Fake or Fortune - BBC1

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A Monet Tragedy

About the first time I have seen a programme in High Definition,

Amazing to see both the original painting (and others), and knowing from viewing that they were the genuine article.

Gutted to hear that 'experts' dismiss the truly wondrous art, regardless of the investigation and evidence dug up.
 
Watched it just now, bloody scandalous arrogance, they totally ignored the opinion of world renowned experts and the documentary evidence on the basis that the head of the institute didn't want to overrule his late father's decision. They had made up their mind before they took in the new evidence, sounds a bit like FIFA.
 
Watched this and couldn't believe it. What a pathetic idiot!

"Well my Dad says it wasn't real so to hell with all these experts!"
 
Unfortunately I missed the first half but I came in just as Fiona Bruce lost her temper - in French! Wish my command of the language was half as good as hers and gives one hope for our country's foreign language skills.

The final decision was an absolute scandal. It's not often that I go "WHAT!" with something catching me totally unawares. I was sure the evidence was incontrovertible. Sounds like a Daddy's boy kept under his (late) father's thumb.
 
They should go to Sotheby's ............ at least it'll get misrepresented convincingly (allegedly).
 
I had 'bookmarked' the program and must say I thoroughly enjoyed it (though not the outcome). Fiona Bruces French language skills amazed me, as despite living here for almost ten years I'm nowhere near her level.

The 'experts' decision, though devastating didn't surprise me. France has a very patriarchial society, from school teachers (who mainly still teach by rote) to lower and upper government officals - just ask anyone who has moved here and has either kids in school or has come across officialdom (e.g. the customs officer in the film). Sadly being English won't help either.

I guess the son can't bring himself to admit his father made a mistake - though surely there's a chance the program will put pressure on these elitist buffoons.
 
A search of 'Wildenstein' online shows they really are more interested in their next paycheque. Plastic when injected into flesh really does have limitations in fans.

_http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1004&bih=581&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=wildenstein+family&oq=wildenstein+family&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2914l5919l0l9l9l0l5l5l2l251l891l0.1.3l4

'Eminesque' perhaps
 
Yes, all that work and her husband rejected her, although she was married to the brother Alec, not Guy, the one in charge of the institute.
 
There is another intriguing possibility. One of the consultants engaged by the BBC in last nights program said that a Monet, which was accepted and included in those five volumes by the Wildensteins, was in fact a fake. The Wildensteins have many works of art, stored in vaults (or it's rumored in a nuclear bunker in the USA) from which they occasionly select one to auction off. Just suppose they already have the 'river' painting in question and to accept that the 'english' painting is genuine would both devalue their reputation and indeed their own 'fake' Monet. You couldn't then suddenly offer at auction a previously 'undiscovered' Monet after admitting an identical one into your catalogue as genuine.
 
Possible, but unlikely. I would have thought the Wildernsteins would need to have their collection listed with some other authority (just like museums over here). Without a third party signatory their reputation would be zero.
 
For those who followed the Monet saga last week, you may this link interesting _http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13901348

I'd like to know if, as the painting mentioned in the article hasn't been seen in 86 years, it appears in the Monet 'bible'.
 
_http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/arts/design/wildenstein-art-gallery-is-beset-by-lawsuits.html?_r=1
 
Tonight's episode was a disgrace too! If it was really stolen then why didn't you report it?
 
Agreed. Very rarely do I shout at the TV, but last night I could have made a trooper blush. If they were needing to sell the painting to pay for house renovations, why at the end did he want to keep it? I mean, he's obviously poorly paid, being a barrister. It's a shame that the guy who found it didn't hand it over to the police at first, then when no-one came forward to claim it he could have taken it back. I think it would have made their legal claim a lot more certain.
 
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