of a much-respected scholar in 18th and early 19th-century | 0:41:31 | 0:41:35 | |
British art, whose name is Brian Allen, | 0:41:35 | 0:41:37 | |
and I have here the letter of his response. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:39 | |
"I'm pleased to confirm that, in my opinion, | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
"the charming Portrait Of A Lady is indeed by Philippe Mercier." | 0:41:48 | 0:41:52 | |
Thanks! Great! | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
"As it happens, I edited John Ingamells' manuscript catalogue | 0:41:55 | 0:41:59 | |
"of Mercier's work for publication. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:02 | |
"I am completely confident that the portrait owned | 0:42:02 | 0:42:06 | |
"by Mr and Mrs Williams is listed here as number 123." | 0:42:06 | 0:42:10 | |
So, there you are. It is... | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
It is a Philippe Mercier. | 0:42:12 | 0:42:14 | |
It is indeed. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:15 | |
God bless him! | 0:42:15 | 0:42:17 | |
So, what do you think of your lovely young lady now? | 0:42:17 | 0:42:19 | |
I think she looks great. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:21 | |
I do, yeah. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:22 | |
So, we now know it is a Mercier. | 0:42:24 | 0:42:26 | |
Yes. We've now got the date. | 0:42:26 | 0:42:28 | |
Yes. So, the only question that remains... | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
Who is she? Who is she? | 0:42:31 | 0:42:33 | |
Well, we know that Philippe Mercier was up in Yorkshire | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
painting the landed gentry at the time. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:37 | |
Your painting was done in the 1740s | 0:42:37 | 0:42:39 | |
and we know that he painted Sir Thomas Watson-Wentworth | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
so we wondered could this be one of Thomas' daughters? | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
It couldn't be his oldest daughter, Anne. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:47 | |
She was too old in 1744. Yes. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
Could it be the next daughter in line, Mary? | 0:42:49 | 0:42:53 | |
If this is a portrait of Mary Watson-Wentworth, | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
how would it have ended up in Eastbourne? | 0:42:58 | 0:43:00 | |
One possible explanation lies with one of Mary's descendants, | 0:43:00 | 0:43:04 | |
who left Yorkshire in 1909 and moved to Dale Park, | 0:43:04 | 0:43:08 | |
50 miles from Eastbourne. | 0:43:08 | 0:43:10 | |
After the stock market crash of 1929, | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
the contents of the estate were sold off. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:15 | |
Maybe that is when it got dispersed into Eastbourne | 0:43:17 | 0:43:21 | |
and ended up, all these years later, in a local auction sale. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:24 | |
It sounds highly likely, actually. | 0:43:24 | 0:43:26 | |
It's only a theory, but it's our most likely theory at the moment. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
Just remind us what date that auction was. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:34 | |
It was, I think, about 1973. | 0:43:34 | 0:43:37 | |
Oh, so quite a long time ago. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:38 | |
And what did you pay for the painting then? ?50. ?50. | 0:43:38 | 0:43:41 | |
Yes. A king's ransom! | 0:43:41 | 0:43:44 | |
Absolutely. Well, that's a happy price to pay. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:47 | |
Yes. Now, the valuation that I'm going to give you now | 0:43:47 | 0:43:51 | |
is not a life-changer, I have to say. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:53 | |
This is not what the market is particularly keen on at the moment, | 0:43:53 | 0:43:57 | |
so I'm going to put a valuation of ?5,000 on it. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
Right, yes. But hang on - at least we've moved on from ?50. | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
Yes! That's true. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
She can hang with pride in your sitting room. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:09 | |
Yes, she will indeed. She will indeed, that's lovely. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:12 | |
