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The Best Episodes of Fake or Fortune?

Every episode of Fake or Fortune? ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Fake or Fortune?!

Binge this in 2d 9h•Peaking at 9.0/10

Journalist Fiona Bruce teams up with art expert Philip Mould to investigate the provenance or attribution of notable artworks.

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  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Fake or Fortune? Season 12 Episode 2 - Helen McNicoll
    9.0/10(24 votes)

    #1 - Helen McNicoll

    S12:E2

    Art dealer David Taylor bought a painting of women working in a field for £2,090, suspecting that it might be by Canadian Impressionist Helen McNicoll. With almost all identifying labels removed, Fiona and Philip trace its exhibition history across Britain and Canada in an effort to reconnect the neglected work with its original title and artist.

    Director:Matthew Smith
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Fake or Fortune? Season 1 Episode 1 - Monet
    8.8/10(42 votes)

    #2 - Monet

    S1:E1

    Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil, a riverside landscape believed by its owner to be an unrecognised work by Claude Monet. Scientific examination and provenance research build a compelling case, but the painting must still win acceptance from the authority responsible for Monet’s catalogue.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Fake or Fortune? Season 2 Episode 3 - Van Dyck: What Lies Beneath
    8.6/10(31 votes)

    #3 - Van Dyck: What Lies Beneath

    S2:E3

    Philip Mould places one of his own discoveries under investigation: a heavily altered portrait that he believes conceals an unfinished work by Sir Anthony van Dyck. Restoration requires the irreversible removal of later additions, while Fiona insists upon independent authentication. As the underlying image emerges, both Philip’s judgment and the painting’s potential importance are put to the test.

    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Fake or Fortune? Season 13 Episode 4 - Portrait of a Lady - in Pittsburgh?
    8.6/10(15 votes)

    #4 - Portrait of a Lady - in Pittsburgh?

    S13:E4

    An American couple bought a damaged painting of a grieving woman at a Pittsburgh estate sale for $200. Its composition and inscriptions suggest that it could be a lost work by Angelica Kauffman, one of the founding members of the Royal Academy. Technical examination and historical research produce encouraging evidence, but the picture’s fragile condition and extensive deterioration complicate its assessment.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Fake or Fortune? Season 1 Episode 2 - Homer
    8.5/10(38 votes)

    #5 - Homer

    S1:E2

    A watercolour discovered beside a rubbish tip is identified as Children Under a Palm Tree, a lost work by American artist Winslow Homer. As the picture heads toward auction with a substantial valuation, the investigation shifts from attribution to provenance and the difficult question of who legally owns it.

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  6. Fake or Fortune? Season 13 Episode 6 - What Happened Next? Helen McNicoll
    8.5/10(9 votes)

    #6 - What Happened Next? Helen McNicoll

    S13:E6

    The team revisits The Bean Harvest, authenticated during Series 12 as a lost work by Canadian Impressionist Helen McNicoll. Newly discovered provenance fills an important gap in its ownership history, while owner David Taylor decides whether to accept a private offer or risk selling the painting at auction. The programme follows the eventual sale and reveals the identity and intentions of its new owner.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Fake or Fortune?

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  8. Fake or Fortune? Season 14 Episode 5 - What Happened Next? Toulouse-Lautrec
    8.5/10(7 votes)

    #7 - What Happened Next? Toulouse-Lautrec

    S14:E5

    Will two charming sketchbooks found in a garden shed in France finally be recognised as authentic works by French master Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Fake or Fortune? Season 3 Episode 1 - Vuillard
    8.4/10(35 votes)

    #8 - Vuillard

    S3:E1

    Writer Keith Tutt asks the team to investigate a painting he bought speculatively as a possible work by French post-impressionist Édouard Vuillard. Archival research uncovers a strong documentary trail, while the discovery of a companion picture helps reconstruct the work’s history and gives the owners a chance to secure formal recognition.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Fake or Fortune? Season 3 Episode 3 - Chagall
    8.4/10(26 votes)

    #9 - Chagall

    S3:E3

    A Leeds property developer believes that Nude, 1909–10 may be an unknown work by Marc Chagall. Fiona and Philip trace its provenance and submit it to scientific testing, but the discovery of pigments unavailable at the claimed date raises the possibility of a sophisticated modern forgery. The case ultimately reaches the committee responsible for authenticating Chagall’s work.

