My Aunty Ena was a Headmistress of a school in Lancashire back in the day - 60s through to 80s - and when one of her teachers was retiring they clubbed together to buy her a gift. The lady was a fan of Lowry so the vote was for a painting of his to be bought. My Aunt - a born and bred Lancastrian coming from a background of Miners and Mill Workers refused to go to buy a painting from 'that man' who only painted matchstick figures. Very luckily someone else was delegated and the lady got her Lowry - I hope she kept the receipts. I think his simplicity is brilliance.
I found an illumination on vellum from a 1648 Book of Hours in a Goodwill in Somerville Massachusetts. It was in a cheap, battered frame and I paid either $1.00 or $1.50 for it. I had it verified/identified by an expert in medieval manuscripts, framed it, and gave it to my sister for her 60th birthday. It was worth hundreds of dollars.
What a pleasure it is to view a program that doesn't talk down to you, but challenges you to follow the detective work from link to link until a conclusion can be drawn! It's an exercise for one's logical mind and a delight to the eye as well.
I was born in Ashton-under-Lyne which several of Lowrys pictures show. And Industrial landscape, a political meeting in (A-U-L) plus others. I have his pictures on my computer as my wallpaper etc. I worked in the early 50's in two of the mills that I can recognise and of course Daisy Nook. Thank you so much thrilled.
Fascinating piece of investigative work down to the the reel to reel and finding the actual paint tubes. I do hope they have a series 9 at some point. This trio would make great forensic detectives. I would have learned more from them than what I learned in a forensics program through the LEAA and Dept of Justice in the 70s. There were 7 or 8 people in the program. Most were FBI agents, 1 in military intelligence and me - the only woman who at the time was a formal jurisdiction child abuse investigator. I looked quite young for my age and one of the professors who was also a prominent judge called me “little girl” when he called on me. 45+ years later after a successful career it still makes me a bit angry. It was about a year after the FBI started accepting women as agents. The world has changed.
In the 70's I was at a party of a rich familly and hiding with the daughter of the house from the crowd in the owners office I realised that the walls were covered in Lowrys ,,,,, amazing , it stuck in my mind ,,,
They will be worth a fortune now, they will only go up in price. Speaking of Lowry, i was in Manchester Art Gallery on Saturday, i made a video of the Lowries there and added good music, if you or anyone else wants to see it ? Its my latest upload on my channel, October 2018. Justin
@@SleutherStrode Me too. I was born in Manchester, Xmas Day, 1943. Mother was visiting there for Xmas. I lived in Liverpool until age 4. And in Cheshire, until we left England in 1954. Never heard of Lowry until two days ago. And I love everything he did. I used to sketch scenes like Lowry's in my teens. I should start again. Yeah, age 80. Never too old.
Interesting choice of channel name there, my friend! I hope that you are happy now. I was happy to see this programme uploaded because I wanted to watch it again, thank you very much.
I've battled to make a living as an artist all my life......I should have taken a page out of Lowry's and other's books, put a modernist slant on my works and paint like a five year old. Seems like a far easier road to notoriety than battling to create realism like Da Vinci etc.,
You may be on to something Craig. But after listening to the background on some of the famous artists, they were poor, alcholics and drug addicts. Their "Art" didn't become famous until they were dead! Art is subjective. If people like it and it speaks to them, then they will buy it. If it doesn't evoke a response in them, then they will pass. I personally don't like Lowry's work. Sending good vibes your way that you have more success in your career.🍺😎🍺🌴🙏
He didn't paint 'like' he painted with truth and it shows ...if your battling then maybe free up instead of trying to find a recipe ...bet you have never studied art
Yes. They get travel, meet interesting people, go into basements of museums. Have to become an expert though. It's hard to become an expert in anything. I restore antique metal art objects for a living. I've worked on very valuable pieces for Sotheby's. I guess I'm an expert. More of an expert in the work itself, not an expert in antiques. It's pretty good job. Nerve wracking though. Don't want to be the guy who screwed up something worth a million bucks.
