The Lost Leonardo

Real life events in the art world make for a mesmerising tale on film.

2021 is proving to be a terrific year for documentaries. Viktor Kossakovskiy’s astonishingly risk-taking Gunda, the film that finds greatness in closely observing a pig and her litter, may be the most outstanding of all, but we have also had such memorable works as A Space in Time and Kipchoge: The Last Milestone. Not far behind come Assassins, The Dissident and Pariah Dog and now we have yet another title to add to the list. The Lost Leonardo is an absolute corker. It’s far from being the first accomplished documentary about the art world, but this one has a compelling narrative so riveting that it puts it in a league of its own among films about painters and painting.

The opening of The Lost Leonardo does not immediately reveal its special qualities suggesting as it does an interesting but hardly exceptional piece. It starts with Alexander Parrish and Robert Simon telling us how back in 2005 they purchased a picture in New Orleans which, though in poor condition, caught their eye as a work that might well be worth a great deal more than was being asked for it. They would take their acquisition to the art restorer Dianne Dwyer Modestini (she too being featured here) and before long it looked as though the picture could be the ‘Salvator Mundi’ painted by Leonardo around 1500 and long treated as a lost work. Critics and specialist experts were soon encouraged to voice their opinion and despite the doubters the restored painting was exhibited in 2008 in London’s National Gallery (curator Luke Syson explains the reasoning behind that decision).

As directed by Andreas Koefoed and edited by Nicolás Nørgaard Staffolani, these initial scenes hold us from the very start. But, if thus far the film is akin to a particularly good edition of the TV programme Fake or Fortune?, what really counts is the way in which the story develops from there. Told in three parts ('The Art Game', 'The Money Game' and 'The Global Game'), The Lost Leonardo becomes a detailed and often caustic look at how in the 21st century great art can be treated as a valuable commodity. More than one journalist contributes to the film which, as it follows the story of this particular painting and its ultimate fate, reveals the commercial side of the art world driven by greed and profit-making. These elements can all too often be present among art dealers as well as among those who build a reputation on their knowledge and those who run auction houses. The latter’s role is enhanced by advisers to billionaires who today may well advise investment in paintings as a way of preserving wealth bearing in mind they can be hidden away for safety or kept in freeports at airports where, because they are theoretically in transit, they can escape territorial regulations.

Wisely, Koefoed lets his interviewees express a range of views and not just on the subject of whether or not the recovered painting is the authentic Leonardo. This leaves the audience to draw their own conclusions and you can read as you wish the end credit which thanks those most directly involved for sharing their stories. One could wish for a more succinct ending and I for one regret a few brief insertions that are no more than needless re-enactments linked to what is being said. But that is to quibble. The Lost Leonardo has all the power of a tale that is constantly surprising us and it will leave most audiences discussing in a lively way its revelations about how the art world functions today. No question at all about the quality of this rewarding and illuminating documentary: it hits the bull’s eye.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Jerry Saltz, Robert Simon, Alexander Parrish, Luke Syson, Yves Bouvier, Maria Teresa Fiorio, Doug Patterson, David Kirkpatrick, Bradley Hope, Didier Rykner.

Dir Andreas Koefoed, Pro Andreas Dalsgaard and Christoph Jörg, Screenplay Duska Zagorac, Andreas Dalsgaard, Christian Kirk Muff, Mark Monroe and Andreas Koefoed, Ph Adam Jandrup, Ed Nicolás Nørgaard Staffolani, Music Sveinung Nygaard.

Elk Film/Mantaray Film/Pumpernickel Films-Dogwoof Pictures.
96 mins. Denmark/France. 2021. Rel: 10 September 2021. Cert. 15.