Fake or Fortune, Episode Two, Series 9
The second episode of Fake or Fortune? will air this week, on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC 1. This week’s episode sees Philip and Fiona investigate a small yet meticulously detailed oil painting of a man praying in a mosque. In 1999, an American portrait painter called Jon Swihart bought the artwork at auction, believing he had purchased an overlooked but genuine work by the leading 19th century orientalist master Jean-Leon Gèrôme. The leading Gérôme authority disagreed and stood fast however, believing it to be the work of a faker…
Twenty years on using their detective work, will Philip and Fiona uncover enough evidence to prove the painting to be a Gèrôme and convince the new leading authority? If this truly is the work of the French, Orientalist painter, it would constitute an important addition to the much sought-after artist’s body of early work, and be worth as much as £100,000. Watch Philip and Fiona team up to investigate this thrilling case on Wednesday and click here to catch up on last week's episode.
