A BYFLEET primary school has successfully completed its own art investigation in the style of the popular BBC programme Fake or Fortune.

At the start of the week, all the children at St Mary’s in Byfleet were shown a painting of people by a river, possibly Bathers at Asnières by the French artist, Georges Seurat.

They were set the task of finding out about Seurat’s pictures and a painting technique called pointillism, which is associated with the artist, to discover whether the picture was a genuine Seurat.

The children had great fun looking at a variety of paintings by Seurat and learning to paint in his style. They also learnt about colour and colour mixing.

By the end of the week, the children were experts at explaining why they thought the picture shown to them was not actually a painting by Seurat.

It was, in fact, by the British artist Howard Hodgkin, an admirer of Seurat’s work.

Each class had a part of Bathers at Asnières to recreate, and the finished article, now put together, looks amazing in the hall.

Debbie Tearle, the art and design co-ordinator at St Mary’s, said: “It was our first ‘Take One Picture’ week and also our first Fake or Fortune-style investigation.

“The children were able to compare and criticise the two paintings, and in the end solve the mystery. Well done to them!”