0:00:02 > 0:00:03At 42 million...
0:00:03 > 0:00:06The art world, where paintings change hands for fortunes.
0:00:06 > 0:00:07Sold, thank you very much.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09But for every known masterpiece,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12there may be another still waiting to be discovered.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14This is it.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17International art dealer Philip Mould and I have teamed up
0:00:17 > 0:00:21to hunt for lost works by great artists.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25We use old-fashioned detective work and state-of-the-art science
0:00:25 > 0:00:26to get to the truth.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Science can enable us to see beyond the human eye.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32- Ta-da!- Oh, wow!
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Every case is packed with surprise and intrigue...
0:00:36 > 0:00:37Is it or isn't it a Freud, then?
0:00:37 > 0:00:41..but not every painting is quite what it seems.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44It's a journey that can end in joy...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47This is definitely by Paul Delaroche.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50..or bitter disappointment.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54I can't cope with this roller-coaster.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56What a nightmare!
0:00:57 > 0:01:00In this episode, for the first time, we travel to Australia
0:01:00 > 0:01:02where we're on the trail of a painting believed to be by
0:01:02 > 0:01:07one of the country's most famous artists, Tom Roberts.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Could the man responsible for these iconic works of life in the outback
0:01:12 > 0:01:17also have given us this intriguing picture of a dejected artist?
0:01:19 > 0:01:22It's a story that's been put into paint.
0:01:22 > 0:01:23The stakes are high for the owners,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27who are recovering from a dramatic change in their own circumstances.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31I feel so responsible for our position.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38It's a quest that delves into the artist's close links to Britain.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Could forensic tests provide crucial new evidence?
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Wow! That is our first link between Roberts and the painting.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54But Australia's top artist is also one of the most faked.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56The strokes in the sky, you know,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59particularly those flat-edged areas, looks a bit like yours.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01This is terrifying.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04It's a journey that could prove life-changing.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08In this envelope here we have the destiny of your picture.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11- Are you ready for it?- Yeah.- Mm-hmm.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25We're often contacted by viewers from abroad
0:02:25 > 0:02:28who think they've discovered a lost masterpiece.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32And very occasionally, one is promising enough for us
0:02:32 > 0:02:35to bring the picture to the UK for a closer look.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48One such special delivery has travelled over 9,000 miles from Australia.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55It never fails to excite me when a picture comes.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59That sense of anticipation is,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02it's one of the fun things about being an art dealer.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09And however much information you have before you see a painting,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12it's seeing it in the flesh that does it.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15It's the moment when either your fantasies come crashing
0:03:15 > 0:03:19to the ground or new hopes and ambitions start arising.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33On first impressions, this looks like
0:03:33 > 0:03:37one of those intriguingly evocative 19th-century paintings
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and it's titled Rejected.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44This is exactly the sort of picture with which I'm familiar.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46It's a Victorian genre painting.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50This is a picture of the type you get a lot in the 19th century,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52that tells a story.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56So this is an artist, it appears,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00it's in a studio, you've got all the props.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02In the bottom right-hand corner is an easel.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07There he is, looking at something that's been rejected -
0:04:07 > 0:04:09presumably his own work of art.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13That clearly is a painting that for some reason
0:04:13 > 0:04:15has failed to get into an exhibition.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18They've thought about it and told him,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21"Sorry, mate, you're not good enough, we don't like it."
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Then you've got that really poignant way that his wife is looking up,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29only just one eye, you can only just make it out,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31with a look of sympathy and empathy.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Feels to me like a proper painting, it feels to me high-quality,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42ambitious, and what's also very clear,
0:04:42 > 0:04:48is that this picture is signed - Tom Roberts, it says.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Could it be that this is a work by THE Tom Roberts,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55a British-born painter who is now considered
0:04:55 > 0:04:59one of the greatest artists to have worked in Australia?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Born in Dorset in 1856,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Roberts emigrated down under with his family in 1869.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12By the start of the 20th century, his ambitious depictions of
0:05:12 > 0:05:15working life in the outback led to him being dubbed
0:05:15 > 0:05:18the father of Australian Impressionism.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23He was also an accomplished painter of interior scenes,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26such as this picture, The Sculptor's Studio.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Today, his works take pride of place in Australia's museums
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and they are highly sought by collectors.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39And this engaging scene could be worth as much as £200,000.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44There's therefore a lot to gain if one can attach
0:05:44 > 0:05:50with absolute certainty that clear name in the bottom left-hand corner
0:05:50 > 0:05:54to this rather beguiling, rather moving painting.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59It's undoubtedly a beautiful work,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01but the owners have contacted us
0:06:01 > 0:06:05because questions have been raised about its authenticity,
0:06:05 > 0:06:06and they need our help.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Joe and Rosanna Natoli live in Queensland, Australia.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15The former mayor of a local council,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Joe has always been a passionate art collector, but a dramatic downturn
0:06:19 > 0:06:23in his fortunes means he now works at a fruit and veg market.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26Hello, Rosanna Natoli.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30His wife, Rosanna, is a popular TV presenter on a local news show.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33A teenager who survived another croc attack
0:06:33 > 0:06:35hasn't impressed the girl he was showing off to.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38She says the incident was traumatic.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Our shared background in television news provides an ideal way to get in touch.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I've invited Philip to join me in Broadcasting House in London
0:06:48 > 0:06:52for a late-night satellite link-up with Joe and Rosanna.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58- Hi, Philip.- Hello there.
0:06:58 > 0:06:59Welcome to my domain.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02This makes a great change from the art world.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It certainly does. I'm much more comfortable here, I can tell you!
0:07:05 > 0:07:08While I've just finished reading the BBC News At Ten,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Joe and Rosanna have got up early to speak to us.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15- Ah, there you are.- Hello.- Hello!
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Oh! Well, Joe and Rosanna,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20we're speaking to you from the BBC studio and I gather, Rosanna,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- that you're a local presenter there. - That's right, that's right.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26So I'm sitting, of course, in our studio here on the Sunshine Coast
0:07:26 > 0:07:29in Queensland, Australia, talking to you. It's amazing, isn't it?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31It's kind of surreal actually.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Well, listen, let's talk about your picture,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37how did you come to acquire it in the first place?