The first of the three pictures we chose has been accepted as a genuine | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
work by Philippe Mercier, but what about Lance Miller's picture, | 0:44:20 | 0:44:25 | |
known as the Old General, | 0:44:25 | 0:44:26 | |
and believed to be by German artist Adolph von Menzel? | 0:44:26 | 0:44:29 | |
I've been trying to find out where Lance's grandfather | 0:44:31 | 0:44:35 | |
acquired the painting in 1947 and Lance thinks there might have been | 0:44:35 | 0:44:38 | |
a connection to a museum in Cologne called the Wallraf-Richartz Museum. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:42 | |
From what I can see, the museum was so badly damaged during the war, | 0:44:43 | 0:44:46 | |
very few records survive, frustratingly. | 0:44:46 | 0:44:50 | |
There are several records, though, | 0:44:50 | 0:44:51 | |
that reveal more about Lance's grandfather - | 0:44:51 | 0:44:54 | |
that he ran a factory which produced a product to deal with rust. | 0:44:54 | 0:44:58 | |
He was succeeded by his English wife Irene as CEO in 1946. | 0:44:58 | 0:45:03 | |
He was able to continue to run his factory during the war. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:07 | |
He had stayed on the right side of the political system. | 0:45:07 | 0:45:10 | |
He would have been subject to what was called | 0:45:10 | 0:45:12 | |
the denazification process after the war. | 0:45:12 | 0:45:14 | |
He would have had to give a statement of his conduct | 0:45:14 | 0:45:17 | |
during those war years to the Allies. | 0:45:17 | 0:45:19 | |
It could be fascinating, if in this case a little unsettling, | 0:45:20 | 0:45:24 | |
when you start to dig down into the history of a picture | 0:45:24 | 0:45:27 | |
and sometimes you can find out more about a previous owner | 0:45:27 | 0:45:30 | |
than the painting itself. | 0:45:30 | 0:45:31 | |
With our research throwing up more questions than answers, | 0:45:34 | 0:45:37 | |
back in Berlin, vendor and owner Lance have arranged | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
to meet Claude Keisch, | 0:45:40 | 0:45:42 | |
one of the world's leading experts on the work of Adolph von Menzel. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:46 | |
He's been studying photographs of the Old General and he's offered | 0:45:46 | 0:45:49 | |
to share his initial impressions of the painting. | 0:45:49 | 0:45:51 | |
Have you formed an opinion already or... | 0:45:53 | 0:45:57 | |
Ja. | 0:45:57 | 0:45:58 | |
I'm going to ask this with some trepidation, but, | 0:46:11 | 0:46:14 | |
in all your years of studying Menzel pictures, | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
have you come across any fakes? | 0:46:18 | 0:46:19 | |
That's probably not the answer we were looking for. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
Not really, but we have an answer, perhaps. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:47 | |
I don't know. Maybe the power of the painting when you see it | 0:46:47 | 0:46:49 | |
in the flesh, because photographs don't always deliver. | 0:46:49 | 0:46:52 | |
Naturally. Would you look at the painting in the flesh for us? | 0:46:52 | 0:46:56 | |
Ja, ja. That would be lovely. | 0:46:56 | 0:46:57 | |
Claude Keisch is reserving his final judgment | 0:46:59 | 0:47:02 | |
so our research continues, and we've made another | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
fascinating discovery about Lance's grandfather Eric Renkiewicz | 0:47:06 | 0:47:09 | |
that we felt we should share. | 0:47:09 | 0:47:11 | |
Our German researcher has located his denazification file | 0:47:12 | 0:47:17 | |
and it contains a sworn statement he made about his efforts | 0:47:17 | 0:47:20 | |
to save a Jewish employee, Richard Schrank, | 0:47:20 | 0:47:23 | |
from the clutches of the Gestapo. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:25 | |
Mr Schrank is the... | 0:47:25 | 0:47:28 | |
A Jewish employee. Jewish employee of his factory during the war, OK. | 0:47:28 | 0:47:34 | |
This rings bells. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:35 | |
Have you heard this name before? | 0:47:35 | 0:47:37 | |
Yeah, Herr Schrank was the foreman, | 0:47:37 | 0:47:40 | |
close family friends of my grandfather. | 0:47:40 | 0:47:43 | |
And I also have a translation here so you can have a look. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:46 | |
There's a particularly pertinent line here, | 0:47:46 | 0:47:49 | |
