Gabriella Coslovich

Whiteley on Trial

Published 2017

It was a cause celebre- the biggest case of alleged art fraud to come before the Australian criminal justice system, a 4.5 million dollar sting drawing in one of the country's most gifted and ultimately tragic artists, Brett Whiteley, a heroin addict who died alone in 1992.It started with suspicions raised about artworks being produced in the style of Whiteley in a Melbourne art restorer's studio. Secret photographs were taken as the paintings took form.A jury finds two men guilty of faking Whiteleys, but a year later the appeal bench sensationally acquits them.