Original subtitles

At 42 million... The art world, where paintings change hands for fortune.

Thank you very much.

But for every known masterpiece, there may be another still waiting to be

discovered. That is massively encouraging.

International art dealer Philip Mould and I have teamed up to hunt for lost

by great artists.

We use old -fashioned detective work and state -of -the -art science to get to

the truth.

Science can enable us to see beyond the human eye.

I can't believe it. Every case is packed with surprise and intrigue. It's like a

challenge. Who am I? But not every painting is quite what it seems.

Someone has put a signature on top.

Yes. Dastardly. It's a journey that can end in joy.

You have an original thing.

Congratulations. Or bitter disappointment.

Depressing end to the day. Sorry.

In this episode, could this picture, picked up for a song from a sale room in

England, be by one of Canada's most treasured impressionists, Helen

Her paintings were some of the best pure impressionist paintings by a Canadian.

Does that exist?

Overlooked for years, McNichol's work now sells for six -figure sums.

$250 ,000.

Our investigation takes us to the artist's birthplace of Canada, but proof

hard to come by.

There is no women of the fields listed here.

Well, that's depressing.

Our search for evidence takes us to some unlikely places.

Oh, yes. That is what they look like, isn't it? With an owner needing a life

-changing windfall. I'm hoping that it might make enough to get a bungalow or

something. And a wealthy collector waiting in the wings.

Oh.

Wow.

Can we find the evidence we need?

I've got the verdict here.

I'm so nervous, honestly.

This week's case takes us to the medieval city of Lincoln in the East

We've been contacted by a viewer who wants our help investigating a picture

bought on a whim from a local auction.

We're meeting artist and small -time art dealer David Taylor.

Hello. Hi there. Come in, please. Thank you.

David hopes he's found a painting by one of Canada's most celebrated female

artists.

So, looking at a breezy outdoor scene, some figures in a field.

It looks as though they're harvesting.

Strong, bright colours.

Very impressionistic.

I have to say, I love the picture.

Full of light, full of movement. That's a child, I think, picking something with

a basket.

It's beautiful.

And in the bottom left -hand corner, what looks like a signature.

Yes, I think it is signature.

Helen McNicol, I believe.

Helen McNicol.

I have to say, that's not a name I've ever heard of. I think Helen McNicol is

name worth hanging on to. Early 20th century, a leading Canadian

now much collected and greatly regarded.

Helen Galloway McNicol was born in Toronto in 1879.

A deaf artist who embraced a life full of travel and adventure, she became one

of Canada's most important Impressionists.

Basing herself in London, she painted in England and France.

Light was her primary subject. She was adept at painting sun -drenched

landscapes, typically with women working and children playing.

But in 1915, just as her career was taking off, McNicol died suddenly

complications from diabetes.

She was just 35 years old.

Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in her work.

Last year, the chintz sofa sold for a record -breaking sum, more than half a

million pounds.

Could David have struck gold and found a valuable masterpiece by one of Canada's

most treasured artists?

So where did you get this picture from then, David?

I bought it at auction.

I was just viewing, wandering round.

This was in a corner in a plastic 1960s frame, just bowled over by it really,

painted by someone who really knows what they're doing.

How much did you pay for it?

The most I've ever paid for a painting at auction, £2 ,090.

Had you ever heard of Helen McNichol? No, I've never heard of her before.

Were you worried about spending that much money? Very worried. I mean, the

thing was I had to tell my partner.

But this gave you one of those dangerous rushes of blood to the head.

Absolutely, when the hair's on the back of your neck, stand up.

So how did the auction house catalogue it? It was catalogued in the style of

Helen Galloway McNichol.

but I could see that somebody had reduced the size of the painting, which

an inch of the pigment tucked into the frame.

So when I looked with my little torch under the stretcher at the bottom, I

see something there.

David's excellent detective work soon paid off.

Once home, he removed the frame and discovered that the picture was in fact

larger, folded over the support along each edge.

Now restretched to its full size, the signature is revealed.

But that wasn't the only curious thing about the picture when David bought it.

There's a small plastic plaque on the front of the frame which said, Women of

the Fields, Helen Nichol, spelt wrongly with one L.

And the date, 1958.

1958? That's an odd date, because Helen McNicol died, I think, in 1915.

The wrong date and the wrong spelling on the plaque is not helpful.

To be a genuine McNicol, we're going to need more solid evidence.

Were there any other clues about provenance with the picture? There was a

provenance in the catalogue.

The Pine Coffin Family of Canada and then by descent.

That's got to be a reasonably easy name to search, I would think. There can't be

too many Pine Coffin Families in Canada. No, it's a strange name, isn't it?

And in terms of value, then, so you paid just over £2 ,000 for it.

If it is by Helen McNichol, what would it be worth, Philip?

