Is It? The Art Mystery Podcast

Noah Charney
  • 4.0 (4)
  • Visual Arts
  • Updated Monthly

Is It? is a brand new podcast on art history’s mysteries. In each episode, we ask the question of whether a certain painting is by a certain famous artist. These are puzzle paintings, works that have divided and confounded scholars, sometimes for centuries. To answer this question, we bring in a guest expert, a specialist in the artist in question. And we also bring in an expert in AI authentication from Art Recognition. While our guest expert is the star of the show, we’ve also conducted a cutting edge, brand new AI analysis of the painting in question—and we’ll reveal what it says in the final part of this episode. The podcast is hosted by award-winning presenter and best-selling art historian, Professor Noah Charney. We cover suspected works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Van Eyck and many more. So subscribe and listen for free wherever you get podcasts to find out: Is it? This series is sponsored by Art Recognition, a Zurich-based AI art analysis firm that tests the works featured in each episode. It is produced by Urska Charney.

  1. Is It a Basquiat? with Magnus Resch

    6d ago

    Is It a Basquiat? with Magnus Resch

    In Orlando a museum exhibited what it was claimed were a lost cache of 25 Basquiat paintings. Then the FBI raided and seized them. In this episode, we used cutting edge AI technology to check those 25 paintings to see if any might actually be by Basquiat, or were all of them forgeries? Joining us is art market expert Magnus Resch and Art Recognition founder, Carina Popovici.  We covered a wide array of other topics, including tips from Magnus on how to recognize when a deal for an artwork is too good to be true, how he sees the future of AI use as a first line of inquiry for authenticating art, and Magnus introduces his new app, the eponymous Magnus, which functions like Shazam for artworks: snap a photo and it will tell you the artwork, the artist, and its estimated value. Listeners will find a download code (NOAH50), to give them early access to the beta version. Learn more about Art Recognition here: https://art-recognition.com Learn more about Magnus Resch here: https://www.magnusresch.com Download the Magnus app wherever you get your apps or here: https://magnus.net

    42 min
  2. Is It a Modigliani? with Georgina Adam

    May 6

    Is It a Modigliani? with Georgina Adam

    In the spring of 2026 a new Modigliani catalogue raisonne was published. It was the first catalogue raisonne to include a painting previous not attributed to the artist in question, now authenticated using AI. It is one of the countless examples of symbiosis, when the connoisseur and the AI image analysis agree. But the catalogue opens up other questions--some 15 works attributed to Modigliani in past catalogues were downgraded, no longer considered his work, while some 100 others were added, a huge number for an artist for whom a single work can command millions. To discuss this, I invited Carina Popovici, founder of Art Recognition, and Georgina Adam, an acclaimed British art journalist specializing in the art market.  To learn more about Georgina Adam, click here. To learn more about Art Recognition, click here. To learn more about the catalogue raisonne, click here.

    33 min
  3. Is It a Bronzino? with Bruce Edelstein

    Mar 31

    Is It a Bronzino? with Bruce Edelstein

    This episode features a portrait of Eleonora de Toledo, the wife of Duke Cosimo de Medici and an impressive woman, indeed. But is this portrait of her by the Medici court painter Bronzino? Or by his pupil and devoted follower Alessandro Allori? To explore who made this painting, we spoke with Bruce Edelstein, a professor and researcher based in Florence who is part of the global network of NYU. He is also a Bronzino specialist and has written a book on Eleonora. We are also joined by Alessandra Conti from Art Recognition who explains the cutting edge AI image analysis and how to interpret the results. So...it is a Bronzino? Or an Allori? Tune in to find out!   To learn more about Bruce and his work, click here. To learn more about Art Recognition, click here.

    40 min
  4. Can AI Solve an Art Theft? Interview with Steve Berry on the Ghent Altarpiece

    Feb 28

    Can AI Solve an Art Theft? Interview with Steve Berry on the Ghent Altarpiece

    In this special episode, we chat with Steve Berry. Steve is the mega bestselling author of thoughtful art and artefact treasure hunt thrillers. He has sold over 26 million books and counting, selling an average of a book every thirty seconds. His thrillers are deeply researched and include a note from the author section clarifying what has been changed to suit the plot, so that the reader will be clear on what is fact and where the fiction begins. Noah was Steve's expert consultant for the novel "The Omega Factor," which features Jan van Eyck's "Ghent Altarpiece." For this episode, Art Recognition tested the famous Judges panel from the altarpiece, which was stolen in 1934 and never recovered. Or was it? A conservator in the 1970s theorized that the replacement panel, painted by infamous restorer (and art forger) Jef van der Veken might actually be the stolen panel, painted over to surreptitiously return it to the cathedral of St Bavo from which it was stolen. Art Recognition's AI image analysis will determine whether this was the case, or if the missing panel is still out there. Along the way Steve and Noah chat about writing, research, van Eyck...and Noah introduces Steve to AI image analysis.   To learn more about Steve Berry and his books, click here: https://steveberry.org To learn more about Art Recognition, click here: https://art-recognition.com To learn more about "The Ghent Altarpiece" consider reading Noah's book, "Stealing the Mystic Lamb: The True Story of the World's Most Coveted Masterpiece."