0:07:37 > 0:07:41Yeah, well, I was just scrolling through different auction sites and,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45all of a sudden, I saw this name Tom Roberts come up.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Joe was looking at the website of a provincial English auction house back in 2013,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56selling a painting listed as being by Tom Roberts, Australian,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58with a suggested title Contemplation
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and an initial estimate of just £60 to £100.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06We could tell from the photographs that it was something special,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10that there was something special about it and the subject matter
0:08:10 > 0:08:14spoke to us, and I guess we just thought it was worth a chance.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17So what happened in the end? What did you end up paying for it?
0:08:17 > 0:08:22Well, it started off obviously at £60 and just kept going on and on.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Obviously, we weren't the only ones who thought this might be something special.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30No, it was very frantic and the bidding kept going up
0:08:30 > 0:08:34and it got to a point where we knew that our limit was £7,500.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40When that bid came in for £7,000, I took a deep breath and thought,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42"I have one more bid and this is it,"
0:08:42 > 0:08:47I waited patiently and it seemed like forever, but eventually,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49the hammer came down, we acquired the work.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55It was 2.10, 2.15 in the morning, I couldn't sleep, waiting to tell
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Rosanna in the morning that we owned this Tom Roberts.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It's quite an act of faith.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Have you actually shown it to...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Absolutely! A big leap of faith!
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Well, good on you, good on you.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11But have you actually shown it to anybody out there,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14to any academics or scholars and got an opinion?
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Yes. That's where it didn't go so well for us.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22No. I ended up getting this expert opinion.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Unfortunately, the opinion came back negative.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30They basically didn't believe there was any element of the work,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34in terms of style, subject and brushstrokes
0:09:34 > 0:09:36that resembled that of Tom Roberts.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40The expert who examined the painting felt that there were
0:09:40 > 0:09:44no elements that related to Tom Roberts' work of the period,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47and that therefore it was not likely to be authentic.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52After gambling £7,500 on what they thought was a dead cert,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Joe and Rosanna were distraught.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59For a leading expert to say no means that you've given us
0:09:59 > 0:10:02a bit of a challenge, we're starting on a downer.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06We are so hopeful that you can discover some of the truth
0:10:06 > 0:10:08behind this fascinating painting.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12- Lovely people.- Weren't they just?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15But what a gamble, my goodness.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18But, you know, just to have taken that risk alone makes me want
0:10:18 > 0:10:21to help them. I don't know whether it's by Tom Roberts, but
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I think there's enough there for us to start on a project for this.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Our first step is to track the work back to the point of sale.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35The auction house who handled the painting agreed to pass a letter
0:10:35 > 0:10:39to the seller, but we've received no further contact
0:10:39 > 0:10:41from the last owner, leaving us with no information
0:10:41 > 0:10:43about the picture's origins.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49We need to start our investigation much earlier,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52in late 19th-century London, where Tom Roberts lived and worked.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59I want to find out how this city shaped the early part of the artist's career.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04And across town, I'm on my way to the National Gallery.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09As luck would have it, the gallery is staging a special exhibition
0:11:09 > 0:11:12devoted to Australia's impressionists,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16which includes some of Tom Roberts' most famous works.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24If we're to prove that Joe and Rosanna's picture is a genuine work
0:11:24 > 0:11:28by Roberts, it is vital that we get to grips with what it is
0:11:28 > 0:11:32that characterises his paintings and makes them so distinctive,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34so I've arranged to meet Anthea Callen,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37one of the world's leading experts on impressionism,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40with a passion for Australian art.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44We've got a rare opportunity to admire one of Roberts' masterpieces,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46A Break Away!
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Look at this picture. I have to say, it's...
0:11:51 > 0:11:53- ..it's deeply dramatic. - Oh, absolutely.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Absolutely. The focus of the painting
0:11:56 > 0:12:01is the pioneering colonial Australian man.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06The whole composition is circling around him,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10attempting to control this crazy flock of sheep,
0:12:10 > 0:12:16so thirsty from drought that they're rushing to the dam,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20knocking the dogs for six in the process.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Roberts composed this painting in 1891,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28only a decade before Australia became an independent country.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32And this work is celebrated for
0:12:32 > 0:12:35capturing a sense of this newly emerging nation.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39What it shows us is not only what the outback looked like,
0:12:39 > 0:12:45but actually what went on there and this was visualising a new national
0:12:45 > 0:12:50identity, which was in the process, at this period, of formation.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And in the skilful lightness of the brushstrokes,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Roberts was pioneering the same style employed by some of
0:12:58 > 0:13:01the most famous impressionist painters of the period.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07What I love is the way that the forms of the sheep go from clarity
0:13:07 > 0:13:10to these shorthand blobs,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13just like one might see in someone like Monet.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Absolutely, yeah.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Some of the mark making here is remarkably like Monet.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22So we're talking about a new country that's hatching
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and a new style of art.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Modern techniques, modern compositions,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32contemporary subjects, and Tom Roberts is out there in front.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38It's evident from seeing this that we're dealing with a storyteller,
0:13:38 > 0:13:43an artist who delights in the narration of emotion and drama.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Could it be, with a different story in mind,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49we see those same skills in our picture?
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Meanwhile, we've received an e-mail from Joe in Australia,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00which unexpectedly raises the stakes for our investigation.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Joe explains that he feels a strong connection to the image
0:14:06 > 0:14:10of a rejected artist, because of recent events in his own life.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14In 2016, three years after he bought the painting,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Joe's business went bust.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20He was forced to sell their home and the family was left bankrupt.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27This dramatic fall in fortunes
0:14:27 > 0:14:29has had a big impact on Joe's mental health
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and he's since suffered from depression.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39I feel I placed my family, my wife, my children in that situation.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43It was something that I felt
0:14:43 > 0:14:46totally responsible and...
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and felt terrible about.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53It's clear now that this painting could be life-changing for Joe and Rosanna.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59This painting is hope, it represents the hope that
0:14:59 > 0:15:02we'll be able to have a home of our own again,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06a place to bring up our family, a place that is ours,
0:15:06 > 0:15:12and also, it's a chance for us to put the past behind us
0:15:12 > 0:15:14and move forward,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18so it really is so very, very important.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29With so much riding on this picture, I'm eager to find new evidence.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Our research shows that Tom Roberts left Australia in 1881,
0:15:34 > 0:15:40aged 25, and travelled to London to enrol at the Royal Academy of Arts.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45So I've come to investigate his time as a young student artist.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Little is known about him in this period
0:15:49 > 0:15:54so I've asked the Academy's chief archivist, Mark Pomeroy, to help me.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Can we find any evidence here that links Tom Roberts
0:15:57 > 0:15:59to Joe and Rosanna's painting?
0:15:59 > 0:16:02We know that Tom Roberts was a student here at the Royal Academy.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04What have you got in this wonderful archive here
0:16:04 > 0:16:05that can tell us a bit about that?
0:16:05 > 0:16:08We have student records for everyone who ever attended the schools,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12all the way from 1769 to now, so we're in the fortunate position of
0:16:12 > 0:16:16being able to check basic details for every artist who ever trained here.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20If we just go to the entry for the Rs
0:16:20 > 0:16:24and if we look at the top of the page here...
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Yes, Robert Tom William, painting.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29December 6th, 1881.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33So that's the date he was formally admitted as a student at the Royal Academy.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36For Tom Roberts to come here, all the way from Australia...
0:16:37 > 0:16:39..here, to the Royal Academy,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41that must have been an incredible thing for him.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43It was a hugely ambitious step.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46I mean, even in the 1880s, that journey wasn't undertaken lightly.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50London was the capital of the world, to all intents and purposes,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53and the Royal Academy was regarded as the greatest art school.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56There were no more than 20 people a year being
0:16:56 > 0:16:59admitted to the schools and so it was incredibly exclusive.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02And looking at the painting that we've got here,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I've got it on this tablet here,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07would he have done a painting like this as part of his curriculum here?
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- How did it work?- No, I suspect not.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12The curriculum was incredibly formal, and so you'd start off
0:17:12 > 0:17:15copying from antique casts of sculpture.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Once you'd achieved proficiency in that,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21you'd be allowed into the life school, where you'd draw from the living model,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and the painting schools where you would have to do several things,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26including copying old masters.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And so at no point would you have been producing
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- original compositions.- A work of your own?- Yes, that's right.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33- I find that extraordinary.- I know.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35So you'd come here to learn to paint, in Tom Roberts' case,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38but you couldn't actually paint any of your own compositions.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- No, that's right.- In the whole three years?- Yeah.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So is there anything in here that gives you any clues
0:17:43 > 0:17:46that might link it to the Academy in any way?
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Well...
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I suppose one could point at the Venus de Milo there,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56in that that was exactly the sort of classical cast
0:17:56 > 0:17:59that students would be expected to draw from
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and it's actually singled out in the laws of the schools
0:18:02 > 0:18:05as being one of the few so-called mutilated sculptures
0:18:05 > 0:18:08that students could submit a drawing of,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11as long as they also submitted drawings of the missing parts.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15So he would have submitted the arms, essentially, with the Venus de Milo
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- in order to gain admission. - How extraordinary!
0:18:18 > 0:18:19He'd draw the Venus de Milo
0:18:19 > 0:18:23and then submit drawings of her arms to complete it.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Could the Venus de Milo seen in our painting hint at Roberts' time here?
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Sadly, it appears that the painting itself could not have been
0:18:33 > 0:18:35a part of the syllabus.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39But student artists did create work in their own time
0:18:39 > 0:18:42and submit them for the Academy's prestigious annual exhibition.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44It's a new line of inquiry.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Is it possible to find out if he ever exhibited it
0:18:50 > 0:18:52in any of the Royal Academy exhibitions here?
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Certainly, we've got the records, we've got the catalogues,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57- I could check now.- Would you? - Certainly.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05While Mark searches the archives,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08I'm on my way to the Courtauld Institute Of Art.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10In style and composition,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I think Joe and Rosanna's picture has all the hallmarks
0:19:13 > 0:19:16of a late 19th-century painting.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Scientific evidence could help back this up, and rule out a later hand.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25So I've arranged for head of conservation
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Aviva Burnstock to analyse the picture.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Can she find any forensic clues
0:19:30 > 0:19:34that can accurately date when it was painted?
0:19:34 > 0:19:38So, what have you been able to deduce about the period of the painting?
0:19:38 > 0:19:41It looks like it's painted using a fairly traditional
0:19:41 > 0:19:44middle 19th-century painting technique.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47You've got a white commercial priming on the stretcher.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- So that's the layer upon which it's painted.- Yes.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54And then he's used things like vermillion and a good range of
0:19:54 > 0:19:57earth pigments, some green earth, and some yellow ochre,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00some Prussian blue for the drapery of the woman,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03and mixed in with yellow ochre for the curtains.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05So you're saying this is the traditional recipe
0:20:05 > 0:20:09for an artist working in the late 19th century?
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Yeah, from the middle of the 19th century,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14perhaps in the late 19th century, too, for a conventional painter.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18But there's nothing you've found that would suggest that it's later
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- than that period, either.- Well, there are some areas of restoration,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23as you would expect of a picture of this age,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and apart from those areas, I have not found in the original paint
0:20:27 > 0:20:30anything that would suggest it was a 20th-century painting.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Aviva has found clear indications
0:20:34 > 0:20:37that the painting is a mid-to-late 19th-century work.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40So, if it is by Tom Roberts,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43it would have to be in the early part of his career,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47perhaps when he was living in London between 1881 and 1885.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Aviva has also employed infrared photography to look beneath
0:20:53 > 0:20:56the surface and she has spotted some surprising details
0:20:56 > 0:20:58around the edges of the painting.
0:20:58 > 0:20:59So, you can see,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02in the infrared image a lot more detail in the background.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Yes, because I've always thought it was hazy and dark up there,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07but what have you been able to make out?
0:21:07 > 0:21:10You can see a violin on the top shelf here.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12- Do you see the violin there? - Oh, how extraordinary!
