Fake or Fortune? Catch up, Series 11: 1. Elisabeth Frink on BBC 1

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 investigating an intriguing sculpture that owner Amanda Kirke discovered at her local car boot sale. Amanda’s initial search on the internet, brought up a similar looking figure titled Small Warrior, produced by Elisabeth Frink in an edition of ten in 1956, one of which was once owned by David Bowie.\n\nAmanda has already contacted a gallery that has long dealt in Frink’s work, and is told without any provenance that they cannot authenticate it as a work by Frink. It’s up to our team to come up with the proof. Philip and Fiona meet up with Amanda at her local scrapyard, where she also went looking for clues. Discovering what this sculpture is made of, and whether it’s a material that Elisabeth Frink used, will be a crucial part of the investigation. \n\nWhile Fiona sets out to track down an authentic Frink Small Warrior in order to compare it with Amanda’s sculpture, Philip follows the trail back to the original London gallery where Frink’s Small Warrior made his art world debut in 1959. Will the gallery be able to shed any light on how many figures were produced and sold, and where they might be now? \n\nHaving tracked down an authenticated Small Warrior, the team spot worrying anomalies between it and Amanda’s figure, triggering the search for further authentic figures from the same original edition. Using scientific analysis and the latest laser-scanning technology, together with the expert opinion of a friend and fellow sculptor of Frink’s, will Philip and Fiona’s evidence be enough to convince the authentication committee that Amanda’s figure is genuine?\n\nThis proves to be one of the team’s most difficult investigations. As well as the sculpture’s dubious emergence at a car boot sale, they face a provenance that is virtually non-existent. If this is a genuine Frink, it could be worth up to £60,000. But if it’s not, then its scrap metal value is a mere £10! The stakes have never been so high for the team.

Source: BBC 1

Most recent episodes of Fake or Fortune?

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 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 ...

07-10-2023

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 ...

30-09-2023

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

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 4: 1. Lowry

03-01-2022

BBC 1

All episodes

Fake Or Fortune?

Series 3: 4. Gainsborough

The team face a daunting challenge as they search for lost masterpieces in Britain's public art collections. To focus their research they look to the Your Paintings online recor ...

22-11-2021

BBC 1

All episodes