that he's saying how he had to put his own neck on the line | 0:47:49 | 0:47:52 | |
just to protect this employee of your family | 0:47:52 | 0:47:55 | |
who happened to be Jewish. | 0:47:55 | 0:47:56 | |
Your grandfather, it also says he had to give, as a sort of guarantee, | 0:47:56 | 0:48:01 | |
his entire fortune for the flawless behaviour | 0:48:01 | 0:48:04 | |
of the whole Schrank family. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:06 | |
So your grandfather actually did, by the look of it, | 0:48:06 | 0:48:10 | |
quite a serious amount on behalf of Mr Schrank and his family | 0:48:10 | 0:48:13 | |
and saved them from the Gestapo. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:16 | |
Well, forgive me, I know we're here to chase a painting, | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
but this is more meaningful to me. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:21 | |
Whoa, sorry... | 0:48:21 | 0:48:23 | |
Well, it does actually put it into perspective, doesn't it? | 0:48:24 | 0:48:27 | |
Whoa, sorry. That's all right. | 0:48:27 | 0:48:29 | |
These things... | 0:48:29 | 0:48:31 | |
Whoa, that just hit me. I don't know where that came from. | 0:48:31 | 0:48:33 | |
All his worldly goods? | 0:48:38 | 0:48:39 | |
Yep. To the protection of another man? | 0:48:39 | 0:48:42 | |
Yep. Isn't that amazing? | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
It's quite extraordinary how the trail of a painting, | 0:48:45 | 0:48:48 | |
a piece of canvas, | 0:48:48 | 0:48:50 | |
can lead you back into your own family's history like that. | 0:48:50 | 0:48:53 | |
This is remarkable because it shows about the man. | 0:48:53 | 0:48:56 | |
This is real life to me. | 0:48:56 | 0:48:57 | |
Whilst I love the painting and will keep it for a very long time, | 0:48:57 | 0:49:01 | |
this is a lot more meaningful to me, I have to say. | 0:49:01 | 0:49:04 | |
Yes. A lot more. | 0:49:04 | 0:49:06 | |
Although our research has revealed much about Eric Renkiewicz, | 0:49:06 | 0:49:09 | |
the grandfather Lance never knew, | 0:49:09 | 0:49:12 | |
we haven't turned up anything about the origins of the painting, | 0:49:12 | 0:49:15 | |
and, as we feared, there may be a simple explanation. | 0:49:15 | 0:49:18 | |
After examining the Old General in person, | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
Claude Keisch has contacted us to say that his initial suspicions | 0:49:23 | 0:49:27 | |
have been confirmed and the painting is a very clever forgery, | 0:49:27 | 0:49:32 | |
possibly created in the 1920s or '30s. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:35 | |
The signature, he feels, is a particular giveaway. | 0:49:35 | 0:49:38 | |
The top of the A is just not round enough to be Menzel's hand. | 0:49:38 | 0:49:42 | |
Back in Philippe's gallery, | 0:49:44 | 0:49:45 | |
we've all gathered together to take stock of developments. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:48 | |
I had high hopes for the General, | 0:49:48 | 0:49:50 | |
but it looks as though he may have been deceiving us. | 0:49:50 | 0:49:53 | |
I know! So, Menzel expert Claude Keisch | 0:49:53 | 0:49:55 | |
felt that the characterisation wasn't quite right, | 0:49:55 | 0:49:57 | |
that the picture was almost a bit too theatrical for Menzel. | 0:49:57 | 0:50:00 | |
And as far as the provenance goes, we've hit a dead end. | 0:50:00 | 0:50:02 | |
Everything that could have helped us in terms of archives | 0:50:02 | 0:50:05 | |
and attributions in catalogues, | 0:50:05 | 0:50:07 | |
it's all been destroyed during the Second World War. | 0:50:07 | 0:50:09 | |
With that lack of documentation from that time period, | 0:50:09 | 0:50:12 | |
it's always going to raise questions, I think, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:14 | |
in an expert's mind, because it's the perfect smokescreen for a faker | 0:50:14 | 0:50:18 | |
to pass a work off. | 0:50:18 | 0:50:19 | |
So far, one painting has been turned down | 0:50:20 | 0:50:23 | |
and one has been proved genuine, | 0:50:23 | 0:50:25 | |
which leaves us with one last picture - Portrait Of A Child, | 0:50:25 | 0:50:29 | |
attributed to Willem de Kooning. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:31 | |
I have to say, I still have real high hopes for our little boy. | 0:50:31 | 0:50:35 | |
The scientific testing that we were doing in Miami | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
was looking really promising. Well, actually, | 0:50:37 | 0:50:39 | |