0:21:12 > 0:21:15And you can see a mirror, or it might even be a canvas,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18back to front and then a drawer which is pulled out
0:21:18 > 0:21:20with more materials on it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25This type of detail is a characteristic
0:21:25 > 0:21:28of a formally-trained 19th-century Academy artist.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And Aviva's infrared analysis of the back of the painting
0:21:34 > 0:21:37has also revealed something very promising.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Next to the title Rejected, we can now see "No 1", and
0:21:43 > 0:21:48alongside that, what would appear to be several indistinct words.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52There is an inscription,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54which is, you can see quite clearly in infrared...
0:21:54 > 0:21:56- What is it?- That says...
0:21:56 > 0:22:01It's an address, it says 10 James St, Haymarket, SW...
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- Mmm ..something.- A postcode as well. How extraordinary!
0:22:05 > 0:22:09So we haven't just got the title of the picture
0:22:09 > 0:22:12and the proposed artist's name, Tom Roberts,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16but we have an address to go with it.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18We must find out about that.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Can we establish a solid link between Tom Roberts and this address?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Fiona is investigating his time as a student in London,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30so I need to update her on this new discovery.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33You have one new message.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Fiona, hi, this is Philip speaking.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39On the back of the picture we've found an address.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Now, this could be a lead and I'm wondering whether you could
0:22:42 > 0:22:44possibly look into it.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Hi, Mark. We're looking for two things now,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52not only was this painting exhibited here at the Royal Academy, but also,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56is there anything you can find that would link the address
0:22:56 > 0:23:0010 James St, Haymarket, to Tom Roberts?
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Well, we'll see, because the address was something that
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- all artists had to submit.- Right.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08- That's encouraging.- Here we've got the original exhibition catalogues
0:23:08 > 0:23:10covering the 1880s.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13And if we go to the index for '83.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- So he'd have been in his second year by then.- That's right.
0:23:17 > 0:23:18There's the Rs, can you find it?
0:23:20 > 0:23:22Roberts, T.
0:23:22 > 0:23:2410 James St, Haymarket!
0:23:24 > 0:23:26- There we go.- Wow!
0:23:26 > 0:23:28This is a real breakthrough.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32We've found the same address that is written on the back of the picture.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37That is our first link between Roberts himself...
0:23:38 > 0:23:42..and the painting. And this places him living
0:23:42 > 0:23:44at 10 James St in 1883.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47That's right. And submitting paintings.
0:23:47 > 0:23:48Successfully in this case.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51- Was it this painting?- Do you want to see?- Can we find out?- Yeah.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56It's called Brought Back.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00OK, so it's not that one. Did he exhibit successfully any other year?
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Well, luckily enough, we've got another shot at this.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05The very next year, 1884...
0:24:07 > 0:24:08Here we are.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12T Roberts, Basking: A Corner In The Alhambra.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Well, it's definitely not that one, is it?
0:24:14 > 0:24:17- No, it's not even close. - Not remotely!
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Gosh, how frustrating.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Brought Back was the first work Roberts had exhibited
0:24:25 > 0:24:27at the Royal Academy in 1883.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33While Basking: A Corner In The Alhambra was displayed the following year.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Although we've discovered that the address on the back of Joe's picture
0:24:38 > 0:24:41is where Roberts lived while studying here,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44we can find no record of it being exhibited in the UK.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49We've exhausted all the avenues of research here.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Now there's only one place we can go to hunt for new evidence -
0:24:53 > 0:24:54Australia.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Tom Roberts returned down under in 1885,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07building his career and reputation here until his death in 1931.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Australia's now home to important collections of his early paintings
0:25:12 > 0:25:15and archives, which could help us in our investigation.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21But first we're on our way to meet Joe and Rosanna on the Sunshine Coast.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27It's so wonderful to be in Australia for the first time.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30You know, I used to dream about this place as a kid,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34I used to dig holes in the garden just hoping to pop up here.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39I last came here 20 years ago, when I was a baby, obviously.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41- Naturally. - And how's your Aussie accent?
0:25:41 > 0:25:44I love the accent out here, don't you? Sort of g'day, welcome.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- I haven't quite cracked it. - No, that's terrible.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51We're about to meet Joe and Rosanna so definitely don't try it in front of them!
0:25:54 > 0:25:59Being here, we really get a sense of the landscape that inspired Roberts
0:25:59 > 0:26:03- the incredible light, the sun-drenched colours
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and the vast, almost never-ending sense of space.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11It was here that Roberts became an artist of great maturity and vision.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17If we do manage to prove this picture, we'll be filling in
0:26:17 > 0:26:18a missing part of the biography
0:26:18 > 0:26:21of one of Australia's most important artists.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25I know, but there are so many missing facts at this stage.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28I just hope Rosanna and Joe know what they are in for.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35As Joe and Rosanna no longer have a permanent home of their own,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39we've arranged to meet them at Rosanna's sister's house.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42And after updating them about our progress so far,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45the chance to talk face-to-face helps us understand
0:26:45 > 0:26:47just how difficult things have been.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52You've had quite a time of it in recent years.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55We have. We definitely have.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58So you started up a food business, Joe.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Yeah. But unfortunately, the venture didn't go so well.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08We had to sell our house to try and keep our business afloat.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10We were selling art to try and keep our business afloat
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and then in February, on Valentine's Day,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16we had to close the business.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21You know, when your house is on the line, you do what you can,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25to hope that things can turn around, and I almost lost my health.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26I mean, my feet are still numb
0:27:26 > 0:27:29from the amount of hours that I worked in that business.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33I still see a psychologist once a month to help me.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- My goodness!- And this woman here has been so strong.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40She has been the woman in that picture who has been consoling me.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48If this does turn out to be a picture by Tom Roberts,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50what would it mean to you?
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Well, it means so much
0:27:54 > 0:28:00to me in particular, because I feel so responsible for our position.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Oh, honey!
0:28:04 > 0:28:07I guess what it's going to mean for us
0:28:07 > 0:28:09is that we might have a home again
0:28:09 > 0:28:11of our own.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15And for us and for our children,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17that's going to be truly amazing.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Joe is clearly broken
0:28:25 > 0:28:28by what he's been through.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30The pressure, my goodness.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32I can't imagine what it would be like coming back and telling them
0:28:32 > 0:28:35that this picture is NOT by Tom Roberts.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37I can't even bear to think about that.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40I just fervently hope,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43almost more than any programme we've done...