I love the photo of his mum & dad in the 70s. It looks like a clip from an episode of ‘ The Sweeney ‘ ! Is that Reagan & Carter in the background……..?! :)
Stephens paintings speak to everyone and his depiction of how we are portrayed is the skill. Very good paintings in the way the paint is layered and the perspective used. Simply he sits at the top with Cezanne. Another painter who couldn't paint.
The comments are a special type of hell. The "Art" world is garbage but it's fascinating, just enjoy the really well made show put on youtube for free. Like a forgery of the real thing. Or a free day at the museum.
Free museam days are fantastic! It has allowed me to take my kiddos to see many museams I normally would not have been able to explore due to high ticket prices.
Lowry sold paintings for little amounts of money in the beginning for 2 pounds and even gave some people one for free if you brought one .he painted thousands of pieces some will still be out there undiscovered today.
The painting/artwork has an intrinsic value and an extrinsic value. Collectors and dealers are only really (mostly) interested in the extrinsic value that is to say the monetary value of an artwork stimulated by the cult of personality etc. if you watch the movie Lowry and Son you understand this from his own mother’s reaction to the paintings. Monticello was considered a great artist in his day, now his paintings are almost worthless in terms of great European art. As for authenticity, in terms of the art as bullion argument, it matters because art is currency. For some of us, Art is art. The young Andrew Lloyd Webber started his collection of Pre Raphael art because prices were low at the time because as art, they had depreciated in value. It wasn’t the artistry that determined their value, it was their value as a currency in the art word. Anyway. It looks like anyway you cut it, Lowry was taking the piss out of the art world he was a trained artist who didn’t care about the opinions of others.
That makes sense to me. These Lowry paintings look like they were done by a 12 year old. It just goes to show that all of this is subjective and not based on anything really.
people are a bit sniffy about lowry but I think if he was french and lived in Provence it would be a different story he's not appreciated enough in the UK.
That is not Neston it is Parkgate where Nelson's mistress lived. I live nearby, it constantly annoys me that the media also cannot understand that the Wirral and Liverpool are 2 separate places with a strip of water commonly known as the Mersey river in between!😣😊
I'm something of an amature fan .. I watched a documentary about a reporter from Manchester evening news who was to photograph Lowery's home after he passed away. But when he arrived at the home a van and removal team were already clearing the place so he told them they were defacing a monument and was allowed to photograph his studio etc .. my theory is those pictures "Fell Off" the back of that very van. Definitely the works were all there at his home. 😮 Wow what an interesting character . I love the Guy . Brilliant an unsung Picasso. I even think he left the white paint on show purposely were smarter than you think up north you know .. our city is the proof ❤
53:29 you can tell almost immediately that they are genuine works of art by the way they handle the paintings, mainly by the edges, to avoid smudging the surfaces with their fingerprints
But did you notice how Fiona just grabbed the negatives earlier in the show, with her fingertips in the middle of the emulsion? Wow... she is still a rock star
It's interesting that @56:30 you can see behind the easel, a painting sideways, that looks pretty similar to the third painting in the story, perhaps not exactly like the in the film, but a studio or sketch? the dog looks familiar. Great series!
Also, if you can: get a letter from the artist - if they're still living. Catalogue the works in a book; take lots of high res shots; have them printed and put into the book, et cetera.
As so typical of the comments in this post modernist age everyone’s singular opinion is the only one that matters, no matter how knowledgeable they are about the time and place the art was created in.
Expressionistix right? Just started watching these and 99% of the commenters clearly have no idea what theyre talking about. It's ok to make up your own idea when they leave things open to interpretation but jesus christ these people....
I don't think Lowry was 'dishonest' about what paints he used. Saying 'we caught him out' is silly. He overwhelmingly used those five paints he mentioned, and experimented at one point with a different white or two. You wouldn't neccessarily remember that or consider it relevant when describing your settled methods.
I've just read on Wikipedia that Lowry holds the record for _rejecting_ the most amount of honours! I think it's important to know that, if you're at all interested in this painter, because he must have had a deep-seated reason for rejecting all those honours. Perhaps because he'd had to put up with a lot of heavy criticism and verbal abuse from those in power, until his works became recognised and then they all started to be nice to him. That's just a guess on my part, that he couldn't put up with the hypocrisy of the establishment and so didn't want to be counted amongst them.
