Australian Artist Jane Allan Faces Copying Allegations Over Prizewinning Works
An Australian artist is facing scrutiny over two paintings that won recognition in separate competitions, with accusations now linking her work to both Nicholas Harding and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The dispute has drawn in award organizers, a major museum, and the estate of a late Australian painter, raising familiar questions about influence, imitation, and intellectual property in contemporary art.
Jane Allan, who is based in Lennox Head, a seaside town about two hours south of Brisbane, won the landscape category of the 2025 Doyles Art Awards for Seascape Explorers. Philip Bacon, a Brisbane dealer who represents the estate of Nicholas Harding, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the painting is a “blatant copy” of Harding’s Two Estuary Figures (2011). Bacon said the two works are “exactly the same” apart from scale, pointing to the placement of the figures, the handling of the canvas, and the arrangement of the rocks and sea.
The Doyles Art Awards, which were established in 2004 and now carry a prize of 20,000 Australian dollars, about $13,800, said the matter is being taken seriously. The organization said it needs time to work through its processes. Jennifer Doyle, who cofounded the awards, called the situation “a disgrace,” while Harding’s son, Samuel, said the episode underscores the importance of due diligence, provenance, and respect for artists’ intellectual property.
The controversy widened after the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra said Allan’s Weight of the Mind’s Periapt (2021) was “clearly influenced” by Basquiat’s Untitled (Two Heads on Gold) (1982). Allan’s painting was a finalist for the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize and won that year’s Art Handlers’ Award, which comes with 2,000 Australian dollars, or $1,380. Basquiat’s 1982 canvas last sold for $4.6 million at a Sotheby’s evening sale in 2003.
Allan has not responded to the allegations. The episode now places two of her prizewinning works under a cloud, and it may prompt closer scrutiny of how Australian competitions assess originality before handing out awards.