0:28:44 > 0:28:46..that we come back with good news.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48We just have to.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55With a fresh sense of purpose,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59we're leaving the Sunshine Coast in search of new leads.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05First, we've all come to Melbourne to search for any evidence
0:29:05 > 0:29:09that could prove the painting is a genuine work by Tom Roberts.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14It was here that Roberts lived and worked for long periods
0:29:14 > 0:29:17after he returned from London in 1885.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23He led a new movement, now dubbed Australian Impressionism,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28exhibiting works alongside acclaimed contemporaries, such as Arthur Streeton.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Melbourne is home to some of the country's most important
0:29:37 > 0:29:38art collections,
0:29:38 > 0:29:43including some rare examples of Roberts' early paintings.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Rosanna and I are on our way to the National Gallery of Victoria.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51There's one particular work here
0:29:51 > 0:29:53that Roberts composed in the same period
0:29:53 > 0:29:57we think our painting was made, and I'm hoping it might display
0:29:57 > 0:30:01some very similar stylistic traits to Joe and Rosanna's picture.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09It's a portrait of one Mrs Abrahams, the wife of a friend of Tom Roberts,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12painted here in Melbourne in 1888.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17Every artist has their own way of approaching a composition,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21their own way of telling a story and what we're seeing here is
0:30:21 > 0:30:24a really specific way of doing so,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28using all sorts of objects, hints and props.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31This woman is a fashionable lady,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35what Roberts wanted to do was show, with the plants, with the reeds,
0:30:35 > 0:30:36on the table next to her,
0:30:36 > 0:30:41look at that beautiful piece of blossom and then an Oriental pot
0:30:41 > 0:30:44next to it, and the chair upon which she's sitting, that wicker chair -
0:30:44 > 0:30:49all references to the subject's sophistication and cultivation.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53You can begin to work out what type of woman she was on the basis of
0:30:53 > 0:30:54everything that's around her.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58And I think we find that in your picture.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04You have the central figure - in your case it's two figures -
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and around and about, these satellite objects
0:31:07 > 0:31:09that tell you more,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12that give you hints, give you clues about what's going on.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Bottom right-hand corner, three cups on the table,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19- what do you think those are about? - Coming to tea.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Three people. A reference to the friendship of the subject,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25the subject's husband and the artist -
0:31:25 > 0:31:27it's possibly given as a wedding present.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32Now, in your picture, it's a bunch of paints, it's brushes,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34its references to the artist at work,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38- put almost exactly in the same place.- The same spot.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Both these pictures are stage sets
0:31:41 > 0:31:44in which the props are telling you a story.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47They're different stories, but the means,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50the manner by which the story is told is the same.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54What also strikes me is the invisible line that Roberts has used
0:31:54 > 0:31:57to help order the scene.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59This quirk is also visible in our painting,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03an artistic device to help the viewer navigate
0:32:03 > 0:32:05a picture rich in detail.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09So, do you get a sense that your picture could be by the same hand?
0:32:10 > 0:32:15I do. The structure seems to be similar, and that technique,
0:32:15 > 0:32:20of all those little curiosities. Once you see this work,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23you can see that storytelling technique.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25- VOICEOVER:- This is really encouraging.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29There are significant stylistic similarities
0:32:29 > 0:32:32between this genuine work and Joe and Rosanna's painting.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39While Philip continues his enquiries,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Joe and I are following up a new lead.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Our research has revealed that while Tom Roberts was living
0:32:46 > 0:32:50in London, he continued to be a member of an Australian art society
0:32:50 > 0:32:53and sent several paintings back to Melbourne to be exhibited.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Could it be that the back of Joe's painting was marked up with a title
0:32:59 > 0:33:03and address for it to be sent back here to Melbourne for an exhibition?
0:33:06 > 0:33:10The State Library of Victoria holds records of the exhibitions
0:33:10 > 0:33:13that were held in Melbourne between 1881 and 1885 -
0:33:13 > 0:33:16the years Roberts was in London -
0:33:16 > 0:33:19so Joe and I are taking a closer look.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23This is interesting, "special notice to artist", so these are the rules.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28At the back of each frame must be written the name of the artist
0:33:28 > 0:33:30and the number.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Do you remember the number on the back of your picture?
0:33:32 > 0:33:34- Number one.- Yeah.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Could this explain why "No 1" was spotted
0:33:37 > 0:33:40under the infrared, written on the back?
0:33:42 > 0:33:47The records detail each artist who was accepted for exhibition by name
0:33:47 > 0:33:48and title of work.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55No, sculpture, so he's not in this one.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57It's a painstaking search.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02Might later catalogues contain any reference to Tom Roberts
0:34:02 > 0:34:04or Joe and Rosanna's picture?
0:34:04 > 0:34:06- Robertson.- Yeah.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09- Close.- Frustratingly, yeah, but not Roberts.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13OK, that's the end. Right, let's look at the next one.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20- There it is.- Tom Roberts.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22- OK.- Yeah.- This is exciting.
0:34:22 > 0:34:23Now we need the title.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27Chillington Churchyard.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Spanish Water-Carrier.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30The Thames by Westminster.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34- So this was painted in London and sent back here for exhibition.- Yeah.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- And that's it. - Nothing else.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45- How frustrating. - I can't believe that.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48I was so hoping that we would find it here.
0:34:48 > 0:34:49It's such a mystery.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Why is there a number, and yet it's not listed here?
0:34:53 > 0:34:56He's obviously not brought it back to Australia.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02With no record of a Tom Roberts painting called No 1 Rejected
0:35:02 > 0:35:05in the archives of the State Library of Victoria,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07we're faced with two options.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Either the painting remained undiscovered in the UK
0:35:12 > 0:35:16for over 100 years or it's not quite what it appears to be,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20as the expert who first examined it seemed to suspect.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Could it be a clever fake?
