That £165k painting you bought? It’s a fake and worthless!
A PAINTING bought for £165,000 and attributed to a British artist who once taught Winston Churchill has been rejected as fake – rendering it close to worthless.
Debate has raged for years over the authenticity of Glass Jug With Plates And Pears, which was reputed to be the work of William Nicholson.
It was bought for £165,000 in 2006 when it was believed to be an original.
But five years later the still life oil painting was left off the official list of his known works by Patricia Reed, an authority on the artist.
This meant the painting was actually only worth a few hundred pounds.
Now, with the buyer’s consent, the piece’s provenance has been examined for BBC1’s Fake Or Fortune? Despite discovering evidence to support the theory it was done by Nicholson himself, the show was ultimately unable to convince experts that the artist did actually paint it.
Last night’s programme, presented by Fiona Bruce, scientifically linked the painting to Nicholson’s own paint box which is kept in his grandson’s house. And a handwriting expert also confirmed that writing on the back of the painting was very likely to be that of Nicholson himself.
Miss Bruce also met reformed art forger John Myatt to ask if he had ever faked a Nicholson, with Myatt revealing that he had, but not this painting.
However, experts on the show still concluded that while there were physical aspects to the painting that link it to Nicholson, there was not enough direct evidence to prove he executed the work himself.
Miss Bruce said: ‘I’m genuinely shocked by that verdict. I didn’t expect it. I thought the case was so strong.’
Nicholson, who died in 1949, was a gifted still life, landscape and portrait artist. He tutored a group of amateur painters – including Churchill – individually in his studio in London and elsewhere during the 1930s.
It has been suggested that one of this group – known as the ‘Sunday painters’ – could have created the work under his supervision.