Sky Arts plots art heist format

UK satellite channel Sky Arts has commissioned a series in which priceless works of art are removed from galleries and the public challenged to deduce the fakes.

Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge sees seven paintings from celebrated British artists were removed from venues such as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery last night.

Only the production team and presenters Giles Coren and Rose Balston (pictured) know which have been changed for copies, and members of the public are invited to spend July detecting which are fake to win a spot in the finale and potentially win a specially commissioned copy of their own.

Each episode of the format, which Banijay Group’s IWC Media is producing, will focus on a different period in British art, and feature interviews with curators and contemporary artists, who have created the replacement art from scratch.

“You don’t have to be an art historian to have a go at this,” said Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts. “All you need is a sense of curiosity and an eye for detail.

“We wanted to tell the story of British art with a sense of fun, and in a way that would encourage us all to take a closer and more critical look at the works of great British artists.”

The show will record throughout July and August and screen in 2017.