Is this really a fake Monet painting?

Imagine being convinced you own an old master, but repeatedly being told it's a fake.

That is what art collector David Joel says has happened to him and he has spent nearly two decades trying to get his Monet accepted as genuine.

It looks authentic and carries Claude Monet's signature on the bottom right hand corner.

But Mr Joel could never put it up for auction because officially it is a fake - but he is convinced otherwise.

Now aged 82, he can still recall the day he first saw the painting and fell in love with it - although initially it was well beyond his price range.

He said: "I first saw it in a sale room in Norwich. I couldn't possibly afford it because it was supposed to go for £500,000. I really loved it but there was nothing I could do about it.

"Two years later I heard there was a possibility I could buy it from the owner and I bought it for £40,000."
Missing Monet

Mr Joel believed the painting Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil was a missing Monet. It shows a scene identified as close to the painter's home on the Seine outside Paris. A note on the frame suggests it was painted in 1875.

However his exhaustive attempts to get accredited have so far failed.

The final word on whether it is genuine rests with a handful of individuals in a billionaire family of art collectors, dealers and art scholars - the Wildensteins.

The Wildensteins have, since the early 20th Century, been considered one of the world's leading authorities on painting, particularly the work of the Impressionists.

Without their approval, any scientific claim about the validity of the painting is worthless.

They adjudicate on all claims over Monet paintings. Their decision is final and there is no right of appeal.

Mr Joel has exchanged dozens of letters with the Wildensteins but without success.

"I have been trying for 18 years now to get Wildenstein to accept it for his catalogue. It is a long haul but I shall win in the end I think."

Art dealer and Antiques Roadshow expert Philip Mould said if the painting could be authenticated it would be worth a great deal more than £40,000.

"If it were included in the book it would be a very different picture. People would look at it differently, people would value it differently. It could be worth over £1m."
Long process

Mr Mould believes there are many other pictures out there with a greatness yet to be fully realised.