Experts who analysed million dollar paintings at the centre of forgery allegations did not find they were created by Brett Whiteley, a Melbourne court has heard.
The works "Lavender Bay", which sold for $2.5 million and "Orange Lavender Bay" which sold for $1.1 million were examined by specialists at the University of Melbourne after concerns were raised they could be fake.
Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett told a court hearing on Friday she could not ascribe the works to the oeuvre - or body of works - of Whiteley.
"The points of identification between securely provenanced works are very clear and they match," Prof Sloggett said.
"The points of identification in these works do not match with securely provenanced works."
The provenance of a work is the history of its location and ownership.
Police allege the works are forgeries created by Melbourne Art conservator Mohamed Aman Siddique, 66, of Doncaster East who made millions with art dealer Peter Stanley Gant, 59, by selling them as Whiteley works.
The men are contesting four charges of obtaining financial advantage through the sale of the paintings and a third titled "Through the window, