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Award-winning artist accused of copying second artwork

Jane Allan, who won a $20,000 art prize for a painting alleged to be a copy of a Nicholas Harding work, is now accused of imitating a Jean-Michel Basquiat piece in a 2022 portrait prize entry. The Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 3 articles Version 1 Coverage Jun 23–24, 2026 Published Aug 15

Lead

Australian artist Jane Allan is facing a second plagiarism accusation after her prize-winning painting was found to bear similarities to a work by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Allan, from Lennox Head, won the $2,000 Art Handler's award at the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize for her painting Weight of the Mind's Periapt, which the National Portrait Gallery acknowledged was "clearly influenced" by Basquiat's 1982 work Untitled (Two Heads on Gold).

The revelation comes as Allan is already under scrutiny for winning the $20,000 Doyles Landscape Art Award last year with a painting that art dealer Philip Bacon called a "blatant copy" of Nicholas Harding's Two Estuary Figures. The Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money.

Coverage Comparison

ABC Australia reported that Allan's 2022 painting, which was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize, bears similarities to Basquiat's work. The National Portrait Gallery, which runs the prize, acknowledged the similarity but declined to comment further. The Guardian also noted the gallery's acknowledgment and described Allan's work as "clearly influenced" by Basquiat.

Both outlets covered the earlier accusation regarding The Doyles award. ABC Australia quoted Philip Bacon, a Brisbane-based art dealer, who said Allan's Seascape Explorers was a "blatant copy" of Harding's painting, noting that "the placement of the figures, the treatment of the canvas, the placement of the rocks and the sea, everything looks like the little original." The Guardian reported that the Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money.

Key Claims

Jane Allan won the $2,000 Art Handler's award for her painting Weight of the Mind's Periapt at the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize.
Her painting bears similarities to Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled (Two Heads on Gold), a 1982 work.
Allan was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize in 2022.
She won The Doyles Landscape Art Award last year with a painting similar to Nicholas Harding's work.
The Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money.
Glenn Tozer, a figure associated with the competition, defended the judges who did not pick up on the imitation until this year's exhibition was already underway.
The award committee is now investigating ways to verify the originality and authenticity of future submissions.

Perspectives

National Portrait Gallery: A spokesperson said that when Allan's work was selected for the Art Handlers' Award, the gallery handlers noted the artist was "clearly influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat." The gallery declined to comment further on the similarities.

Art critic Sasha Grishin: The Australian National University art historian and critic said both of Allan's artworks were clear imitations, describing the 2022 painting as "a dead ringer" for the Basquiat work and calling the overall pattern "plodding plagiarism."

Art dealer Philip Bacon: He said Allan's Doyles-winning work was a "blatant copy" of Harding's painting, noting the only difference was scale. He added that copying was "totally unacceptable."

The Doyles committee: In a statement, organisers said it appeared one of last year's winning works was "an imitation" of a Nicholas Harding artwork, and they were investigating and considering recovering the prize money.

How each outlet told it

ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC

Framing: Accusation of plagiarism — Critical

Facts Included:

Jane Allan won the $2,000 Art Handler's award
Her work bears similarities to a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Allan was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize in 2022
She won The Doyles Landscape Art Award last year, worth $20,000
The award is being questioned due to similarities to a Nicholas Harding painting

Read the source article →

ABC Australia as of Jun 23, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC

Framing: Plagiarism scandal — Critical

Facts Included:

Jane Allan's painting won a $20,000 art prize last year
The painting is a 'blatant copy' of Nicholas Harding's Two Estuary Figures
The Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money
The committee is looking into ways to verify originality and authenticity in future submissions
Glenn Tozer defends the competition judges

Read the source article →

The Guardian — World as of Jun 24, 2026, 4:00 AM UTC

Framing: Plagiarism accusation — Neutral

Facts Included:

Jane Allan's painting bears similarities to Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled (Two Heads on Gold)
The National Portrait Gallery acknowledged the similarity
Allan's work was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize in 2022
She won The Doyles art award last year with a painting similar to Nicholas Harding's work
The Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimJane Allan won the $2,000 Art Handler's award for her painting Weight of the Mind's Periapt.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimJane Allan's painting Weight of the Mind's Periapt bears similarities to a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat called Untitled (Two Heads on Gold).	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimJane Allan was a finalist in the Darling Portrait Prize in 2022.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimJane Allan won The Doyles Landscape Art Award last year with a painting similar to Nicholas Harding's work.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Doyles committee is investigating and considering recovering the prize money.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australia as of Jun 24, 2026, 7:31 AM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimGlenn Tozer defends the competition judges who did not pick up on the imitation until this year's exhibition was already underway.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 23, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC
ClaimThe award committee is now investigating ways to verify the originality and authenticity of future submissions.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ABC Australia as of Jun 23, 2026, 3:00 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 3 articles consulted: ABC Australia, The Guardian — World 7 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15