Recent high profile cases involving forged works have made it easy to cast doubts on many works. The latest case, reported in The Australian, involves one of Sydney Nolan’s famous and sought-after Ned Kelly works:

Denis Savill, who has traded more than 200 Nolans, said Kelly, Blue Sky and Moon which is set to go under the hammer at Menzies Fine Art Auctioneers next week with an estimated value of $60,000 to $80,000, “does not appear to be by the great Sid Nolan”.

But Chris Deutscher, co-owner of the Deutscher and Hackett auction house and a competitor of Menzies, is adamant the work has sound provenance.

In 1996, Mr Deutscher sold the work on cardboard to its current owner from his gallery in Melbourne, where he had mounted a substantial Nolan exhibition.

Ned Kelly work on auction list ‘does not appear to be by Nolan‘ (The Australian)