The evidence is also pointing to possible art theft here too. No receipts at all for any of the paintings, plus the gallery saying the person who bought one of the paintings wasn't his father. That kind of got skimmed over.
Cardboard (which bends easily even by hand) obviously is a terrible medium and any work he painted on it deserves to be extinct. And I'd say that of any artist--Leonardo's Last Supper was also painted with dubious methods in a bad location and now there's almost nothing left. If you want it to last paint it on stuff that will.
I really dislike that the makers of this video elects to run electronic music over the voices of the main art investigators, as though what they are saying is less important than the music. The music is annoying.
"all of this is so ... british. every word spoken. every gesture" ok - definitely, no maybe about it, they're brits --- no one is faking it but the point is ... ? are you saying they could have been like those British and Australian actors who are able to play Americans in US movies and TV shows quite well - until they do interviews and startle all the Yanks with their thick Brit and Aussie accents )
I LOVE Fiona and the way she presents, but I really I don't like the way Fiona was speaking to the Lowry faker, it was very rude and disrespectful, the man has served his time, you've asked him to show you how he did it, that's what he's here for, he's not here for another trial by Fiona... everyone deserves respect, even ex-convicts, otherwise how can they move on with their lives?
She's done that with every faker they've brought on board. I think it's less what she says and more the inflections when saying it-- "do you regret it?" can sound curious or accusatory.
Weirdly I’ve seen her do that with a few former forgers on this show. I think a lot of British people like forgers too, it’s a very gentle crime that only financially impacts the wealthy by using skills and ingenuity.
They could have a look at people who Gerald did business with, if one of them could've bought Lady with dogs as a gift, or sold it on to him without going through the gallery as a sale between friends.
Love how Fiona got a tad impatient with the faker, who had good grace. Really like how he could just authenticate them with a glance. Correctly mind, knowing how many fakes there are.
Something strange about how the father actually acquired the pictures, particularly the one sold via the Lefevre gallery that was catalogued as going to another buyer in 1972. So that person must've only owned it for a few months. What happened there? Did he buy a 'hot' painting(s)?
Does anyone know the artist of the painting of the woman in the orange peachy dress with the black hat that is on the easel in the room where they discuss the paintings?
?? How ridiculous do they think we are, to make us actually believe there was any degree of talent required to create that God awful mess, posing as exceptional 'art'. (Go to any secondary school and you will find dozens of these priceless 'masterpieces' hanging from the wall on cork boards... considering there are still people today that believe the world is flat, I'm not surprised that there are people that think that crude painting is art.)
What I find amazing is that anyone believes that the Flat Earthers actually believe the Earth is flat. Their website shows that they are free thinkers who like to argue anachronistic beliefs! They also like to laugh at people who are too lazy to do the research and find out what they are!
I have observed while watching this fascinating series that if the "Committee experts" on the paintings/drawings that are submitted to Fake or Fortune series are going to turn down a work of art as not being "original", then they refuse to be on the series and send a letter instead. Any others find this to be the case? Just an observation. 🍺😎🍺🌴 The 3rd print they showed with the crowd looks Goth-like to me.
So you're telling me, Us really, that all these supposed experts never even bothered to research Lowry and notice that he had been in the film of his life and therefore would have known of the old couple painting? No confidence in the art world or it's so called experts.
6:56 .. "They are worthless without authentication..." Worthless??!! Typical owner who sees art as a commodity ("ooh, how much is it worth?!") and not a thing of beauty. 41:35 .. OMG! Lowry LIED!! LIED! I for one will never ever buy a Lowry again!! Not from a liar!!! And I'm burning the ones I have !!! 🤣🤣🤣 About Lowry being more complex than the "simple man" he said he was and liked to build up a myth about himself, well duh he was more comp,ex! Frank Frazetta said he didn't paint from photographic reference, but there are more than one examples that he did ... artists are complex and like to build up their own mythos...
ebay has a lot of art that is "indistinctly signed" or unsigned or unknown artist. If you know your art and artists you can get them cheap but there is no guarantee it is genuine. The easiest art to spot as fake is art that requires great skill and has very individual brushmarks etc. Lowry and a lot of modern art would be easy to fake.