    Director:Robert Murphy
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Fake or Fortune? Season 5 Episode 2 - Delaroche
    8.4/10(32 votes)

    #10 - Delaroche

    S5:E2

    A painting bought for £500 is investigated as the possible lost royal commission Saint Amelia, Queen of Hungary by Paul Delaroche. Fiona and Philip trace it from the exiled French royal family to Britain and use archival and scientific evidence to distinguish the original work from the many contemporary copies made after it.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Fake or Fortune? Season 13 Episode 2 - A Tale of Two Renoirs
    8.4/10(15 votes)

    #11 - A Tale of Two Renoirs

    S13:E2

    Two separate owners believe their paintings may be unknown works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir: a landscape and a portrait of a young girl. Scientific examination produces a damaging discovery in one case, while the other presents more promising stylistic evidence but lacks the provenance required for formal acceptance. The investigation demonstrates the enormous gap between plausibility and authentication.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Fake or Fortune? Season 6 Episode 1 - Constable
    8.3/10(31 votes)

    #12 - Constable

    S6:E1

    The team investigates a painting of Willy Lott’s Cottage that Philip Mould had previously bought and sold twice without securing its acceptance as a work by John Constable. A detailed chain of ownership, stylistic examination and comparison with Constable’s established work may finally determine whether the overlooked landscape is an alternative view related to The Hay Wain.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Fake or Fortune? Season 6 Episode 2 - Tom Roberts
    8.3/10(31 votes)

    #13 - Tom Roberts

    S6:E2

    Fiona and Philip travel to Australia to investigate Rejected, a painting bought online for £7,500 and signed by Australian Impressionist Tom Roberts. Infrared examination reveals inscriptions on the reverse, while Roberts’s surviving sketchbooks and London addresses provide evidence that could connect the picture to his years at the Royal Academy.

    Director:Francis Welch
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Fake or Fortune? Season 11 Episode 1 - Elisabeth Frink
    8.3/10(25 votes)

    #14 - Elisabeth Frink

    S11:E1

    Fiona and Philip investigate Small Warrior, a bronze sculpture bought for £90 at an Essex car-boot sale and believed to be by Dame Elisabeth Frink. Metallurgical analysis, foundry research and traces left by the casting process are used to determine whether it belongs to Frink’s limited 1956 edition or is a later reproduction.

    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Fake or Fortune? Season 12 Episode 1 - Mondrian
    8.3/10(20 votes)

    #15 - Mondrian

    S12:E1

    American artist Jeffrey Kroll asks the team to investigate a small flower painting inherited from his father and signed “P. Mondrian.” Provenance research, handwriting analysis and scientific testing are used to determine whether the picture is an early figurative work by Piet Mondrian or an ingenious later imitation.

    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Fake or Fortune? Season 4 Episode 3 - A Mystery Old Master
    8.2/10(43 votes)

    #16 - A Mystery Old Master

    S4:E3

    A monumental depiction of the Lamentation of Christ hangs largely overlooked in St John the Baptist Church in Tunstall, Lancashire. The team travels through Britain and Italy to identify its artist, reconstruct how it reached the church and determine whether the neglected painting is an important surviving work from the Venetian Renaissance.

    Director:Francis Welch
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Fake or Fortune? Season 5 Episode 1 - Freud
    8.2/10(30 votes)

    #17 - Freud

    S5:E1

    The team investigates a portrait believed to be an early work by Lucian Freud, despite the artist having denied painting it during his lifetime. Research leads back to Freud’s teenage years at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, while technical analysis examines whether he may have worked over an abandoned canvas begun by someone else.

