Arshile Gorky

Season 11Episode 460 minOct 17, 2023
Arshile Gorky

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate a mysterious canvas which could be by a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, Arshile Gorky. Works by this Armenian-American artist fetch millions at auction, but there is one major hurdle in the way of owner Liza Dunluce realising its fortune - the canvas is covered in white paint.

Dates on the back of the canvas suggest it was painted between 1928 and 1931, but the composition visible through gaps in the white paint looks nothing like Gorky's work from this early period of his career. Philip hopes an X-Ray will explain why the dates on the back of the canvas don't match the style of the painting. Could there be another, earlier work buried deep beneath the layers of paint?

Tantalisingly, Fiona's research reveals a lost Gorky from the 1930s, known only by a photograph. Could this picture lie hidden beneath a 1940s composition?

Events take a turn after the Gorky family go to see the picture and raise a startling question: should the white paint layer actually be removed at all? The artist's granddaughter, Saskia Spender, tells Fiona that Gorky sometimes used white paint to partially cover up his pictures as part of the creative process. Could Liza's canvas may be made up of not one, not two, but three pictures - the white layer on top being a further composition?

This proves to be one of the most challenging investigations on the series yet. With millions at stake, will Liza's picture turn out to be neither fake nor fortune?

Arshile Gorky has aired on Oct 17, 2023 at 8:00 PM
Previous EpisodeNext Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Lost Treasures of Egypt
Running

Lost Treasures of Egypt

An immersive, action-packed series follows international teams of Egyptologists as they unearth the world's richest seam of ancient archaeology — Lost Treasures of Egypt. Through excavations and unprecedented access to the teams on the front line of archaeology, we follow these modern-day explorers as they battle searing heat and inhospitable terrain to make the discoveries of a lifetime.

GenreHistory
Invasion
Running

Invasion

Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.

Skywatch
Upcoming

Skywatch

Skywatch tells the story of an outcast teen, who hacks into a ubiquitous drone delivery system to pull a prank on his school bully, he accidentally crashes a dangerous prototype – and finds himself entangled in a life-and-death conspiracy. Based on the short film by the same name.

Alien: Earth
Upcoming

Alien: Earth

When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. As members of the crash recovery crew search for survivors among the wreckage of a mysterious crashed space vessel, they encounter mysterious predatory life forms more terrifying than they could have ever imagined. With this new threat unlocked, the search crew must fight for survival and what they choose to do with this discovery could change planet Earth as they know it.

Signs of a Psychopath
Running

Signs of a Psychopath

For every sadistic psychopath...there were signs. Charm. Narcissism. Lack of empathy. Impulsiveness. Manipulation. Deception. These traits and others are the telltale Signs of a Psychopath. This harrowing half-hour archive series revisits some of the most brutal killers in modern history, reviewing news footage and the words of the killers themselves to see which terrifying traits each killer exhibited. What are the signs...of evil?

GenreCrime