Fake or Fortune? BBC1

[Truckosaurus]

thegreenhell said:

....I can sort of understand it for items 'stolen' (or purchased well below market value, as many were) by the nasties in WWII, which is presumably where the law originated from, but not if it was bought and sold in good faith without any such criminal intervention.

Indeed. Although stolen and looted art is more a question of ownership rather than provenance of the work.

[Puzzles]

I thought this weeks was good. Wonder how many episodes there are this season. Can’t be more left.

[Laurel Green]

Puzzles said:

I thought this weeks was good. Wonder how many episodes there are this season. Can’t be more left.

One more to go.

[youngsyr]

Puzzles said:

I thought this weeks was good. Wonder how many episodes there are this season. Can’t be more left.

Really? Felt like they were scraping the barrell a bit to me: two very minor pieces of art, one of which was guaranteed to be at least partially genuine right off the bat.

[Bonefish Blues]

Confusing one tonight

By the same logic, any restoration might invalidate a painting, yet is routinely done?

Edited by Bonefish Blues on Tuesday 17th October 21:01

[Truckosaurus]

Bonefish Blues said:

Confusing one tonight

Indeed. I liked the grand-daughter's description that it was 'neither fake, nor fortune'.

[abzmike]

If it was painted over posthumously then presumably it was intact when Gorky died? Which to my untrained mind makes it a Gorky, unless he appeared from the afterlife with a tin of emulsion… the end didn’t make sense. And neither did the owner trying to remove the paint herself.

[thegreenhell]

I thought the inference was that the white emulsion was his work, as he had done to at least one other painting, and that was therefore how he had intended it to be, so it was the removing of the white paint that was destroying a piece rather than uncovering another.

As it was, with some of the white removed it was neither fish nor fowl, and given she couldn't ever reapply the original white paint her only option was to continue to uncover the whole of the underlying picture to at least have a cohesive work that was still by the original artist. Even if it wouldn't be recognised as original by the self-appointed expert body she would be no worse off than she was already, and would at least have a picture she might enjoy instead of the current mess.

[PinkTornado]

A literally messy end, to a variable series.

[Truckosaurus]

thegreenhell said:

...As it was, with some of the white removed it was neither fish nor fowl....

You get the feeling they perhaps should have invited the family around at the start before getting out the white spirit.

They might have said that it was already 'ruined' from what the old boy at the museum had done at the wife's request, so nothing to lose with going further.

The producers must have been surprised enough by the reaction to have stopped the 'restoration' and present it half done, so they definitely weren't expecting that response.

Certainly an interesting view of value vs. 'art' - leave the paint covering it up and it is worth money, take the paint off and see the actual picture below and it is 'worthless'. (same with the cast sculpture at the start of the series - the first ten copies are 'genuine' and worth money, the eleventh one is not)

[Randy Winkman]

I'm basically with those above. Didn't understand the suggestion to stop doing what had already been started. Just seemed pointless.

I thought it was a good end to the series after a disappointing episode the week before. Showed us a side of the art business that really highlighted one element of the value "calculation".

[Puzzles]

youngsyr said:

Puzzles said:

I thought this weeks was good. Wonder how many episodes there are this season. Can’t be more left.

Really? Felt like they were scraping the barrell a bit to me: two very minor pieces of art, one of which was guaranteed to be at least partially genuine right off the bat.

Yes you are right it wasn’t so good. I’m a week behind, I meant the episode before. Although I’m not sure how the French could have jurisdiction over a painting in the uk.

Thought the final one was interesting and slightly different.

[Randy Winkman]

Puzzles said:

youngsyr said:

Puzzles said:

I thought this weeks was good. Wonder how many episodes there are this season. Can’t be more left.

Really? Felt like they were scraping the barrell a bit to me: two very minor pieces of art, one of which was guaranteed to be at least partially genuine right off the bat.

Yes you are right it wasn’t so good. I’m a week behind, I meant the episode before. Although I’m not sure how the French could have jurisdiction over a painting in the uk.

Thought the final one was interesting and slightly different.

Me too - I liked the final one about the white paint but not the one the week before.