Well, her star is rising so fast at the moment, it could be worth £300 ,000.

Oh, God.

Can I sit down now?

Well, if this is fake or fortune, I have to ask, if it's not by Helen McNichol,

what would it be worth then, Philip? It would be worth what you paid for it.

Yes, I thought so. A couple of grand.

So if we do manage to prove it's by Helen McNichol, what would you do with

I'd like to sell it, because I want the money.

No, really, we're on two levels here. My problem is my sense of balance is

terrible. I fell down the stairs the other day. You're more somewhere on one

level, really.

I'm hoping that it might make enough to get a bungalow or something.

So this would be a life -changing... It is, it would be, yes, if it was.

But I'm prepared for it.

Not to be, as well.

I think that's a very healthy approach, don't you, to this whole process we're

about to embark on.

And hopefully we will be able to prove it by Helen McNichol and you will be

to change your lives and buy a house that's more comfortable for you to live

That would be great.

Before our investigation gets underway, I want to get under the skin of David's

picture.

Does it have the quality of a McNicol painting?

At first glance, this looked like a really thought -out picture of a central

figure harvesting with two other figures similarly working.

Now, that is exactly the type of subject matter that she went in for.

The really strong mood music, though, is Impressionism.

I mean, look particularly at the crop. You've got these deliciously thick

impasto brushstrokes, and that's a hallmark.

And the other thing is the absence of shadows.

Depressionists didn't like the darkness, and the darkest colour that we've got

in this composition is the blue, just to the right of the main figure.

But there are things that worry me.

Could this be exactly the type of painting that a forger would feel it was

doing? Why?

My experience of fakers is that very often they will choose an artist who's

making big money, but not one who's necessarily that well -known, so that it

can't be easily dismissed.

McNicol exactly falls into that category.

You know, to go from... A painting bought publicly for £2 ,000 to an

impressionist treasure worth potentially £300 ,000 is the stuff of dreams.

In order to get there, there's a lot to prove.

Come on in here, Fiona.

David is no novice when it comes to art.

Not only does he love to collect, but he's also an artist and knows what to

for when buying a painting.

So I want to know what research he's done so far on this picture.

Have you contacted anyone about it, done any research into it?

Well, I did contact Heffles in Canada.

They're an auction house who sold, about ten years ago, a painting called

Watching the Boats, fully catalogued as Helen McNichol.

They came back to me and I got this email.

I can let you read that.

So, hi David, thanks for the photo.

I had a chance to quickly check our references on McNicol and could not

this title or picture.

After conferring with David and Robert Heffel, we'll have to pass at this time.

I'm sorry we can't provide further assistance, but good luck with your

So you hit a dead end with that. That was awful.

That was awful. I mean, can you imagine?

If we do prove it's by Helen McNicol, what would it mean to you to identify

That would be wonderful.

I just love her now.

I've seen so much of her work.

For that to be accepted would be just wonderful.

Back at the gallery in London, we're going over the evidence.

It really is a very striking image, this.

It's gorgeous.

And we know that David bought it at auction and the sales listing is still

online. So in the listing...

It said, from the Pine Coffin family, originated in Canada and thenced by

descent. So it's gone down through the family.

Yeah, so if the picture is by McNichol, a Canadian link would make sense.

There is a Pine Coffin family in England, though.

This was their ancestral home for 900 years, this fabulous 26 -bedroom mansion

in Devon.

Well, I mean, that's a potential lead, isn't it? I wonder if one of the family

can remember it.

What about the back of the picture?

So this is the back of the picture as it looked like when David bought it.

It's clear that a previous owner has removed the canvas from its original

support, called a stretcher, and replaced it with a smaller one.

So anything on the original frame, when this painting was done, has been lost as

far as we know, and then we're left with this business of making it smaller.

Yeah, so a turnover, as we call it.

The picture has made smaller in so doing.

hiding a bit of the signature.

Maybe they're trying to conceal it deliberately. Maybe they had a sinister

reason. I don't think so.

It's possible that they were just trying to make the picture fit into a smaller

space. I've even known people make pictures smaller just to fit into a

I think it could have been just a cheap, quick -fix solution by someone who

didn't know what they were potentially dealing with.

So in terms of leads, then, we've got the type of women of the field and then

this name to investigate, Pine Coffin.

A technical analysis might well help us, but I also think one of us needs to go

to Canada.

OK, who gets to go?

Rock, paper, scissors.

Damn.

Tough luck, Fiona.

I've come to Canada on the trail of Helen McNichol, a truly international

artist. She based herself in London, but it was in Canada.

where she was most highly regarded.

She frequently came home to exhibit her work and played an important role in

popularising Impressionism in North America.

Now more celebrated than ever, McNicol's paintings can be found in almost every

leading gallery in Canada.

