The Secret Sketch Uncovered From A Nazi Treasure Trove | Fake Or Fortune? 

This was a very satisfying body of researching provenance. The gradual accumulation of provable movements of the sketches, from Moore himself to the director of the museum, to its confiscation by the Nazis, and purchase by Gurlich has added one more significant piece in the oeuvre of Henry Moore for the world to view and enjoy. A job well done…I am glad it wasn’t looted from a private collection.🖤🇨🇦

When they showed it to his daughter and her face immediately lit up it was case closed slam dunk very clearly a genuine Moore. Also, the fact the piece was found with a hoarde of other original masterpieces made it very easy to believe in the piece’s authenticity.

I always enjoy this show. It is very educational. I love learning about artists I may not of heard or learn about the historical factors behind the artwork too. As a working artist and teacher of art myself, I absolutely do understand the need for provenance as this show is mostly concerned, but, it is important to educate the audience about art practices as well as provenance. These sketches are called thumbnails. Art dealers do know this term and absolutely understand the meaning. It is the way all trained artists work in order to work out how they want the piece to end up. As a traditional painter I usually quickly draw on my canvas when doing portraits. Many times though I am working with photos and need to workout my placement of people against background and will do thumbnails. When I find actual areas of interest for backgrounds I will do thumbnails too especially when the light fascinates me. This technique is the very beginning for all artists and all artists have tons of journals with thumbnails. If they don’t I strongly encourage artists to do thumbnails in journals as opposed to working, for instance, only digitally or only on their canvas. When it comes to sculptures it is imperative to use thumbnails to work out all angles as this episode stealthily reveals. Absolutely love the show. Thank you for all the history and pieces of artwork we may not ever have been able to know about on our own.

I love this series. It is presented with so much gusto and poetry all along the research trail.

What a fascinating episode! They did so well covering the details of a very complicated subject and time. It's a very different approach from the usual, and I hope they do more collaborations like this in the future!

Well, this was gripping all the way through! A wonderful example of the diligence of art historians.

Germany had the Bauhaus Movement that was touching everything from art and architecture to furniture and even clothing. Moore would have looked more than appropriate in the new landscape of Germany.

Gratifying on so many levels. Thanks Fiona and thanks Philip

Great viewing! Intriguing and very stimulating, and more. Bravo 👏🏿

I really enjoyed that, thank you!

I TRULY ENJOY THIS SERIES....... THE 2 HOST SIMPLY KNOW WHAT THEIR DOING.....I REALLY LIKE GOING WITH THEM ON THERE JOURNEYS TO FIND OUT IF THE ART WORKS THEY'RE DEALING WITH, IS REAL OR NOT.....THIER PRESENTATION FAKE OR FORTUNE IS ONE OF THE SHOWS I USE TO SAVE ME FROM THE DAMMED NONSENSE ON COMMERICAL TV!!!! THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH!

Art sleuthing at its best: this program combines art, history, mystery and suspense all in one. I bet there are hundreds of stories buried in the Gurlitt's hoarded collection. So good the stolen works are recovered.

marvelous hosts....great series !!!!

Glad that the algorithms popped this up for me.

A detective story of merit. "The games afoot"! On a side note, seeing Landsacpe photography by Steve O'Nions, I saw rock formations in parts of Wales and England close by! The rocks all look like Henry Moore's work! Sure it was the inspiration? The depth of Nazi crimes can never reach a nice conclusion. Very good work by investigators..

Fascinating documentary !

Awsome. Work. These. Presenters do. And. Shine. A light on hidden. Art works. Thankyou. Both

Loved this episode in particular. I’d enjoy it if the show did more of the recovered pieces. I’m not a fan of this articular art, but the story and research was great.

At 27:22. I find it comical that Fiona is fluent in Italian (her Italian is beautiful) and French. But she hasn’t bothered to learn German, with its harsh consonants and its difficult grammar. I feel you, Fiona, I feel you. Lol.

The feet are on the ground always as stability points for a sculpture design.

Disappointed that you did not mention whether you told Henry Moore's daughter she was right.

Laura, I just found your channel and really enjoy it! You're doing great!

Wheeelll, ...Cuckoo clocks, although they are often associated with Switzerland, it was almost definitely invented in Germany sometime in the 17th century. I am delighted by all I learn by watching your Episodes!

Great work.Thank you!

Great episode.

Weird how they worry about "looted art" yet the museums are filled with looted art.

The Germans were excellent record keepers. They listed all the art they stole and all the Jews they murdered. This was a wonderful detective story delving into the tortured history of the Nazi Era.

Just think about all the talent that has and will remain unknown and unvalued in the lifetime of the artist. I think that a yearning for fame must be something that a true artist should discard early on and work as if recognition and monetary reward were utterly unimportant.

Good show. 👍👍👍

I have been to Berlin before and after the wall came down. It is a beautiful city.

Oh, ouch! I hate seeing my favorite Van Gogh sitting there being called "degenerate".

Please consider adding and pinning a comment so on mobile we don't get spoilers on accident. The first comment is always visible. Love the show, thank you.

At 46:26. Thank God this little palace didn’t burn down with 8,000 pieces of this art still within it. It would’ve been a catastrophic blow to modern art today. Loss of that Van Gogh alone-this is the famous portrait where Van Gogh painted himself to look like a Zen Buddhist monk during his “Japan obsession” phase-would’ve been tragic.

What a great conclusion.

