BBC Fake Or Fortune star has 'find of lifetime' as item set to fetch eye-watering price

A participant in BBC's Fake or Fortune? has uncovered what's being dubbed the "find of a lifetime", with the item is now expected to sell for a staggering sum at auction. Art expert and broadcaster Philip Mould was left stunned on Monday's episode after stumbling upon a painting with an astonishing historical and financial value. The rare discovery, unearthed during filming for the hit BBC programme, is now being hailed as one of the show's most jaw-dropping moments to date.

Robjn Cantus, who lives near Cambridge, bought the picture in 2019, when Hertfordshire County Council sold off its mid-20th-century art collection. Attributed to Vera Cunningham, he now believed it was by Frances Hodgkins (1869-1947), and he said he "bought it because it was the right price, £35 isn't a lot".

Robjn posted a photograph of the painting on his blog and thought no more about it until 2021, when someone contacted him to suggest it might be by Ms Hodgkins.

When he took it out of the frame, he discovered another painting on the reverse side of the canvas. After having the painting authenticated, show host Fiona Bruce couldn't hide her shock at the potential value of it as a genuine Frances Hodgkin painting, commenting: "It's the find of a lifetime!"

Despite the fact that the painting could be worth up to £50,000, Robjn insisted he would want to "frame and keep it". "I stopped thinking about the painting when I cycled back from London with it in a Primark bag," he added.

Explaining how he came to acquire the highly sought-after item, Robjn shared: "The painting came up for sale as some of the less important works from the Hertfordshire Council Pictures for Schools Scheme in 2019. I went on a bit of a trolley dash buying the works, as many were not expensive and there were many items in each lot." Robjn needed illustrations for a book he has since written on Pictures for Schools.

The council made more than £440,000 from its initial sale of the artworks. A council spokesperson said the sell-off followed a review of its collection and a public consultation. "We sold a number of works judged to have little or no significance to Hertfordshire at auction in 2019... with the money raised being invested in local services," they said.

Fake or Fortune airs Mondays on BBC One at 21:00 BST.