A major McNicol exhibition is about to take place here in Quebec at the Musée

National des Beaux -Arts.

The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion is home to modern Canadian art, and its namesake is

one of McNichol's biggest collectors.

A Canadian businessman who made his fortune in gold, Pierre has given me

permission to see a few of his prized paintings.

How does David's picture compare to these genuine treasures?

Just look at that.

This windowless room has suddenly become full of summer.

This one in the middle, I think it's called Sunny September, is a

useful one to look at.

The first and most recognisable comparison, in a way, to David's picture

brushstrokes of the background.

These dynamic, conspicuous, colliding brushstrokes are reminiscent of

Impressionist masters like Monet and Renoir, as well as Van Gogh.

And it's something I recognise in the background of David's picture.

This is, at first glance, an Impressionist painting, but it's not

these figures. There's a solidity about them. They're quite statuesque.

The combination of the two, the solid form of the figures and the clatter of

strokes in the background, can also be found in David's painting.

Another direct comparison to David's picture is the way that these whites are

done. It's as if the white effervesces. It shines brighter than is possible.

And you can particularly see it here, this delightful figure of a child.

Notice how the thick, creamy whites have been mixed with a glaze of yellow to

make the whites stand out even more.

That same technique is visible in the white clothing of the main figure in

David's picture.

It really does seem to me that David's picture comes from the same type of

thought process.

It's being worked by the same type of brush.

While the stylistic comparison looks positive, I've hit a roadblock with the

provenance.

The auction house who sold a picture to David tells us they're unable to shed

any more light on that pine coffin name.

And usually at this stage, we would consult the catalogue, the official list

an artist's works, to see if there is a record of David's picture.

But there isn't one for McNicol.

So we'll need to find clues in McNichol's life story if we're going to

chance of connecting her to David's picture.

Thankfully, expert help is on hand.

Professor Samantha Burton from the University of Southern California is a

leading authority and the artist's biographer.

Ah, Sam, very nice to see you.

Nice to see you too.

Sam has agreed to review our evidence and offer an opinion on David's picture.

But where do we start?

So Helen McNichol, it sounds like she was a fascinating woman. What can you

me about her?

She was. So Helen McNichol was from one of the wealthiest, most prominent

families in Montreal.

She was educated at the Art Association of Montreal, which was one of the most

prestigious institutions in Canada.

In 1902, McNichol left Canada for England, where she studied at one of the

progressive schools renowned for its equal treatment of women.

She continued her art education at the Slade in London. She travelled a lot,

both back and forth between London and Canada, and also from London to

in Europe.

McNichol's travels put her in direct contact with Impressionism, which more

30 years after it had exploded on the art scene in Paris, continued to be

popular in Europe.

It was a movement McNichol played an important part in spreading to Canada,

where Impressionism was still relatively unknown.

It was around this time McNichol met the British artist Dorothea Sharp, who

became a lifelong friend and companion.

They met in about 1905, 1906. We know they lived together in London, traveled

together, and they painted together.

They often painted in the same models, in the same scenes, and they had very,

very similar styles.

Not everything was easy for her. However, one of the most interesting

about her is that she was deaf.

She became hard of hearing after about a scarlet fever when she was just a

child. And so this must have presented challenges to her as well. And the fact

that she was deaf, does that show in some way the characteristic of her work?

I think it does. I think first and foremost, Impressionism is such a

rich style.

It's a style that really targets the senses, right?

There's often a sense of distance.

in her work.

The figures don't look out at the viewer.

They seem to be really absorbed in their own world.

Painted in an impressionistic style and depicting figures set apart, David's

picture fits with McNichol.

But without Provnos, where do we need to look for evidence?

Sam, you're going to be the person at the end of this whole process that

whether or not David's picture is or is not by Helen McNichol.

What do you need to help convince you that David has bought a Helen McNichol?

I would want to see some kind of evidence in the exhibition records, you

some kind of connection to a painting that we know she painted and exhibited

the time.

provenance would also be really important.

What is the history of the painting?

Where did it come from?

If there was any technical evidence that could support it, that would be useful.

Well, Sam, I hope we can find some of that.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.

You're very welcome.

Well, that was a very useful conversation.

Sam has given us some clear leads to follow in our investigation, so the

provenance technical analysis.

but also we need to check out her exhibition history.

David bought the picture in England, but for what Sam's saying, we need to look

at exhibitions not just in England, but in Canada as well.

Could there be evidence the picture went to Canada?

Was it one of the dozens of paintings shipped back to the McNichol family from

her London studio after she died?

Or did McNicol bring the picture back on one of her many trips home?

After several days sailing, McNicol would have made port here in Quebec

The city's skyline is dominated by the Grand Chateau Fontenac Hotel.

