Unseen

A riveting look at art thefts, fakes, forgeries, vandalism, ‘disappeared works’ and more

The Australian art world is often host to crime, including theft, fraud and forgeries. Unseen offers a unique insight into art crime in Australia from colonisation to today, focusing on those stories that have often escaped mainstream attention. From the many offences committed against William Dobell’s work (including a painting listed on the FBI’s National Stolen Art File since 1949) to the mysterious re-emergence of Rupert Bunny’s Girl in Sunlight twenty-three years after it disappeared, from fraudulently sold Aboriginal art to climate activists spray-painting a famous Frederick McCubbin, Australian art has been a hotbed of revolt, recrimination and even robbery since European contact.

This is the story of art at the nexus of culture and commerce: art plus money can lead to deceit and dashed dreams. Unseen captures the stories of many artworks, artists and collectors at the centre of our nation’s most enduring art scandals. It also looks at works hidden from public sight, now deemed colonial embarrassments or curatorial burdens, that were once of social and cultural significance. Ultimately, it explores how our conception of artistic value changes over time, and what that reveals about Australian society.

‘No one knows more about art crime in Australia than Penelope Jackson. She’s the continent's go-to scholar and teller of riveting tales within this subgenre. I eagerly anticipate each of her books, and this one is brilliant. The perfect read for anyone interested in cultural heritage crimes in the land down under.’ – Dr Noah Charney, bestselling author of The Thefts of the Mona Lisa

‘Throughout Unseen the reader is taken on a journey through aspects of Australian art crime from its earliest days of settlement to contemporary events. In her writing, Jackson seeks to redress the parallel paths Australian art history and Australian art crime have taken: to present an “intercourse” between the two.’ – Dr Pamela James, Adjunct Fellow, Art Crime and Art History, University of Western Sydney