    36 min
  5. Is It a Said? with Jehane Ragai

    Jan 31

    Is It a Said? with Jehane Ragai

    In this episode, we’re turning our attention to the work of Mahmoud Sa'id, one of the most important and influential figures in modern Egyptian art. Trained in Europe yet deeply rooted in Egyptian culture, Sa’id created a body of work that blends academic technique with a distinctly local vision. His paintings occupy a central place in the history of twentieth-century Egyptian modernism—and they also raise important questions about attribution, variation, and legacy.   To discuss a painting that she selected for AI image analysis, I’m joined by Jehane Ragai, emeritus professor of chemistry at the American University in Cairo. Professor Ragai is a pioneer in the scientific analysis of artworks, with decades of experience applying chemistry and materials science to questions of attribution, authenticity, and conservation. Her work has been especially influential in the study of modern Egyptian painting, where scientific evidence can play a crucial role in clarifying complex art-historical and market questions. She’s the author of two excellent books that are sitting on my shelf: "The Scientist and the Forger" and "Technical Art History."   I’m also joined by Batu Arda Düzgün, AI Developer at Art Recognition, where he works at the intersection of machine learning, visual analysis, and art authentication. Batu develops systems that analyze artistic patterns at a level of scale and precision impossible for the human eye alone, offering new tools for understanding authorship, consistency, and deviation within an artist’s oeuvre.   Let's ask the question: Is it a Sa'id?

    33 min
  6. Is It a Van Eyck? with Till-Holger Borchert

    12/31/2025

    Is It a Van Eyck? with Till-Holger Borchert

    This episode of Is It? the art mystery podcasts looks at a small painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art which is largely attributed to Jan van Eyck: "Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata." But is it actually by van Eyck? To discuss this and the results of the cutting-edge AI image analysis by Art Recognition, I'll speak with Till-Holger Borchert, director of the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen, and an authority on van Eyck.  To see the painting in question, displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art click here. To see the other version of the painting, displayed at the Sabauda Gallery in Turin, click here. To learn more about Till-Holger Borchert, click here. To learn more about Art Recognition, click here.

    43 min
  7. Is It Responsible? Guidelines for the Use of AI for Art Authentication

    11/30/2025

    Is It Responsible? Guidelines for the Use of AI for Art Authentication

    This episode is about the Guidelines on the Ethical Use of AI for Image Analysis in Art Authentication. AI is everywhere, but that means that the term is being used with sometimes reckless abandon. For any serious field—like art attribution—it’s important to lay out recommendations for how best, most transparently, and most effectively to use AI.   These guidelines were developed jointly by Art Recognition and the Center for Art Law (with a little help from me), and they offer a framework for how artificial intelligence can be used responsibly, transparently, and collaboratively in the authentication of artworks. To discuss the guidelines, I’ve invited Carina Popovici, co-founder of Art Recognition and a past guest on this podcast, and Irina Tarsis, the founder of the Center for Art Law. The three of us were the main drivers of these guidelines, with significant feedback and input from a variety of others, many lawyers working with the Center for Art Law.   See the Guidelines themselves by visiting https://art-recognition.com/ or https://itsartlaw.org/ or direct download here.

    36 min
  8. Is It a De La Tour? with Veronique Plesch

    10/31/2025

    Is It a De La Tour? with Veronique Plesch

    Today’s mystery centers on a painter of light and silence—Georges de La Tour. His candlelit saints and beggars are hauntingly still, so perfect in their quiet intensity that they almost seem modern. But as with many great artists, the line between what’s real, what’s a copy, and what’s an outright forgery can get blurry. To help us untangle this mystery, I’m joined once again by Carina Popovici, co-founder and CEO of Art Recognition, the Swiss company using artificial intelligence to authenticate artworks. And with us for the first time, my own former professor at Colby College, art historian Veronique Plesch. Together, we’re going to test a painting that just might be by one of France’s most enigmatic masters.

    46 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Is It? is a brand new podcast on art history’s mysteries. In each episode, we ask the question of whether a certain painting is by a certain famous artist. These are puzzle paintings, works that have divided and confounded scholars, sometimes for centuries. To answer this question, we bring in a guest expert, a specialist in the artist in question. And we also bring in an expert in AI authentication from Art Recognition. While our guest expert is the star of the show, we’ve also conducted a cutting edge, brand new AI analysis of the painting in question—and we’ll reveal what it says in the final part of this episode. The podcast is hosted by award-winning presenter and best-selling art historian, Professor Noah Charney. We cover suspected works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Van Eyck and many more. So subscribe and listen for free wherever you get podcasts to find out: Is it? This series is sponsored by Art Recognition, a Zurich-based AI art analysis firm that tests the works featured in each episode. It is produced by Urska Charney.

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