Built in 1893 to emulate a French castle, I can imagine McNicol staying

here, especially as her father was vice -president.

of the railway company that built it.

I'm heading to the bar to find out more from art historian and McNichol scholar

Julie Nash.

Could Julie help establish whether David's picture ever came back to

When we are looking at a painting that's...

recently become known. We often turn to this memorial exhibition that was hosted

in 1925, so just about 10 years after she passed away.

It was approximately 140 paintings, mostly from her estate.

They were owned by her family and some prominent pieces from Montreal

or public collections at the time.

In the catalogue, there are pictures I recognise, not least Sunny September,

which I saw in the museum. Is there any mention of... Women of the Fields in

this exhibition.

Unfortunately, there is no Women of the Fields listed here.

Well, that's depressing.

I mean, what are the other possibilities?

There are exhibitions that we know she was a participant in.

As an artist who had independent financial means, she was frequently

paintings back across the Atlantic to be exhibited in Canada.

They were annual exhibitions where the artists would send their most recent,

their most prominent work that they were proud of.

So, we have a few more exhibitions to check out for a mention of women of the

field. That reminds me of another concern I have about David's picture,

title itself.

Could women of the fields be a red herring?

When this came up for sale, the artist's name was misspelt, her death date was

wrong. Why shouldn't the title be wrong as well? Yes, absolutely.

So does this sound to you like a McNichol title?

Entirely. Typically with McNichol, we see two types of titles. One that speaks

to her Impressionist style of painting. So we might see something like sunlight

on the field, sunshine on the field.

And then the other type of title tends to be purely descriptive, sort of in the

vein of women of the field. So we might see something like a woman gathering

fruit or picking apples or something.

Okay.

We've got to think Helen McNichol, and we need a plan.

What's your suggestion?

I would suggest that we look through the exhibitions and related reviews in

newspapers from the period McNichol was exhibiting in Canada to see if there's

anything in there that calls to mind this image.

So turning over a lot more stones, it's possible there may be a title that might

attach itself to this painting.

Hopefully so.

Back in England, I'm looking for clues to help us find a new title.

If Women of the Fields is wrong, could the right title be in the subject of the

painting?

It's a rural scene showing women working the land, but what exactly are they

doing?

To try and find out, I've come to one of the world's great gardens, the Royal

Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley.

Guy Barter is the RHS's chief horticultural advisor and a sage when it

answering tough questions about gardening.

Can Guy help identify what the women are doing in David's picture?

Guy, hello, very nice to see you.

I wanted to show you this painting that we're investigating, possibly by an

artist called Helen McNichol.

I just wondered what you think...

these girls, these young women are doing. They're obviously picking

but we couldn't quite work it out.

Yeah, it looks to me like it's what we call French beans, which are officially

known as Phaseolus vulgaris, and they appear to be lying on the ground, so it

would be dwarf French beans.

There's all sorts of colours. You can get purple, speckled, as well as the

ones. But I've not seen yellow before.

It's not that uncommon. We found a packet of seed in the garden centre.

Oh, yes.

That is what they look like, isn't it?

Where would you expect to find beans like this grown?

These are the French beans, like a bit warmer climate than Britain. So I'm

thinking northern France, Belgium, something like that.

Well, that's interesting, because we know that Helmut Nickel did paint in

France. And what about the women in the background?

Well, that's a real puzzle. They appear to have something laying on the ground,

and the woman in the far distance seems to be raking the stuff up, and the lady

in the foreground appears to be pulling something.

And I'm just wondering if it wasn't flax.

Flax was and is quite widely grown in northern France and Belgium for the

textile industry.

So you think this...

This brown stalker here, this is her pulling something out.

Well, it's a fort, if it is flax.

This painting is called Women of the Fields. We've no idea, to be honest, if

it's the right title or not.

Go on, Guy, take a stab. If you were going to title this painting, what would

you call it? Oh, I think I'd call it something prosaic, like Gathering Beans

Flax, or The Flax Rakers and Bean Gatherer, something like that.

Or you could just call it Midsummer Harvest, if you want to be poetical.

Well, it's as good a guess as anyone.

Guy, thank you so much. My pleasure.

As the search for a title continues, I've left Quebec and travelled several

hundred miles west to Toronto.

Not long after David bought the picture, he contacted Heffel Fine Art Auction

House to enquire about consigning it for sale.

A leading Canadian auctioneer, they've seen and sold a lot of McNichol's work.

I'm meeting National Director of Sales, Daniel Gillette.

Hello. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. At the time, the auction house

on David's request to sell this picture, and I'm keen to find out why.

So, Daniel, as the leading auctioneer for selling nickel, what do you look for

when you're trying to authenticate one?

Well, in every case, we look for typical styles.