0:35:25 > 0:35:29To investigate the murky side of the market for Tom Roberts' work,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Rosanna and I are visiting the University of Melbourne.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37We've arranged to meet Professor Robyn Sloggett,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41an art conservator who has helped to identify several fake Tom Roberts
0:35:41 > 0:35:44paintings sold in Australia.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Robyn, I'm aware that, as a result of your studies,
0:35:48 > 0:35:52you're known as the Queen Of Fakery out here.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53Thank you.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57So, in the case of Tom Roberts, can you give me sort of some sense of...
0:35:58 > 0:36:01..the scale, the type of fakery that's out there?
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Interesting artist, important artist, worth a lot of money,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09so, clearly, forgers are going to be interested in Tom Roberts.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Did you know that you had entered such shark-infested waters?
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Finding it hard to breathe right now.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20We knew of course that Tom Roberts is a reputable
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and well-loved Australian artist,
0:36:22 > 0:36:27and it would make sense that, therefore, the forgers would take on his name.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29But that's in hindsight,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32it's very sensible to see and hear that now,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35and not when we were making the decision to buy.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40I know that you've got two here from your sort of chamber of horrors.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Let's look at this one. This looks to me
0:36:43 > 0:36:48like a reasonably competent picture, very much in the Roberts style.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50And that's what it's been created for -
0:36:50 > 0:36:53to look like a reasonably competent picture,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56not only in the Roberts style, but by Roberts.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00I can't help noticing those little flat-edged,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03impasto-filled brushstrokes in the sky.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05It looks a bit like yours.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07This is, this is terrifying.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The frightening thing is how clinical it is and how
0:37:11 > 0:37:14malicious some people might have been along the way.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16That's what's frightening.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21This one is made by someone who's studied the techniques
0:37:21 > 0:37:23of Tom Roberts, and then tried to make a work
0:37:23 > 0:37:27that someone would pay money for, as if it were a Tom Roberts.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28Let's look at the back.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Actually, yeah, it's a bit of a giveaway, isn't it?
0:37:33 > 0:37:36What's interesting is this label which has clearly been
0:37:36 > 0:37:41added on afterwards, so it screams tricked-up at you.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Although the brushstrokes look seductive,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Robyn confidently identified this as a later fake.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53But we know from our own scientific tests at the Courtauld Institute
0:37:53 > 0:37:56that our painting seems to be from the late 19th century.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59But what about this picture?
0:37:59 > 0:38:03It also seems to be from the right period.
0:38:03 > 0:38:04But it, too, is a fake.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08I mean, it looks quite old.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Let's have a look at the back.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I mean, look, this is a 1900 stretcher.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17And written on the back of this picture,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19we also see the name Tom Roberts.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23So this is an example of one that's been repurposed.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Sorry, "re-purposed"? I learned a new word here today.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Started off as something else and now it's been made into
0:38:29 > 0:38:31a Tom Roberts for the purposes of selling it.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36Everything about it is of the period, so if you do tests on this,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40you're not going to find something that you couldn't expect to find
0:38:40 > 0:38:42in an 1890 painting.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Goodness gracious me!
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Maybe the expert who viewed Joe and Rosanna's painting
0:38:50 > 0:38:54believed it, too, had been repurposed -
0:38:54 > 0:38:57a nightmare scenario that we're keen to rule out.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01How would you feel for your husband, if it's a fake?
0:39:02 > 0:39:04I'd be devastated,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08because I know he would be devastated,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10and no-one wants that news.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20This case is now at a crucial stage for everyone involved.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24So we've come to Sydney, where there are some final leads
0:39:24 > 0:39:27we need to investigate if we're to have any chance
0:39:27 > 0:39:31of overturning the original verdict that the painting is not genuine.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35I hope we're going to find here the evidence that will authenticate this
0:39:35 > 0:39:38painting for Joe, cos having spent all this time with him,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40I worry about his emotional fragility.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Everything is riding on this picture for him and I can't bear to think
0:39:46 > 0:39:49what will happen if we don't prove it's genuine.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Yeah, I felt that very strongly with Rosanna as well,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55but what we're lacking is any physical, solid evidence,
0:39:55 > 0:40:01anything on paper that testifies to the existence of this.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06I just really hope somewhere here we can lay our hands on it because,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09without it, we're not going to be able to authenticate this picture.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12In Australia's largest city,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16we found a unique personal connection to Tom Roberts,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19which we hope can help provide the new evidence we need.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26Joe and I are taking the painting to a direct descendant of Tom Roberts -
0:40:26 > 0:40:27his great-granddaughter.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Lisa Roberts is an accomplished artist herself,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and a keen student of her great-grandfather's work.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41And here it is.
0:40:41 > 0:40:42- Wow. - What do you think?
0:40:44 > 0:40:46- It is a tense moment. - It's beautiful.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Good! I was wondering what you were going to say!
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Oh, Joe...
0:40:52 > 0:40:54It's so moving.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01As a family member, you are the closest we can get to Tom Roberts.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Does this speak to you of the man?
0:41:05 > 0:41:06It certainly does.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08It screams Tom Roberts.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- Does it? Why?- It does! - Why does it scream that to you?
0:41:12 > 0:41:18On many levels - the subject, the story, the feelings.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21But also, I've just noticed these brushstrokes,
0:41:21 > 0:41:27these wide strokes that you get when you use a flat chisel-shaped brush,
0:41:27 > 0:41:32which Tom has been noted to be using before he came to London.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35And these are the strokes that he then further developed
0:41:35 > 0:41:37in his later times in Australia,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40and I can see the beginnings of that in this picture,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44so these are the really familiar marks to me.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46VOICEOVER: This is encouraging. Lisa is convinced
0:41:46 > 0:41:49the painting is a genuine work by her great-grandfather.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56And she also has a fascinating theory about the unhappy artist in the picture.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59And this is clearly Tom.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01You think this is a self-portrait?
0:42:01 > 0:42:03I do.
0:42:03 > 0:42:04That's so clearly his body.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11That hand, I've seen in that position in photographs.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13He had big hands.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19And they're his ears and his long legs.
0:42:21 > 0:42:22- And the face?- The face...
