At the start of 20th century, wealthy American sisters Claribel and Etta Cone (1864–1929 and 1870–1949, respectively) amassed one of the world's finest collections of modern art, including many works by the French Fauvist painter Henri Matisse (1869–1954). Presenter Michael Palin travels to the Italian city of Florence, the source of their passion for art, and tours their apartment-turned-gallery in Baltimore, Maryland.
Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916) was a mysterious recluse of an artist, whose work had worldwide acclaim at the turn of the 19th century, but whose intriguing painting style fell into oblivion after the First World War. Michael discovers how a meticulous painter with a relatively little body of work has gone from relative obscurity to a situation today where his paintings are much sought after and now fetch up to £340,000 at auction, with private collectors in Europe, America, and Japan.