‘Britain’s Lost Masterpieces’

BBC4

Simon is the resident conservator expert on the BBC programme ‘Britain’s Lost Masterpieces’, now in its fifth season.

The programme, which is presented by art historian Bendor Grosvenor and social historian Emma Dabiri, discovers artworks that belong to the nation, but which, for whatever reason, have been lying forgotten and unrecognised in storage in collections around the UK, with uncertain or broad attributions such as ‘artist unknown’ or ‘Flemish School’. Simon and our team of conservators carefully remove any disfiguring overpaint and obscuring varnishes to reveal the artist’s original paint, and carry out scientific research into the artwork’s origins and makeup. Our work on the programme has resulted in these artworks being rediscovered as paintings of note by great artists, from Rembrandt to Titian.

We are proud of our involvement in contributing to the evolving understanding of both individual artists and art history itself. As the paintings are often held in small, local collections, rather than national museums, such attribution work helps to generate public interest in paintings and collections that may previously have been overlooked, adding new treasures to Britain’s rich and varied national collection.