0:42:22 > 0:42:25- Yes.- So, if this IS a self-portrait,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28this is a completely new theory for us.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30So, if true, hugely important.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Academically, in terms of contributing to the knowledge
0:42:33 > 0:42:35about his work - his first self-portrait.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39I mean, who would have ever thought that it could have been that.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Lisa also believes she can shed some light on what motivated Tom Roberts
0:42:44 > 0:42:47to paint this mournful, emotional scene.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55His mother had remarried a man who Tom didn't approve of,
0:42:55 > 0:43:00and so, they...they were estranged for a period of time.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06So he went to London and he got into the Royal Academy,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10so he was proud and he wanted to tell his mother,
0:43:10 > 0:43:11so he wrote her a letter.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14And obviously in those days it had to come by ship.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17It never reached her.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19She'd died in the meantime.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25So, to me, this painting could be maybe representing "Mother",
0:43:25 > 0:43:28the love of his mother that he...
0:43:30 > 0:43:33..probably wanted, particularly at this time.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39These are universal themes.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Maybe that's why this painting resonates so much with me
0:43:42 > 0:43:44because that's me all over.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Lisa's belief that this is a self-portrait
0:43:50 > 0:43:54has provided the investigation with a tantalising new theory.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02And in Sydney's State Library,
0:44:02 > 0:44:07I've secured a rare opportunity to look through Tom Roberts' original sketchbooks.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12They contain the artist's preparatory drawings.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15The process of moving from sketch to finished painting
0:44:15 > 0:44:18was a technique Roberts was taught at the Royal Academy.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Can I find any sketches here
0:44:22 > 0:44:25which could directly relate to Joe and Rosanna's picture?
0:44:27 > 0:44:29These are incredible things, you know.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33It is like an X-ray into Tom Roberts's mind.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37You can see the way he's thinking, the way he's developing ideas.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41You can just imagine that girl looking away in a painting,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43possibly a street scene.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48One of the things that really struck me about your painting
0:44:48 > 0:44:52when I first saw it was that gesture of the hand on the face,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54like a philosopher, a thinker.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58Here is a man leaning on his hand.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Now, OK, it's from another direction, but it gets better.
0:45:06 > 0:45:12- Here...it's now stronger, it's more graphic.- Mmm.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15We're getting warmer.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Two sketches of a man with head in hand,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19just like the figure in our picture.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23There's one here...
0:45:23 > 0:45:25that I'd like you to look at in particular.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- Does that give you... - Oh, my goodness!
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Not bad, eh?
0:45:36 > 0:45:40Here we have a drawing of a man and a woman consoling each other,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43just like the central characters in Joe and Rosanna's picture.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49The point is, we're looking into the head of Tom Roberts here.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52He's up to something, and what he's up to...
0:45:53 > 0:45:56..can be found deeper into the book.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00And here...
0:46:02 > 0:46:04Oh, my goodness!
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Oh, wow!
0:46:07 > 0:46:10And now, the most compelling evidence of all,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14a simple sketch of an artist in his studio
0:46:14 > 0:46:16with the edge of a painting in the corner.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19It's emotionally slightly different.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21I mean, this guy is tearing his hair out,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24he's having a sort of artistic nervous breakdown.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26- Yeah, there's despair. - But the point is,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29look at the composition, look at the whole concept,
0:46:29 > 0:46:34an artist, picture, you know, deep agitation, in need of consolation.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- He's thought about that, hasn't he? He's done that earlier.- Yes, yes.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41And look here. The curiosities on the wall behind.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Well, of course, that's a really good point.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47These are props around him, very much like your picture.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52What you've got here shows he was heading in the direction of your painting.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56I can't even believe that this exists and that you could find it.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57It is a miracle.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00They have come to us at a wonderful moment.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02I mean, we didn't have provenance.
0:47:02 > 0:47:03There's a great gap.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05We needed something.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10And I think we're looking at an astonishingly transformative piece of evidence.
0:47:10 > 0:47:11Oh, wow!
0:47:11 > 0:47:14That's extraordinary!
0:47:15 > 0:47:17These sketches, made by Roberts
0:47:17 > 0:47:21while he was studying at the Royal Academy, appear to connect
0:47:21 > 0:47:25the artist directly to Joe and Rosanna's painting.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Could this be the final evidence that we need?
0:47:31 > 0:47:34We've arranged to meet Joe and Rosanna at a Sydney restaurant.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37Our investigation is almost complete...
0:47:38 > 0:47:41..but with Joe now up to speed on the latest discoveries,
0:47:41 > 0:47:43emotions are running high.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47We wanted to have this moment together to celebrate
0:47:47 > 0:47:50what is a fantastic day,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52incredible progress.
0:47:52 > 0:47:53The only thing I would say...
0:47:55 > 0:47:58I hate even saying this, is that Philip and I over the years,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01making this series, we have been here before,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03where all the evidence has been so strong,
0:48:03 > 0:48:05and we have made such good progress,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08but then the painting has not been authenticated.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11You know,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13all the news that we're discovering
0:48:13 > 0:48:15is moving forward.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17To hear all of this
0:48:17 > 0:48:20gives us so much hope.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23Oh, Joe!
0:48:27 > 0:48:29Well, we have done as much as we can.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33So, what is now crucial
0:48:33 > 0:48:38is that we marshal all the evidence - stylistic, forensic,
0:48:38 > 0:48:43add the drawings, and put that case to the scholars.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Well, you have our blessing.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57I've come to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to present
0:48:57 > 0:49:00the painting to one of the leading authorities on Tom Roberts.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06Mary Eagle is a former curator and a scholar of his work.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09The leading auction houses in Australia now look to her judgment
0:49:09 > 0:49:12to determine if a work is genuine.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Before she assesses our case,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17what are her first impressions of Joe's painting?
0:49:19 > 0:49:23I like the still life painting down in the lower right.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26- So, down here? - That is exquisite.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30The painting of the lamp, there, is very beautiful.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34It is really like the later work of Tom Roberts.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38I also like, particularly like, the composition.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43I dislike the painting of the figure.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47I think he dominates the scene, in an almost troubling way,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50at least to me it's troubling because I think,
0:49:50 > 0:49:52not well-painted.
0:49:52 > 0:49:58Tom Roberts became a very, very good painter of faces,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00but this face is slabby.
0:50:00 > 0:50:05It looks like moulded cottage cheese rather than...