We look for typical materials.

We look for provenance and we look for exhibition history.

And in the case of David's picture?

First of all, the title, Women of the Field, did not correspond to any known

works in our research to Helen McNichol.

And the image of the back had no information as to provenance or

The original stretcher is missing, and that is where...

In many cases, the information that we would be looking for on the back would

exist. So if one could find that information, would you be prepared to

reconsider? We would be very, very happy to review any information available

that's discovered.

With prices for McNichol's work at an all -time high, it's more important than

ever to find this missing evidence.

So I'm getting the impression that it's a good time to discover and sell a

McNichol.

McNichol's paintings are very rare to the market.

There are fewer than 300 known paintings, including watercolors.

died so young. Because she died so young. The Canadian art market is

Yes, I would say the moment is good.

I totally understand where Daniel and Heffels are coming from. I mean, we knew

this from the outset.

This looks like a McNicol, but it's got no backstory. It's got no provenance, no

exhibition history.

We've got to find that. We've got to complete this picture.

While Julie Nash trawls exhibition history for a title that fits, and with

new leads on the Pine Coffin provenance...

I'm going back over McNichol's early career.

During her time at the Slade School of Fine Art, McNichol would have learnt a

number of drawing and painting techniques.

Could understanding these better support the case for McNichol painting David's

picture?

I'm going to art school to find out.

We'll do about another ten minutes without the dressing gown.

Same drawing, same pose.

I've come to Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea.

A life class like this is something McNichol would have done regularly,

female and male subjects, a scene in her early sketches.

Tony Mott is the school's director of studies.

Well, Tony, thank you for allowing us into your life drawing class.

We know that Helen McNichol trained in life drawing. Just watching your

here, would it have been more or less the same for her?

I think largely yes, but perhaps one difference is it looks as though the

model was minimally covered.

He had modesty pants, doesn't he?

Can Tony help find any clues that could link David's picture to McNichol's?

This is the picture that we are looking at.

Do you look at this and think this is the work of someone who's academically

trained? Oh, definitely, because I can see they're aware of the way that colour

changes in the distance, so that's something that they probably would have

taught. As it goes from the green to the blue?

Yes, and also they're aware of the way that the marks with their paintbrush

creates a sense of depth, so there are larger marks in the foreground and

smaller marks in the background.

And the other thing that comes across very well is how they can capture an

object like the basket with very few marks.

So they have great facility.

How do you think a picture like this would have been painted? Do you think

a studio work or outdoors on plein air?

I don't think that they had three people motionless in a field with enough time

to paint this picture.

The pose on the left is quite a difficult one to hold for very long,

over like that. So the chances are it could have come from a quick drawing and

then elaborated on with paint.

So you think this is something that was probably done in the studio?

But with inspiration taken from outdoors, figures that the artist may

quickly sketched? Yes, I think so.

McNichol's sketchbooks include many studies of people from day to day life.

None that we found match exactly with the characters in David's picture.

But does Tony see any similarity in these preparatory sketches?

One thing I do notice is that she seems to like drawing the back view of people,

where people are doing something.

I think it's a man with a hoe or something like that.

He's arched over a little bit like this figure.

There do appear to be similarities between the hunched -over figures in

picture and the male figures working in McNichol's sketch.

She obviously liked seeing people...

Doing things. Doing real things, and often in difficult poses.

Yeah. Well, that is good to hear.

It feels like everything stylistically is adding up to McNicol.

But does David's picture stand up to scientific scrutiny?

The painting has arrived at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

where Head of Conservation Professor Aviva Burnstock has been subjecting it

forensic examination.

She's getting to grips with the materials and techniques that the artist

create David's picture.

Could Aviva's findings help establish whether McNicol painted it?

We're on our way to hear Aviva's assessment.

Hi Aviva. Hi.

This is David, the owner of the painting. Hi Aviva. Lovely to meet you.

And it's a while since we've seen your picture. It's wonderful, isn't it, in

that light?

Yeah, it's nice to see it in raking light. You can look at the condition of

picture and where the re -stretching has happened.

With intense light from the side, you can see the crease where the canvas was

folded over the smaller supporting frame.

Something that David tried to correct when he re -stretched it.

All the other edges I managed to flatten out with some catalogs on. But for some

reason that one didn't want to flatten.

You put catalogs on top of it?

Yeah, it's just solid auction catalogs. I've got thousands of them.

They're very good for weight.

I'm not sure if that's advised technique. No, it's not, no.

I was wondering when you restretched the painting onto the modern stretcher,

whether you noticed these vertical marks which might indicate that it had been

rolled at some point. I think you're right, yes.

We know that McNichol transported canvases to and from Canada.

Rolling a number of them together might have been more practical on a long

journey.

So could these marks have been caused by McNichol herself?