What would be the "value" of the sketch if it were not coupled with a great name? Swift might have included a bit about art collectors in his 'Gulliver's Travels', and Erasmus certainly understood the insanity of artists and collectors in his ' The Praise of Folly'.

It's refreshing to see a committee that isn't dead set on rejecting everything.

Lovely episode

Very nice !

When I saw "secret sketch" I thought OMG a Nazi comedy routine?!!!"

fk i love this show. Gets better every episode

At 5:16, the shadow makes a recognizable image that the sculpture itself doesn't readily display. Was that its purpose, perhaps, at the right time of day?

One thing about the Germans, they kept good records even of all the bad things they did.

Fascinating!

My Aunt lives in Hamburg.

This was an interesting episode, as usual - but I found some of the logic presented by the hosts to be odd. I hope and presume that it is/was irrelevant to the Museum whether or not the work is by Moore, at least in the context of their mission to return looted works to their rightful owners.

I’m surprised that they didn’t mention that from Hitler’s two exhibitions, the one with the “degenerate” art had by far more visitors than the “ideal” one.

Thank you, Phillip, for naming that the reclining female figure has been exploited. As a woman, I very much appreciated your saying that.

I don't why they keep condemning This art dealer only interest in personal gain. Seems to me he put himself at great risk to save as much art work of these greats as possible.

God I Love This Show!👍😀❤️

The drawings on the back page were the "Shroud of Turin" moment. Why no DNA test?

Prefer to see them stay in the museum where they belong

I remember when they found these,..

Naturally Moore would use both sides of a sheet of paper, he was a Yorkshireman . Waste not want not , and were's there's muck there's brass . He certainly figured that last part right.

Is Philip genuine or is he acting for the camera ?

Thank God for The Monuments Men.

Higeldy pigeldy? Amazing verbal erudition.

SPOILER ALERT! Yay! A rich Swiss museum got to be a little bit richer. Not exactly an ending that warms the cockles of one’s heart, like in other episodes such as the Aussie family who desperately needed the money. I do wonder though-Gotlitt’s son. Did he know the complete history of this art hoard so out of guilt he just kept it piled up in his tiny apartment? He had every motive to sell these pieces and become a rich man, especially with the Allied policy that if the Nazis took art from German museums and sold it, it was fair and square. But he didn’t. I think guilt really weighed heavily on that man and on what his father did.

It is interesting that Hitler hated 'degenerate' art, but instead of destroying it😢He recognized it's value and sold it .

❤❤❤henri moore

I disagree with the Degenerate Art restoration practice. This art was seized from a museum, and bought by Gurlitt for a pittance (5 francs). It should be returned to the museum it was seized from.

seems to me that the results are that Cornelious Gerlit's father purchased this quite legally, without anything to do with the Jews. He bought from an art dealer friend who bought it from the artist himself. so, doesnt it really belong to Gerlit's family?

"Darkest moments in European history" - didn't you mean the darkest moments in German history.

It's still Amber in my book, I wouldn't be so confident showing this one.

You should have told Henry Moore's daughter she was right.

Are these my life drawings?

*🔹They we're selling on the International Market prior to and during the War.* *🔹Where is the Documentary describing and what is the current position on these pieces?* ✨🌎💫

A group of sketches that would have collectively taken him 5 minutes. Not exactly a masterpiece

the main thing here is not art is the perfect order that nazis applied to all that worked against, them, when recovering the stolen things ..just a thought...hihi

Well, turns out Fiona isn’t perfect, English, Italian, French and Spanish but can’t speak fluent German. ;-)

Too many ads, worse than television. Love the series, but I dislike all these ads. Pull back some

What about the Chinese emperor’s wares that were stolen by Britain??? Chinese have to buy them back??

Switzerland is where most of the stolen Jewish items are

This is at least ten years old,probably more!!!

I don't think all drawings are his. He wouldn't pen hatched shading.

I'm no Philistine, but I feel when you've seen one Moore, you've seen them all.

Quite funny the bullshit language around art and the value of signature and artist.

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👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

well done

Timely story authoritarian oppression of art and freedom of expression.

👍

❤

Not a Gauguin, a Cèzanne….

Fiona is a very beautiful and sexy , intelligent woman and Philip is a real genuine gentleman

at 41min.... yeah but where on the drawing..where he had his finger in his ear or what. This series is just a tad to mainstream....

Not that appealing to me a version of nudity if that's ur thing

💵💵💵💵💵🇺🇸

Those are hideous drawings. Valuable, yes. But this is the least beautiful piece of art I’ve seen on this show. Clearly this was drawn when Henry Moore was at the peak of his fame and could therefore afford to be sloppy and lazy with his drawings. Lol.

Phillip please quit whispering! It doesn't make you any more of an expert or mysterious. The show is otherwise fantastic!

Modern sculpture, yuck.

Most definitely FAKE

Oh - that's why people laughed at Henry Moore... Crap

What a crock

You know I was in the hospital for one entire month. 4 surgeries.. couldn’t use both my arms were in cast and fingers too. NONE AND I MEAN NONE of the nurses offered to help My wash my hair. I was laying there for weeks with my entire hair basically turning to a big lump of dread. It was my sister who offered me help the first time. That took 1 1/2 weeks to build the courage to ask, then second time my gf OFFERED to help me. Third timeX I said fuck this this is bs I shouldn’t have to ask PERIOD and got the nurse assistant to do it. What’s messed up was the real nurse had all the time and made the assistant do her dirty work for her.