Fake or Fortune? Catch up, Series 7: 3. Henry Moore on BBC 1

Fake or Fortune?

Series 7: 3. Henry Moore

The team investigate whether a small watercolour sketch could be by the British 20th-century sculptor Henry Moore. It is the only piece thought to be that of a British artist in a Nazi hoard of around 1,500 works discovered in Germany in 2012. Known as the Gurlitt hoard, it is now housed in the Museum of Fine Art in Bern, Switzerland. Every piece in the hoard has to be researched, as if it was art stolen or looted from Jewish families, it should be returned.\n\nFiona and Philip need to establish two things - firstly whether this a genuine work by Henry Moore or a whether it is a fake, And secondly, if it is genuine, how did a sketch by a British artist end up in a Nazi art hoard? The answer to this will decide its fate.\n\nThe film goes on a journey from prewar Britain, where the little-known Henry Moore was beginning to make waves as a daring and progressive sculptor, to Germany in the 1930s. In England Philip meets Henry Moore's only child Mary, hoping that she will offer some insights into the way her father worked, and he asks if she can see her father's hand in the sketch. He compares the sketch to other genuine works by Moore from the time and subjects it to forensic tests. Will this reveal the smoking gun that would firmly put the name Henry Moore to this small drawing?\n\nIn Germany, Fiona is on the provenance trail. She discovers that in the early 1930s, Hildebrand Gurlitt, the man who amassed this valuable hoard, was a forward-looking museum curator who encouraged the avant garde artists like Henry Moore. But this wasn't to last. In 1933 Hitler consolidated his power in Germany and set out to purge the country of any modern progressive art - or what the Nazi called degenerate art. Hildebrand Gurlitt lost his job but in an extraordinary transformation used his knowledge of the art Hitler hated to become one of four dealers allowed to sell degenerate art on the international market to make money for the Nazi regime. Could the sketch have been one that Hitler wanted to supress? And if so, how and when did Hildebrand Gurlitt get his hands on it? Fiona follows the trail to Berlin and to the Schonhausen Palace, where a lot of the so-called degenerate art was stored and viewed by the chosen few dealers. Could this have been where Hildebrand Gurlitt had the opportunity to buy the Moore sketch?\n\nWill the art investigators find enough evidence to convince the Henry Moore Review Panel that this is a genuine early work by Henry Moore? Will the outcome of the provenance search show that it was legitimately bought by Hildebrand Gurlitt and so can rightfully stay in the museum in Bern?

Source: BBC 1

Most recent episodes of Fake or Fortune?

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 2. Joshua Reynolds

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to north London to meet Glyn Hopkin, a car dealer with a soft spot for art. He’s taken a gamble on a painting he hopes is by a towering f ...

26-07-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 8: 1. The Lost Gainsborough

The team investigate an 18th-century landscape: could it be a lost work by the great British master of landscape painting, Thomas Gainsborough? \n\nThe painting has been in the ...

24-06-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 1. Elisabeth Frink

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to the beautiful Essex countryside on the trail of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Dame Elisabeth Frink. They are investigati ...

19-06-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 10: 4. Flemish Old Master

Fiona and Philip visit a church in Port Glasgow to investigate whether a mysterious work depicting Christ after the crucifixion could be a lost masterpiece by one of the great p ...

22-02-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 10: 3. Sisley

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a charming little landscape of a French village with a river running through it, purported to be by one of the founding members of the 1 ...

15-02-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 10: 2. Modigliani

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a delicate sketch depicting a mother and child, purported to be by one of the modern art world’s most famous names, Amedeo Modigli ...

08-02-2024

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 4. Arshile Gorky

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a murky canvas that could be by Arshile Gorky, a pioneer of abstract expressionism. Works by this Armenian-American artist fetch million ...

22-10-2023

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 11: 3. Cezanne And Pissarro

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to France on the trail of two of the greatest Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, Camille Pissarro and his friend and protege, Paul C ...

14-10-2023

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 10: 1. Ben Nicholson

When Ian and Julie moved into their Surrey cottage nearly 20 years ago, they discovered a curious wall painting in one of the bedrooms. They had no idea who put it there. Julie ...

15-09-2022

BBC 1

All episodes