A new TV show which challenged art fans to spot fake masterpieces in Liverpool City Region galleries is set to air next month.
Original artworks in the Walker Art Gallery and Wirral’s Lady Lever Art Gallery were among millions of pounds of exhibits switched for copies around the UK last summer.
The stunt got underway on 1 July 2017 for the Sky Arts show ‘Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge’, and throughout the month members of the public were challenged to spot seven copies hiding in six galleries around the nation.
Other venues were in Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.
Initial statistics showed that Merseyside art-spotters were the most perceptive of all the participants, with 70% of respondents successfully picking out the fakes among a collection of animal paintings at the Walker Art Gallery, while 59% correctly identified a copy of an English portrait at Lady Lever.
Speaking at the time, Charlotte Keenan, curator of British art at National Museums Liverpool, said: “The findings support what we’ve known for many years – here in Liverpool we have an incredibly engaged audience who know and love our collections.
“Liverpool has a long and diverse history of creativity, and we’re a confident bunch when it comes to sharing our thoughts and ideas about art.”
Entrants who identified the most ‘fakes’ in the competition were invited to take part in the finale of the series, which is being presented by Giles Coren and Rose Balston.
Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge will be broadcast on Sky Arts on Tuesday at 8pm from 28 March.
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Can’t wait to watch the show. Perhaps one of their episode will feature some fake design desk&chair sold at Sotheby’s a few years ago for $20,000+… At the Patrol, by Docantic.com we are specializing in 20th Century design misattributions. Sure thing, the market is filled with material for this show!