Paul Rafferty found a photo of the fountain of St-Paul-de-Vence at Chartwell, making the case where the BBC's Fake or Fortune failed to. Monet owner loses Paris court case May 7 2014. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. 'Fake or Fortune?' It’s a world of subterfuge and intrigue as they grapple with complex battles often unseen beneath the apparently genteel art establishment. “This photograph is undeniable,” Mr Rafferty told the  Telegraph. Fake or Fortune? “#fakeorfortune WHAT!!!!!!!! The St-Paul painting is owned by Charles Henty, clerk to the Worshipful Company of Innholders, who had been disappointed by its 2015 rejection as he needed funds to save a family farm. A painting of Saint Amelia by French history painter Paul Delaroche was commissioned in 1831 by Queen Marie-Amélie, wife of Louis Philippe, King of the French. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights. The only thing left to do was send the painting to the Chagall Committee in Paris, which is headed by the artist’s two granddaughters and charged with protecting the reputation of the artists. (Then again I'm no expert!) But perhaps the most significant discovery was succeeding where the BBC failed. The programme ended with Mr Mould suggesting that evidence might one day emerge, adding: “You could say that Churchill lives to fight another day.”, He writes of stumbling across the clinching St-Paul photograph at Chartwell last year: “The title on the card was Red Rocks, but it was clear that it was of the BBC painting. Apparently the forger had achieved the craquelure on his fake Old Masters by using phenol formaldehyde, aka Bakelite. On February 10th the Daily Telegraph published a letter from a professor of chemistry at University College London (Robin J. H. Clark) questioning the relationship between art and science in general terms and with regard to a supposed Chagall painting featured on a recent BBC Fake or Fortune television programme. Lost work. We are greatly in his debt.”. 'Fake or Fortune?' television series tried in vain in 2015 to prove that a painting of a sun-drenched village scene on the French Riviera was by Sir Winston Churchill. Over 20 years later, the painting is now at risk of being destroyed, after having been declared by experts as a fake. The work was exhibited at the Salon of 1834 in Paris. was created by art dealer and art historian Philip Mould and producer Simon Shaw. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. Fake Or Fortune?, the BBC1 series presented by Fiona Bruce and art historian Philip Mould, has attributed the painting to the acclaimed portrait artist, who died in 2011. The British woman, identified only as Lyn, bought the piece in 2006 believing it was a genuine painting by renowned artist Sir William Nicholson. But viewers are convinced the leading expert got it wrong While a fourth chimed in: “#fakeorfortune The evidence was compelling..... it wasn’t a fake, one persons opinion, a self proclaimed expert, shouldn’t be the only opinion taken into account.”. Fake Or Fortune painting bought for £165000 rejected as close to worthless. Fiona and Philip take it upon themselves to prove that the paintings are indeed by Van Meegeren, a process that involves faking the fake — and then putting it in the oven. television series tried in vain in 2015 to prove that a painting of a sun-drenched village scene on the French Riviera was by Sir Winston Churchill. It documents Churchill’s love affair with the Côte d'Azur over 30 years. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Proving the provenance however, does not mean their findings will be accepted by the art world, which can be exclusive, snobbish and elitist. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, Fake or Fortune viewers FURIOUS over Renoir episode as they notice THIS - ‘Get it right!' Mr Mould, whose new Fake of Fortune? that a painting he paid £100,000 for, believing it to be by Marc Chagall, is a fake. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Guest Lyn had purchased the still life of a glass jug and pears believing it was a genuine work of Nicholson. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Lyn told the hosts: “I feel it’s a miscarriage of justice.”. One person making a decision like that seems Very unfair. When he located private estates, he persuaded their naturally-suspicious current owners to allow him in to photograph views that matched Churchill’s. Expert Patricia was called upon to give another verdict, however, it wasn’t good news. An oasis of bohemianism in a country facing the rigours of war against Nazi Germany, the school was housed in a ramshackle 16th-century mansion (its … Now British artist Paul Rafferty has uncovered a “smoking gun”, a thumbnail photograph of that very painting - the fountain of St-Paul-de-Vence - at Chartwell, Churchill’s family home in Kent. Fake or Fortune? They found out some compelling support for Lyn’s claim as the board of the painting could be linked to Nicholson. He captured the intense Mediterranean colours that he saw along the coast, while staying with friends in the finest châteaux and villas. The painting was featured in the second episode of the BBC TV programme, Fake or Fortune? “But it took Paul’s brilliant research to provide such an irrefutable piece of evidence such that the answer could only come back positive.”. With all that evidence, absolute rubbish,” one exclaimed. BBC TV programme Fake or Fortune has launched an appeal to find a painting that could be worth up to £250,000. A businessman has been told a painting he paid £100,000 for will be destroyed after it was ruled a fake. It is among dozens of exciting new discoveries about Churchill’s paintings which Mr Rafferty is to publish in a forthcoming book titled Winston Churchill: Painting on the French Riviera, following five years’ of research. Knowing the country, both as a resident and as a painter helped Mr Rafferty’s research, along with searches on Google Earth and old postcards. Verdict, however, it wasn ’ t experts on the BBC programme hoping to get the... £165,000 back in 2006 but following the verdict by the expert it would mean it was a. Worth up to £250,000 as a genuine work of Nicholson ’ s Fake or Fortune by phenol... A world of the rise of Fascism submitted his investment to the bottom of a painting the had. 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