An Australian artist has been accused of copying the work of two artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, in paintings she has won prizes for in Australia.
Jane Allan, an artist based in Lennox Head, a seaside town located about two hours south of Brisbane, is at the center of a controversy regarding her paintings, as reported by multiple Australian news outlets.
Earlier this week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Philip Bacon, an art dealer based in Brisbane, had accused Allan of creating a “blatant copy” of a 2011 painting by Nicholas Harding, whose estate Bacon represents. Allan’s Seascape Explorers won in the landscape category of the 2025 edition of the Doyles Art Awards, which was established in 2004 and now comes with a prize of 20,000 Australian dollars (about $13,800).
Bacon told the outlet that Seascape Explorers is “exactly the same” as Harding’s Two Estuary Figures (2011), with the main difference being in scale as Allan “has obviously just expanded it out, but the placement of the figures, the treatment of the canvas, the placement of the rocks and the sea, everything looks like the little original.” Both figures feature two rough-hewn figures in a semi-abstract landscape, with thick applications of paint. Bacon said Harding’s Two Estuary Figures sold at a 2011 auction for $14,000 and is not well known.
Bacon raised his concerns during the run of the 2026 edition, which is currently on view through June 28. In response, the awards’ organizers, per ABC, released a statement saying, “It appears as though one of last year’s winning works is an imitation of a Nicholas Harding artwork. We have no idea why this has only emerged now, but we thank our local community for once again having each other’s [and our] backs.” Jennifer Doyle, who cofounded the awards, told ABC that the situation was “a disgrace. Why would you do that? If you’ve got the skill to do it, can’t you think of something to paint for yourself?”
The Doyle Awards added, “Know that we are taking this seriously and need time to work through our processes,” per the Brisbane Times. Harding’s son, Samuel, told the paper, “Artists of Nicholas Harding’s stature inevitably influence others. … But influence and imitation are very different things. This incident is a reminder of the importance of due diligence, provenance and respect for artists’ intellectual property.”
After this initial news broke, the Guardian reported that the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, the nation’s capital, stated that another Allan painting, Weight of the Mind’s Periapt (2021), was “clearly influenced” by Basquiat’s 1982 canvas Untitled (Two Heads on Gold). Allan’s work was a 2022 finalist for the Darling Portrait Prize, which is administered by the National Portrait Gallery. It ended up winning that year’s Art Handlers’ Award, which comes with 2,000 Australian dollars ($1,380). The museum declined to comment further on the situation, according to the Guardian.
Basquiat’s 1982 painting, which last sold for $4.6 million at a Sotheby’s evening sale in 2003, features two figures facing each other, against a mostly sea green background. Allan’s 2021 work has similarities to the right-hand figure, as the center of each figures’ face is rendered in the same block-like fashion, with bronze eyes, a grid-like open mouth, and an upside-down, T-shaped nose.
Allan has not yet responded to the allegations, and ARTnews has been unable to contact her. ARTnews has also reached out to the Basquiat estate for comment.
