Many will consider the biggest art crime committed against Sir William Dobell’s artistic career was being dragged through the courts in 1944 following his Archibald Portrait Prize win of the previous year. However, predating this now famous event, his work has been consistently subjected to an ongoing catalogue of criminal behaviour including thefts, vandalism and fraud. In this talk, Sir William Dobell Fellow Penelope Jackson will discusses her current work in this area, including the challenges, and presents the case for reviewing the work of a singular artist and developing a catalogue, through an art crime lens, which ultimately highlights the severity and extent of art crime in Australia.

Dr Penelope Jackson MNZM is a New Zealand art historian. Her latest non-fiction book, The Art of Copying Art (Palgrave Macmillan) was published in September 2022 and was awarded the winner of Best Book for 2023 at the Art Writing and Publishing Awards (AAANZ). In 2020, Jackson was awarded a University of Auckland/Michael King Residency. She has curated numerous exhibitions including the award-winning Corrugations: The Art of Jeff Thomson, three exhibitions of the life and work of Dame Lynley Dodd hosted by 23 venues across NZ and Australia, as well as exhibitions about Katherine Mansfield (Katherine Mansfield: A Portrait and The Garden Party). Jackson’s PhD topic was titled Writing and Righting: Crime and Copying in Art History. In the 2023 New Year’s Honours List Jackson was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to art crime research and writing. She is the Chair of the New Zealand Art Crime Research Trust and an Adjunct Research Associate of Charles Sturt University. In early 2024 Jackson was the Booranga Writer in Residence, Wagga Wagga. Her anthology of short stories, One Degree Off: Stories of Singapore (Marshall Cavendish) was published in 2024.

This event will be held both on-campus and online via Zoom (a link to the online stream will be sent to registered attendees).

The School of Art & Design Seminar Series is co-convened by Dr Alex Burchmore, Alia Parker, and Elisa Crossing.