It's a tantalising thought.

But I'm hoping comparison with a genuine McNichol in Canada can link David's

picture more directly to the artist.

I've driven an hour south -west of Toronto.

to the art gallery of Hamilton to see McNichol's The Apple Gatherer.

Depicting a young woman harvesting fruit that's also stylistically similar, I'm

looking for other parallels to David's picture.

The gallery has agreed to have The Apple Gatherer analysed by a team of

conservators from Toronto Art Restoration.

I'm hoping science can reveal more, and sampling this genuine work will enable

us to understand McNichol's working methods and uncover any idiosyncrasies.

I'm meeting head conservator Alicia Coutts to hear what they've found.

So what observations have you made about this canvas that might help us?

Well, the artist might have prepared the canvas herself.

or she might have had a commercially primed canvas.

But either way, it's been primed all the way to the edge, and then it's been cut

before she starts painting on it, rather than stretching the canvas and priming

it. We measured the thread count.

We're looking at 8 vertical by 10 horizontal.

Those are the threads that make up the canvas per centimetre square. This

detail... is something we can use to compare with David's picture.

Okay, so what about the paint itself? Because, you know, Nicole seems very

conspicuous in the thickness and clarity of her paint.

Well, one thing that we've been looking at with our UV light is these hot pinks

that are coming up in different areas, not just in the face.

but in kind of localized areas throughout the impasto as well. Yeah,

Can you see them? They really shine out. They do. That fluorescing hot pink is

significant of a red lake pigment.

A red lake pigment. A red lake pigment. Which is what exactly?

It's a transparent pigment. So normally artists are going to use red lakes.

um in glazes and you use it to build up luminosity in the paint in some way okay

so it it it lies on the surface exactly but the way that mcnichol has

used it in this case is quite unconventional yes she is using it that

to warm some of her highlights and some of her shadows but in other areas the

red light pigment is mixed in right with the other colors

McNicol has used the Red Lake pigment in a traditional manner as a glaze in the

face and hands to give them a rosy glow, but more unusually, also mixed it with

other colours, like in the patch of ground beneath the tree.

It is a unique trait of this artist, so I'd say that if you were looking at

other paintings, I think it is something that she did.

Back in London.

Aviva has received this vital new information.

Does David's picture have characteristics that match the apple

So in terms of the canvas, the warp and weft of it, how does that compare to a

known Helen McNichol? Interestingly, it's exactly the same as the canvas

produced. Yeah, 8 by 10 warp and weft. I like the apple.

It's commercially primed canvas that would have been bought off a roll. So it

quite interesting that two paintings have the same canvas weave.

Could David's painting have come from the same cut of canvas as the apple

gatherer?

An intriguing thought.

But Aviva has something even more illuminating to reveal under ultraviolet

light.

You can see bright pink.

Fluorescent areas.

That's almost day glow, though, isn't it? Really bright fluorescent, so it's

some kind of organic lake pigment. And you can see it in the flesh paint in

particular and the shadows. It's really electric.

Certainly other artists will have used the pigment. It was probably available

commercially. But to use it specifically like this would be quite unusual.

For the flesh paint, but also other areas and highlights in the composition,

the background and the mid -ground, this is quite specific.

So when it comes to this... lake pigment.

How does that compare with the picture in Canada?

Well, the comparable painting in Canada, you can see very similar use of this

brightly fluorescing pink lake pigment.

So that is certainly looking very promising.

Can I sit down for a minute?

Well, that was so encouraging.

The technical analysis has really come up trumps, I think, for David's picture.

The canvas has exactly the same weave.

And then the use of the red lake pigment. I mean, that is idiosyncratic.

unusual.

But crucially, it's the same pigment used in the same way on a known Helen

McNichol, the apple gatherer.

It's not conclusive proof, but it looks really good.

Back in Canada, whispers that we might be investigating a potential Helen

McNichol have spread.

The billionaire collector, Pierre Lassonde, whose collection I saw in

wants to know more about David's picture.

He's requested we meet at his home in Toronto.

Well, well, well. So glad to meet you. Me too.

Yes, please, come on in.

Pierre has the largest private collection of McNichols in the world,

one of her most celebrated works, The Chintz Sofa.

He paid 888 ,000 Canadian dollars, over half a million pounds.

So, Pierre, this, am I right in thinking, is the record price for a

by McNichol? Yeah, it is.

It is, and I'm the fortunate individual who paid it.

Along with the rest of Pierre's collection, the chintz sofa will soon be

to Quebec as part of the upcoming major McNicol exhibition.

And Pierre has a plan for the collection's long -term future, too.

I have more McNicol than all of the museum in the world.

Think about this, OK? Like, does that make sense?

