Can you spot the difference between the work of a master artist and an imitator?
That’s the question Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge, a new show from Sky Arts, is proposing. The production has teamed up with six museums across the United Kingdom, and slipped a fake piece of art into major exhibitions to entice viewers to spend more time studying the work before them.
Of those who currently identify the fraudulent works, ten will be selected to appear on the show’s finale, with the winner taking home a commissioned copy of one of the masterpieces.
“You don’t have to be an art historian to have a go at this,” says Sky Arts director Phil Edgar-Jones and, in fact, the very point of the competition is to draw in those with only a budding interest in the art world. It’s the latest example of the slow art movement in action, an initiative designed to set a more contemplative pace to a viewer’s trip through museums and galleries alike.
Each episode of the show will focus on a period of British art, mirroring the themes of the seven exhibitions involved in the competition.
The fake paintings will hang in the galleries of Manchester Art Gallery, National Museum Cardiff, Guildhall Art Gallery London, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the Walker Art Art Gallery Liverpool, and the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral, until August 1st.
Those who wish to test their appraisal skills outside of the UK can do so through the official website, www.skyartsfake.com. Good luck!