Award-winning artist accused of copying second artwork

Wed 24 Jun 2026 at 5:13pm

Wed 24 Jun 2026 at 5:13pm

An Australian artist who won a $20,000 prize for a painting copied from another artist is being accused of a second case of imitation.

Lennox Head artist Jane Allan was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize in 2022 and won the $2,000 Art Handler's award.

Her work, titled Weight of the Mind's Periapt, bears similarities to a 1982 painting by renowned American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat called Untitled (Two Heads on Gold).

Allan has been in the spotlight this week after being found to have "blatantly copied" a painting by Nicholas Harding to win The Doyles Landscape Art Award last year, which is worth $20,000.

'Plodding plagiarism': art historian

Australian National University art historian and critic Sasha Grishin said both of Allan's artworks were clear imitations.

"When you actually look at the [2022] painting, yes, it's a dead ringer for the Jean-Michel Basquiat painting," Mr Grishin said.

"These two images certainly are not original, authentic works by the artist.

"They rely very, very heavily on the art of two very well-known, sadly deceased artists.

"This is not sort of a casual inspiration, this is a plodding plagiarism."

'Clearly influenced by Basquiat'

In her artist statement for the Darling Portrait Prize, Allan described her work as a portrait of her "inspirational primary carer" who had provided support "after a truck ran into me resulting in spinal cord injury which robbed me of my independence".

A spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery said when Allan's work was selected for the Art Handlers' Award, the gallery handlers noted the artist was "clearly influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat".

"While the gallery regularly reviews the terms and conditions of its prizes, it has always required artists to declare that they are submitting an original artwork," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Allan's artwork is not part of the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Gold Coast City councillor Glenn Tozer, who sponsors The Doyles, said the prize's committee had been in contact with Allan and lawyers were discussing whether it was possible to recover the $20,000 prize money.

The ABC could not directly reach Allan for comment.