No. This collection should be in the public world, and it will be

gifted at some point. So that's more than likely where it's going to end up.

So as the world's biggest collector of nickel, you've obviously seen a lot.

Would you mind if we showed you ours?

I would love to see it.

So, first response.

Wow.

Wow.

Composition.

Incredible. The colors, that purple, that's so much mechanical, that purple

right here.

Everything speaks mechanical here. Everything.

Beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Well, you're speaking, I have to say, with great conviction because we have

to prove it.

So I'm going to ask you directly, would you, if all the evidence was there in

place, wish to add this to your collection?

Without a doubt.

Without a doubt, absolutely.

But I would have, number one, to see it, and number two, get a provenance.

Like, I want to know where it came from, okay?

And then number three, you know, we'd have to talk Turkey, we'd have to talk

price.

Okay, well, that's given us a lot to think about.

Of course, it does occur to me that David's discovery could end up as part

The National Collection of Canada, if indeed you gift your collection by the

sounds of it you intend.

Yeah, more than likely, I would say.

Well, it's going to make our job all the more pressing to try and prove what

this was called, where it might have been.

Good. Terrific.

This is a fir.

Before we even got to the finishing line, there is a buyer waiting in the

But like any collector, He wants to know where David's picture came from.

Without provenance, David may struggle to sell it.

Back from Canada, I'm keen to catch up with Fiona.

So it really feels we're getting warmer, but we're still lacking documented

history. Well, remember that name, I'm sure you've not forgotten it, Pine

Coffin, that we saw in the provenance?

Well, no -one from the family has any recollection of the painting.

But there was an artist in the family who was painting around the same time as

Helen Mitnickle. She was called Norma. She lived in Exeter. She exhibited in

London. She might have known Helen Mitnickle, perhaps.

I mean, given how unusual that name, Pine Coffin, is, it must be worth

out. And then the name of the painting, remember?

Women of the Field.

Now, there's no record of Helen Mitnickle having painted a picture

of the Field.

I mean, what do we think is going on in this picture?

Well, I mean, harvesting, picking something.

Picking something. Well, that's the thing. So having spoken to someone who

about plants, yellow French beans, that's the best guess.

And in fact, look, I've got from here, there's a seed packet with yellow French

beans in.

And do you see?

They do look just like that.

I can see exactly what you mean. You know, there's very clear swipes of...

Bright pigment.

I mean, that's brilliant.

Have you spilt the beans, as it were, to Julie Nash in Canada?

Like what you did there? Well, yes. We have spoken to Julie Nash, and she had a

look through Helen McNichol records, and she did have a painting called The Bean

Harvest.

And it was exhibited in Canada five times between 1912 and

1913.

But no -one knows where it is now.

I mean, this is potentially fantastic.

But then how does a picture that is exhibited within an inch of its life in

Canada then end up over here?

Well, we found out after a bit of digging that Helen McNichol did exhibit

England just a few months before her death in 1915.

And the painting she exhibited was The Bean Harvest.

And where was it exhibited?

Just up the road at the Royal Academy.

Which is where we need to go next.

In January 1915, the Royal Academy staged the War Relief Exhibition.

It was held a few months into the First World War to raise money for the Red

Cross and St John Ambulance Society.

It had royal patronage, and there were over 800 exhibits.

But crucially for us, it included one submission from Helen McNichol, the Bean

Harvest.

It was one of the last paintings McNichol exhibited before her untimely

from diabetes in June of the same year. By then, she'd amassed an impressive

exhibition record of more than 70 works in Britain and Canada.

The question is, is the bean harvest and David's picture one and the same?

So, David, this is the exhibition catalogue, War Relief Exhibition.

And what I'd like you to do is turn to page 17.

And then I want you to look at 2, 4, 1.

Oh, my God, yes.

The bean harvest, that works very well.

Helen McNichol, RBA.

A painting of this subject is not yet accounted for.

So there's a nice little sort of bean -shaped hole that possibly yours could

into. Yeah, it would be nice.

The bean harvest must have been a special painting for McNicol, exhibited

times in Canada, then shipped over to England to exhibit here at this

exhibition. But unfortunately, this catalogue has no photographs or

of the exhibits.

so we can't be 100 % sure that it is David's picture.

But a tantalising link to another artist has been found by the librarians here.

They've given me a catalogue from 1914.

I would like you just to turn your eye to a

reference to... Oh, yes, yes.

N .P. Coffin, The Call of the Wild.

Norma Pinecoffin was an artist in the early years of the 20th century.

So we have a woman artist exhibiting only a few months before

Helen McNicol exhibited at this same revered institution.

It's tempting to imagine that Helen McNicol and Norma Pinecoffin attended

of these exhibitions, that they met...

and even that the bean harvest passed from one to the other.

This could be the final missing link connecting David's picture to the pine

coffin provenance.