I think we have to really question what forgers or after. If it’s just the money than their process of forging is quite Abhorrent. If they’re interested in the art itself and the process of studying great works then there’s something more to it. But I wish that you investigators who are now Pursuing the fakes and fakers, I wish you would answer that question. Coming from a lineage of great artists I would like to know the answer
@@terrygause29653 missing the blindingly obvious point that it is not original. Many people can play Beethoven's finest and most difficult piano sonatas, but they sure as hell couldn't write them.
The artworld is extremely pretentious. A 30 second stick man drawing by picasso is worth much much more to a snobby art dealer than a huge masterpiece by an unknown artist that took 5 years to paint.
@@nomoremrniceguy368 but one is happy to listen to that interpretation, even pay money for a CD or concert ticket. Who would you rather hear playing Vivaldi? Vivaldi or Perlman?
To be honest Lowry is no Grand Master, however he has an appeal made more so as I was a kid of the 70s and the song. I’m a professional sculptor now by trade, Lowry was just too modern for me but great film.
Why ? Because I said his style was too modern for my liking ? I can still appreciate artistic talent without liking the style, only someone ignorant of others opinion would think different. He was no Grandmaster either in the sense of the period in which he painted. Your reply is rollocks
Art is in the eye of the beholder. Just like any beauty. I am not a fan of Picasso. Or Jackson Pollock .. Doesn't make the art any less beautiful to people who like it. I love outsider art and naive art. But of course it depends on the artist. Plenty to go around.
The couple are the Jones' of Manchester. The Derby (darby) refers to the hat. It's a joke of a kind The most important thing about L is his sticks in the attic where he tested the effect of time on his materials. Perfect for diagnosis. It's why L did the sticks.
That's because Lowry is famous and you aren't, that's how the art world works!!, it's often more about the artist than the actual art, that's why Andy Warhol or Piccaso could paint a red dot and sell it for millions.
Christine Joyce but you’re missing the point. The painting/artwork has an intrinsic value and an extrinsic value. Collectors and dealers are only really mainly interested in the extrinsic value that is to say the value of an artwork stimulated by the cult of personality etc. if you watch the movie Lowry and Son you understand this from his own mother’s reaction to the paintings. Monticello was considered a great artist in his day, now his paintings are almost worthless in terms of great European art. As for authenticity, in terms of the art as bullion argument, in the equation, it matters because art is currency. Art is art. Andrew Lloyd Webber started his collection of Pre Raphael art because prices were low at the time because as art, they had depreciated in value or were affordable because the cult of pre Raphaelitism had not pushed up the prices.. It wasn’t the artistry that determined their value, it was their value as a currency in the art word.
I just paused at the 17:38 mark ... One of my main paranoia markers is exactly that, that as soon as folks see something, these days especially, they copy it. They don't give a rats arse to give credence to whom they are copying, and so, if MY work is seen, and liked greatly, there are so many out there with the wherewithal to go into mass production and clout me out altogether. True, it may come to pass one day that I had mine before theirs, but I'll be long gone by then to celebrate it. Annnnnnd, now it's September 2021... the way things are going, I doubt any of us will be around three years from today - so, I've missed my chance to be famous. I could be a flash-in-the-pan, but, ya.... not for me. [Edit] oh, and at 23:22.... that 60,000£ is today 102,458.11& Canadian Dollars. Good grief!!
£200,000 for crude pictures that I would never allow on my walls. It's all a matter of individual taste. Appreciation of art is in the eye of the beholder. Artificially inflated prices mean nothing. Good art is priceless and should be on public display and not regarded as "investment" and locked away.
Who cares if they're fake or real? To pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for a painting (of working class poeple!) when others (on your doorstep!) are homeless is grossly perverse.
Hypatia4242 Wow well that changes everything if some random dude on youtube disagrees. Kick all the expert testing to the curb, "random dude" disagrees😁
