Three J.M.W. Turner paintings previously thought to be fakes or not fully by the hand of the master and hidden in storage for decades have now been reclassified as the real things. And unlike most painting authentication cases, which proceed in scholarly seclusion for years, this one played out on television.
The seascapes were left to the National Museum Wales in 1951 but were determined five years later not to be by Turner and were taken off display, reported the BBC, whose “Antiques Roadshowâ€-like program, “Fake or Fortune,†recently marshaled experts who reexamined the paintings using x-ray, pigment analysis and other scientific methods.
As a result of the analysis, one Turner expert, Martin Butlin, who had previously discounted the paintings, re-categorized them as authentic. “We do occasionally change our minds when we have the right evidence†Mr.Butlin told the BBC.
The three paintings, “Off Margate,†“Margate Jetty†and “The Beacon Light,†were donated by the Welsh collectors Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, who built one of the most important collections of Impressionist and 20th century art in Britain. In total, the sisters bequeathed seven Turner paintings to the museum, in Cardiff, all of which will now be placed on display together beginning Tuesday.
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