0:50:05 > 0:50:07- Oh, gosh. Oh, Mary!- Well, it does!
0:50:10 > 0:50:14We showed this to Tom Roberts' great-granddaughter,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18and she felt very strongly that it's a self-portrait,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21that this is actually Tom Roberts himself.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23It certainly looks like him.
0:50:23 > 0:50:29Well, it strikes me as being 80% of young men at his time, at that time.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32I'd be disappointed if Tom painted himself.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36It would make this a confessional painting,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39and I don't think he was so self-indulgent.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Does it trouble you that we have over a century
0:50:45 > 0:50:48of missing provenance when it comes to this painting?
0:50:48 > 0:50:50We have not managed to establish a paper trail
0:50:50 > 0:50:53that goes from our current owner back to the brush of Tom Roberts?
0:50:53 > 0:50:57- There's just a big gap there. - It's very disappointing because...
0:50:58 > 0:51:02..let's say someone has faked it, let's say they used his sketchbooks,
0:51:02 > 0:51:09used early paintings, knew exactly what women wore at that time.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12The scientific analysis is very useful.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Provenance would be...
0:51:15 > 0:51:19..it'd really cement the picture, wouldn't it?
0:51:19 > 0:51:21And we don't have that provenance to give you, I'm afraid.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Well, I'm sorry about that. What a pity.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Well, I've left Mary with the painting and our file of evidence,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36and she's going to consider it before she gives us her verdict.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38There are some things about the painting she clearly liked
0:51:38 > 0:51:41very much, others that she really didn't,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and I was a bit taken aback by how much she didn't like the figure,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48the artist himself, particularly the face.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51I mean, it's called Rejected, and I can only hope...
0:51:52 > 0:51:55..that she doesn't reject it and she delivers the verdict
0:51:55 > 0:51:57that Joe so desperately wants.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04Over the course of this investigation,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07we've found some compelling new evidence.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Scientific tests confirming the painting is a late 19th-century work.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17An address on the back of the painting matching a place
0:52:17 > 0:52:20where Tom Roberts lived in London.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Convincing stylistic similarities to genuine works.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30We've also compared the signature on Joe's painting to genuine examples,
0:52:30 > 0:52:34and found several that bear striking similarities.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38And most convincing of all, Tom Roberts' sketchbooks,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41which we believe show his preparatory drawings
0:52:41 > 0:52:43for Joe and Rosanna's picture.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48One day later, we receive Mary Eagle's judgment.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51We need to deliver the verdict to Joe and Rosanna.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56It's a decision which could change their lives,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00so we've all arranged to meet at Sydney's State Library.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07I only wish that Joe and Rosanna's picture had not been turned down.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10It's so much more difficult in the art world to reverse an opinion
0:53:10 > 0:53:12that's already been stated.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Do I think we've done enough research?
0:53:15 > 0:53:17Have we made the case on paper?
0:53:17 > 0:53:18Yes, I think we have.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Will it be enough, though, to reverse that view,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24to make it authentic?
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Well, we're about to find out.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30I'm feeling very apprehensive at this moment.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34It's difficult to contain all of those emotions,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37but I think we're ready to find out,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41we are at a point in our life now that, you know, we need to move on,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45and really discover what this painting is all about.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54OK, Joe and Rosanna, we've now got to the endgame,
0:53:54 > 0:54:00and, in this envelope here, we have the answer.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02- Are you ready for it?- We're ready.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05- Yes.- Mm-hmm.
0:54:05 > 0:54:06OK.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16"On looking at the painting itself...
0:54:17 > 0:54:19"..there is enough evidence, particularly...
0:54:19 > 0:54:21SHE CHOKES
0:54:21 > 0:54:23"..particularly the composition and the painting of the still life..."
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Stop it, you're getting me going!
0:54:25 > 0:54:27"..to support the conclusion that it IS by Tom Roberts!"
0:54:35 > 0:54:38Well done! Oh, my goodness, I'm so thrilled for you.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41I can read the rest of it now.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45"It fills a gap in what we know about Tom Roberts,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48"and I think it might be the first of his paintings
0:54:48 > 0:54:50"that show signs of his greatest traits,
0:54:50 > 0:54:55"the expression of feeling - that trait may be overstated here -
0:54:55 > 0:54:58"but he was to achieve some of Australia's greatest paintings."
0:55:00 > 0:55:01Oh, Joe, look at you!
0:55:03 > 0:55:04Say something, Joe.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07I mean, that's just amazing to hear that.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12I mean, I've wanted to hear that for so long.
0:55:13 > 0:55:19He has felt responsible and he has felt that he was the one
0:55:19 > 0:55:22who put us in this situation, so this, for him,
0:55:22 > 0:55:28is just about realising that he has done good.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30- He's done good.- It's redemption. It's redemption, Joe.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33I wanted to contain, I've said it's time
0:55:33 > 0:55:36for me to put all those feelings into a box and put it away.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40And I think I can do that now.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44- This will help you do that. - Yes, let us do that.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47So, this brings up the subject of the valuation.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49What are we dealing with here?
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Well, a pivotal, early work
0:55:52 > 0:55:57by a man who went on to become the father of Australian Impressionism.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00There are Australian collectors who would love this,
0:56:00 > 0:56:01and also museums.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06We must be talking about a price in excess of £200,000.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11That's just amazing.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13That is wonderful.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15- And this is yours.- Thank you.
0:56:20 > 0:56:21I'm so relieved!
0:56:32 > 0:56:35My overwhelming feeling at the end of all that,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38having come to the other side of the world, is relief!
0:56:38 > 0:56:42Relief for Joe, relief that this painting he believed in for so long
0:56:42 > 0:56:45has come good. And as I read that verdict out to him,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49I could almost see him stand taller and his back grow straighter.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53And he is now proud, proud of what he's achieved.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56Which is a great result. And there is another aspect to all of this.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01It's only by spending time here in Australia that I realise
0:57:01 > 0:57:04how important Tom Roberts is to the history of art out here,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08and in a sense we've put back a missing building block,
0:57:08 > 0:57:13or put it another way, a painting called Rejected is now accepted.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19If you think you have an undiscovered masterpiece
0:57:19 > 0:57:22or other precious object, contact us at...