we've just had the full results in and I think you're going to like | 0:50:39 | 0:50:42 | |
the look of this e-mail. | 0:50:42 | 0:50:43 | |
It's from Bruce Kaiser, the man who did the testing. | 0:50:43 | 0:50:46 | |
So Bruce has compared painting A, he says here, | 0:50:48 | 0:50:52 | |
so painting A is the genuine certified de Kooning, | 0:50:52 | 0:50:54 | |
to our painting, which he refers to as painting B, and he says, | 0:50:54 | 0:50:58 | |
"All matching colours from painting A when compared to painting B" - | 0:50:58 | 0:51:01 | |
our painting - "are literally elementally identical. | 0:51:01 | 0:51:05 | |
"To be honest, I have done elemental analysis of many, | 0:51:05 | 0:51:08 | |
"many paintings and I have never seen such a close pairing. | 0:51:08 | 0:51:11 | |
"I would guess the probability of this occurring randomly | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
"approaches the same probability of someone winning the lottery. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:18 | |
"That is one in umpteen million." | 0:51:18 | 0:51:20 | |
I mean, this is just brilliant, isn't it? | 0:51:20 | 0:51:22 | |
You don't get a scientist going that far normally, do you? | 0:51:22 | 0:51:25 | |
He then goes on, "The exact same paint pigments and type | 0:51:25 | 0:51:29 | |
"were used to paint both paintings and even the same features | 0:51:29 | 0:51:31 | |
"in each painting." I mean, what more do we need? | 0:51:31 | 0:51:34 | |
I suppose you've got to ask what are the chances of someone else | 0:51:34 | 0:51:37 | |
painting it alongside him, perhaps, | 0:51:37 | 0:51:39 | |
using the same paint in exactly the same way? | 0:51:39 | 0:51:41 | |
What he does say at the end, slightly frustratingly, is, | 0:51:41 | 0:51:45 | |
"Whether it was the same artist is not provable directly | 0:51:45 | 0:51:48 | |
"by elemental analysis," for the reason that you're saying. | 0:51:48 | 0:51:52 | |
But the chances of that are so slim, | 0:51:52 | 0:51:53 | |
it HAS TO be a de Kooning, doesn't it? | 0:51:53 | 0:51:55 | |
What we really need to do now is get that provenance - | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
find out where that painting has been for the last 100 years. | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
If we can do that, we could be so much closer | 0:52:01 | 0:52:03 | |
to being able to produce an even stronger argument. | 0:52:03 | 0:52:06 | |
With the fate of our last painting finely poised, | 0:52:09 | 0:52:12 | |
we're travelling to Belgium in search | 0:52:12 | 0:52:15 | |
of one final piece of evidence. | 0:52:15 | 0:52:17 | |
We've arranged to meet Jan and Chris Starckx in their hometown | 0:52:17 | 0:52:21 | |
of Turnhout, not far from Antwerp. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:23 | |
They have news about the recent history of Portrait Of A Child | 0:52:23 | 0:52:27 | |
and we're eager to share the results | 0:52:27 | 0:52:29 | |
of the scientific analysis with them. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:31 | |
After our time in Miami, | 0:52:32 | 0:52:34 | |
it's wonderful to be here in your apartment, | 0:52:34 | 0:52:37 | |
surrounded by your objects and, of course, the picture itself. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:41 | |
Now, you recall we have not got the sign-off of the authorities, | 0:52:41 | 0:52:46 | |
the committee on de Kooning, but we have evidence which - | 0:52:46 | 0:52:50 | |
and I now speak as an art dealer - is so clear. | 0:52:50 | 0:52:54 | |
In fact, why not say it? | 0:52:54 | 0:52:55 | |
You have a work by de Kooning. | 0:52:55 | 0:52:57 | |
It's amazing. You can't get better. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:00 | |
I'm very proud of my husband. | 0:53:00 | 0:53:03 | |
Yes! He did it so well. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:05 | |
So, what's it worth, Philip? | 0:53:05 | 0:53:07 | |
Well, what we have the advantage of is that we know the other painting | 0:53:08 | 0:53:13 | |
that we compared it with, of Renee, | 0:53:13 | 0:53:16 | |
went for about $50,000. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:19 | |
I believe that your picture in many ways is superior. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:23 | |
The artistic impact, the characterisation of the child, | 0:53:24 | 0:53:29 | |
the condition is so good and, above all, you have, | 0:53:29 | 0:53:33 | |
carved into the wet paint, the signature of the artist, | 0:53:33 | 0:53:37 | |
this celebrated painter at the beginning of his career. | 0:53:37 | 0:53:41 | |