So how are you feeling about the chances of the painting now? I think you've

done wonderful. I mean, really, what you found, I think there's hope there.

I really do.

Following this latest discovery, we're feeling pretty confident that David's

picture is the missing McNicol exhibited as the bean harvest.

With no single authority recognised to authenticate McNicol, we've asked

Professor Samantha Burton for an expert opinion based on professional

photographs and our dossier of evidence.

A few days later...

We received a reply.

I think we're in a really strong position.

The picture looks like a McNicol. Everyone agrees.

The canvas maps is that of a known McNicol.

And that idiosyncratic use of Red Lake pigment is exactly the same.

We have come across the title of a lost picture that fits. The Bean Harvest.

And not only that, but a richly exhibited work in Canada and up the road

the Royal Academy.

We may also have made sense of that pine coffin provenance.

The question is, is it enough to swing it?

as a genuine McNichol.

Hello, David.

Hi there.

Lovely to meet you again.

Nice to see you.

And nice to see your painting. Yeah, lovely.

So this is it.

I've got the verdict here.

I'm frightened of it, honestly.

There's quite a lot riding on it.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's been a little while since we started this investigation.

And I would feel bad asking you this at this point.

If this is by Helen McNichol, what kind of value are we talking about?

So in the case of Helen McNichol, we're dealing with a rare artist.

There are about 300 works recorded by her. And if you compare that to one of

fathers of Impressionism, like Monet, for whom there are 2 ,000 works, you

realise what a key thing it is to be able to potentially add another. It

also be the only painting which she exhibited.

up the road at the Royal Academy.

Yes. I think we could be talking about a valuation of £300 ,000 and some.

But I've got to add, though, of course, if it's not, what did you pay for it?

£2 ,500.

You may be lucky and get your money back.

Shall I open this? OK.

OK, here we go. Here we go.

Emotional.

Oh, you're making a tear to my eye now as well, my goodness. Well done, well

done, well done. So grateful for all your work.

Wonderful.

Not only does Sam believe that David's picture is by Helen McNichol, but she

agrees it probably is the missing bean harvest.

The subject matters and the style of the painting looks very similar to others

he created at this stage of her career.

Just wonderful.

To add.

something through our work.

How thrilled are you?

Very.

Tears of happiness, I hope.

Absolutely.

What do you want to happen to this painting? When we met you first, you

thought you'd sell it.

I'm thinking, yes, I need to sell it.

I'm negotiating two or three flights of stairs at the moment.

Yes, I'm not...

Not in the best of health.

So this might facilitate you buying something else? Hopefully, yeah.

Somewhere on one level. On one level.

So it really is life -changing then? It is, absolutely, yes.

That life -changing moment may be getting closer.

The billionaire collector Pierre Lassonde has flown in from Toronto.

He's come to see David's picture in person.

Well, this is a first for us. We have an owner who wants to sell a painting and

we have a potential buyer coming all the way over from Canada to see it for

himself. I mean, it's about as exciting as it gets.

Having met Pierre, he's a... A serious collector, as serious as you get.

And he likes his McNichols.

It's going to be fascinating to see what happens.

If Pierre likes what he sees, will he make David an offer he can't refuse?

David is on his way back to the gallery to hear Pierre's thoughts.

Hello, David. Hello there.

David, could I introduce Pierre Lafonte?

It's very nice to meet you. Very nice to meet you.

You're the man of the hour.

So you saw an image of it with Philip, and now you're seeing it in the flesh. I

mean, what do you think about it?

But, you know, she's done it again. It's beautiful.

It really is magnificent.

So as the biggest collector of nickel, how do you rate this?

To be very candid, I would put it at like a 9 out of 10.

You've given it a 9 out of 10. That sounds like a high score, wouldn't you

David? It sounds like it.

You know what?

For a painting that's been missing for 110 years, I think it's fantastic.

I think your discovery was absolutely, you know, like, fantastic.

wouldn't mind adding one more piece to my collection.

They're all going to end up in a museum anyway.

I mean, you know, like we're only the temporary guardian of these

Well, look, it sounds to me like you need to have a private conversation away

from the cameras.

Whatever you decide, I'm glad that you've met and let us know what the

is. Okay, will do.

Okay, thank you so much.

Pierre made an offer.

And David is now considering his options.

There isn't a world in which former small -time art dealer David from

would meet billionaire art collector Pierre Lassonde from Canada were it not

this painting and their mutual love of Helen McNicol.

There's clearly more to come.

I'm just so happy for David. He went in there with his...

£2 ,500,

you know, big bet, and has discovered a treasure. It just shows it's still

possible.

If you think you have an undiscovered masterpiece or other precious object,

contact us at bbc .co .uk slash sake or fortune.