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.

Freud

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.

Delaroche

A family-owned watercolour is said to belong to Auguste Rodin’s celebrated series of Cambodian dancers. With little documented provenance and the shadow of prolific Rodin forger Ernest Durig hanging over the work, the team studies its materials, signature and fluid painting technique in search of a reliable attribution.

Rodin

Three unrelated portraits are investigated as possible works by Philip Mercier, Adolph von Menzel and Willem de Kooning. The cases produce sharply different outcomes, ranging from a neglected bargain to a convincing forgery and a promising attribution complicated by unresolved ownership history.

Portraits

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.

Nicholson

Two sketchbooks preserved for decades in a French garden shed may contain youthful drawings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The team travels to the artist’s family home and uses handwriting, paper and technical analysis to challenge an earlier rejection by the authentication committee.

Toulouse-Lautrec

A small watercolour from the Gurlitt art hoard is examined as a possible work by Henry Moore and as potentially Nazi-looted art. Infrared analysis, archival records and the history of Hildebrand Gurlitt are used to establish both authorship and an unbroken chain of ownership.

Henry Moore

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.

A Double Whodunnit

A damaged plaster sculpture resembling Alberto Giacometti’s early Gazing Head is subjected to provenance research and CT scanning. The initial investigation ends without a firm ruling, but later discovery of a signature leads the Giacometti Foundation to authenticate the sculpture; it subsequently sells for more than half a million pounds.

The Giacometti episode was originally intended for Series 6 but was delayed while the foundation continued its examination. It was later rebroadcast with an update after authentication.

Giacometti

At a Norfolk country house, Fiona and Philip investigate an abstract metal sculpture that has spent years serving as a doorstop and garden water feature. Its owners believe it may be an early work by Henry Moore, but analysis of its materials and history leads the team toward another artist connected with the property.

A Sculpture in the Brambles

The team examines Arab at Prayer, an Orientalist painting dated 1858 and signed by Jean-Léon Gérôme. Although once accepted as genuine, it was later downgraded to “Circle of Gérôme.” Provenance research, technical analysis and a fresh expert assessment are used to determine whether the work can regain its original attribution.

Gerome

An oil painting of a dramatic battle scene may be Sir Edwin Landseer’s lost Time of War, believed to have been destroyed after the 1928 Thames flood. Fiona and Philip investigate whether the picture survived under another identity or is instead a later copy of the missing Victorian work.

Landseer

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.

A King's Last Supper

A carer named Barry asks the team to investigate a garden scene he bought for £140 at an antiques fair. An inscription on the reverse claims that Winston Churchill painted it at Herstmonceux Castle in June 1916, possibly depicting his wife Clementine. Fiona and Philip must identify the precise location, reconstruct the picture’s history and decide whether the stylistic evidence can support an attribution potentially worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Mystery of Churchill’s Garden

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.

A Tale of Two Renoirs

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.

A Modern Masterpiece for £35?

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.

Portrait of a Lady - in Pittsburgh?

Fiona and Philip return to the two portraits of Black British women investigated in Series 7. New research and growing interest in Black social history have changed the significance of both paintings, including David Martin’s portrait of Dido Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray and Emma Soyer’s Two Girls with a Book. The programme examines what happened to the works after their original attributions were established.

What Happened Next? A Double Whodunnit

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.

What Happened Next? Helen McNicoll

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

All Episodes of Fake or Fortune?

Season 1