PEOPLE in the Liverpool area have proved the best fake-busters in Britain in a clever detective challenge set up by TV producers.
At art galleries across the country, including the Walker in Liverpool the Lady Lever in Port Sunlight, genuine masterpieces worth millions of pounds were secretly switched to worthless copies.
But how many people would spot the difference?
Not many in London. Not many in Manchester. Yet 70 per cent of viewers at the Walker Art Gallery weren't having the wool pulled over their eyes. They detected which masterpieces had been switched, the highest level in the country. Across the river at Lady Lever the detection rate was 59 percent, the second highest.
The experiment started overnight on July 1, when millions of pounds worth of priceless paintings by celebrated British atists were switched for copies at museums and galleries around the UK.
The stunt was part of Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge a series for Sky Arts being screened next year and starring Giles Coren.
But it's not over yet. Until August 1, members of the public of all ages are being invited to use their detective skills to spot seven copies hiding in plain sight on the walls of six galleries. As well as the Walker and Lady Lever, the fakes are on show in Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester. All seven displays are also available for investigation online, via the competition website.
At the Walker the copy is hidden amongst paintings of Animal and Sporting Art from the 18th and 19thcenturies
At Lady Lever, the copy is placed amid a collection of Golden Age English Portraiture by the likes of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and George Romney.
Merseyside art-spotters are the most perceptive with 70 percent of respondents so far identifying fakes among a collection of animal paintings at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, while 59 percent have correctly identified a fake English portrait at Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral. It also seems portrait paintings are generally easiest to detect, with 41percent have also correctly identified fake portraits of The Stuart Courts at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
But people have been struggling with landscapes and scenes, with only 16 percent of entrants discovering the fake amongst scenes of Victorian life at Guildhall Art Gallery in London and only 14 percent managing to identify the right British landscape painting at the National Museum Cardiff.
Along the M62 fewer than 10 percent have spotted a fake urban landscape amongst the Lowry and Valettes at Manchester Art Gallery
The Lasy Lever Art Gallery where 59 percent of people can spot a jarg masterpiecePhil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, said: “We’ve been thrilled with the response to the competition so far. People are really getting up close to these wonderful paintings and having fun discovering the joys of British Artist. I’m impressed by the level of success in Merseyside – do they have a better eye for detail than the rest of the country?
Scotland is also doing well, but there’s still time for art spotters in London, Manchester and Cardiff to prove their powers of detection! It’s a great activity to do with the kids in the holidays.”
Charlotte Keenan, curator of British art at National Museums Liverpool, said: “The findings support what we've known for many years - here in Liverpool we have an incredibly engaged audience who know and love our collections. Liverpool has a long and diverse history of creativity, and we're a confident bunch when it comes to sharing our thoughts and ideas about art.”
The competition is open to all ages until August 1, with the chance for those who correctly identify the most fakes to be invited to take part in the series finale. These finalists will compete to win a specially commissioned copy of their very own.
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