    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Fake or Fortune? Season 7 Episode 1 - Nicholson
    8.2/10(37 votes)

    #18 - Nicholson

    S7:E1

    A still life bought for £165,000 as a work by William Nicholson was later excluded from the latest catalogue raisonné. Fiona and Philip assemble provenance records, handwriting evidence, infrared imaging and pigment comparisons in an attempt to prove that the painting is genuine, despite resistance from the leading Nicholson authority.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Fake or Fortune? Season 9 Episode 4 - A King's Last Supper
    8.2/10(29 votes)

    #19 - A King's Last Supper

    S9:E4

    A sheep farmer who paid £50 for a small religious painting believes it may be a preparatory study by Benjamin West for his monumental The Last Supper, commissioned for George III. Scientific examination, restoration and comparison with West’s known materials help determine whether the modest purchase is the missing second sketch for the royal composition.

    Director:Claire Lewis
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Fake or Fortune? Season 12 Episode 4 - Corot
    8.2/10(17 votes)

    #20 - Corot

    S12:E4

    The team examines The Head of the Lake, a landscape signed by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and purchased largely for its ornate frame. Historical exhibition labels, a period canvas-supplier stamp and technical analysis appear promising, but the investigation must also confront repeated earlier rejections and evidence recorded by one of Corot’s contemporaries.

    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Fake or Fortune? Season 13 Episode 3 - A Modern Masterpiece for £35?
    8.2/10(17 votes)

    #21 - A Modern Masterpiece for £35?

    S13:E3

    Art blogger Robjn Cantus bought two unattributed paintings from a council collection for only £35. One abstracted landscape was formerly assigned to Vera Cunningham, but its distinctive handling leads him to suspect the New Zealand-born modernist Frances Hodgkins. Research in Britain and New Zealand, together with technical and stylistic analysis, seeks to reconnect the inexpensive picture with a missing work by a major artist.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Fake or Fortune? Season 1 Episode 3 - Van Meegeren
    8.1/10(32 votes)

    #22 - Van Meegeren

    S1:E3

    The team investigates The Procuress, a controversial painting at the Courtauld Institute associated with master forger Han van Meegeren. Technical analysis explores whether it was one of his final works and reveals how he deceived collectors and experts with paintings presented as newly discovered Old Masters.

    Director:Nicky Illis
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Fake or Fortune? Season 1 Episode 4 - Rembrandt
    8.1/10(28 votes)

    #23 - Rembrandt

    S1:E4

    Philip and researcher Bendor Grosvenor spot a poorly catalogued painting in a South African auction, apparently connected to Rembrandt. Their investigation uncovers a darker history involving Nazi looting, a Jewish art-dealing family and a work once regarded as a German national treasure. Scientific examination then seeks to establish the painting’s true authorship.

    Director:Ben Southwell
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Fake or Fortune? Season 4 Episode 1 - Lowry
    8.1/10(66 votes)

    #24 - Lowry

    S4:E1

    The team investigates three paintings—Lady with Dogs, Darby and Joan and Crowd Scene—that were bought by Cheshire businessman Gerald Ames during the 1970s and attributed to L. S. Lowry. With no straightforward documentary history, Fiona and Philip use pigment analysis, archival film and comparisons with accepted works to determine whether the pictures are genuine or the products of one of Britain’s most frequently forged artists.

    Writer:Unknown

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  26. Fake or Fortune? Season 7 Episode 4 - A Double Whodunnit
    8.1/10(44 votes)

    #25 - A Double Whodunnit

    S7:E4

    The team investigates two rare historical portraits of Black British women. One depicts Dido Belle with Lady Elizabeth Murray, while the other shows two elegantly dressed girls with a book. Scientific and documentary research seeks to identify the artists behind both important works.

    Director:Francis Welch
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Helen McNicoll" is the best rated episode of "Fake or Fortune?". It scored 9/10 based on 24 votes. Directed by Matthew Smith and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/3/2024. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Monet".