I therefore think it's worth in excess of ?50,000, | 0:53:41 | 0:53:45 | |
and given that you've paid, what, 450 euros for it, | 0:53:45 | 0:53:50 | |
I could see it making anything up to 100,000 euros. | 0:53:50 | 0:53:53 | |
However... Yes? | 0:53:57 | 0:53:59 | |
Where does it come from? Yes. | 0:53:59 | 0:54:01 | |
Because unless we can say where it comes from, | 0:54:01 | 0:54:05 | |
you've got a problem still. | 0:54:05 | 0:54:07 | |
So, what have you managed to find out about your painting | 0:54:07 | 0:54:11 | |
and its past? | 0:54:11 | 0:54:12 | |
After we went to Miami, we came back and I was contacted by the vendor. | 0:54:12 | 0:54:19 | |
He told me that the person depicted on the painting died three years ago | 0:54:19 | 0:54:26 | |
and left a lot of money and his belongings to his son. | 0:54:26 | 0:54:30 | |
This man, he managed to lose all the money | 0:54:30 | 0:54:35 | |
in a very short time and he became homeless. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:38 | |
At some point, | 0:54:38 | 0:54:40 | |
he was asked to clear his house because he didn't pay the rent. | 0:54:40 | 0:54:46 | |
This is the place in Brussels? | 0:54:46 | 0:54:48 | |
The place in Brussels. | 0:54:48 | 0:54:49 | |
So, he asked two friends... | 0:54:49 | 0:54:51 | |
..to get rid of all his belongings and so to sell them. | 0:54:53 | 0:54:58 | |
This is really important. | 0:54:58 | 0:55:00 | |
So, the man who owned the painting | 0:55:00 | 0:55:02 | |
asked his friends to get rid of it for him. Yes. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:07 | |
To sell all his belongings. That's what they're telling you? | 0:55:07 | 0:55:10 | |
Yes, that's what they're telling us. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:12 | |
Do they have any evidence? | 0:55:12 | 0:55:14 | |
Did he write that down? No. | 0:55:14 | 0:55:16 | |
Was there a written instruction of any kind? | 0:55:16 | 0:55:18 | |
No, I don't think so. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:19 | |
Uncertainty around the provenance raises a much bigger issue. | 0:55:19 | 0:55:24 | |
You know, the sad fact is you may not own this picture. | 0:55:24 | 0:55:28 | |
If the people who sold it to you did not have the right to sell it, | 0:55:28 | 0:55:32 | |
you don't own it. One day or another, we will try to sell it, | 0:55:32 | 0:55:38 | |
but we will start by exposing it. | 0:55:38 | 0:55:41 | |
By exposing it, you mean exhibiting it? | 0:55:41 | 0:55:43 | |
Hoping that this man will come forward. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:47 | |
Jan and Chris have been touched by the plight of the previous owner, | 0:55:47 | 0:55:51 | |
but hope he may yet provide proof of his connection to the painting. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:54 | |
It's a wonderful thought, though, | 0:55:54 | 0:55:56 | |
because even if there is confusion about the ownership, | 0:55:56 | 0:56:00 | |
at least the painting that he painted of a child | 0:56:00 | 0:56:04 | |
will again be out there and seen. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:07 | |
And that makes us very proud. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:10 | |
We started out with three mystery paintings - three unknown artists, | 0:56:15 | 0:56:20 | |
three unknown sitters. | 0:56:20 | 0:56:22 | |
Now, we've proved Portrait Of A Lady is by Philippe Mercier... | 0:56:22 | 0:56:25 | |
..and we've found out the truth about the Old General. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:30 | |
But when it comes to the de Kooning, | 0:56:30 | 0:56:33 | |
it's going to go on display here in Turnhout and it might flush out | 0:56:33 | 0:56:36 | |
the original owner, and if it does, if he comes forward, | 0:56:36 | 0:56:39 | |
he could provide the final missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. | 0:56:39 | 0:56:43 | |
That's the poignant thing about portraits. | 0:56:43 | 0:56:46 | |
It's not just about art. | 0:56:46 | 0:56:48 | |
It's about people and, like people, their lives can get forgotten. | 0:56:48 | 0:56:54 | |
What was once vibrant and relevant can become obscured | 0:56:54 | 0:56:58 | |
by the passage of time, and it falls upon us, | 0:56:58 | 0:57:02 | |
people like us, to bring them back to life. | 0:57:02 | 0:57:05 | |
If you think you might have an undiscovered masterpiece | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
or other precious object, contact us at... | 0:57:11 | 0:57:15 |