Complaint
This edition featured an investigation into the history of a painting purported to be by the 18th Century Swiss artist Angelica Kauffmann. A viewer complained the programme contained a range of misleading assertions and led viewers to believe the painting’s provenance had been proven. The ECU considered whether the output met the BBC’s Guidelines on accuracy.
Outcome
Fake or Fortune is a factual entertainment programme which investigates and explores questions of authenticity and provenance of artworks in a way which might appeal to a general audience. It is entitled to convey hypothesis, inference and expert opinion, and to adopt an accessible and conversational tone. The series presents all the evidence gathered to the recognised experts in the artist’s work, and they are the ones who make a judgement on its attribution. The language used in this instance was carefully balanced and suggested to audiences what might be, or was likely to be, the case rather than anything more definitive. The ECU did not consider audiences would have come to the view that the authorship of the painting was completely established on the basis of the information provided by the programme.
Not Upheld
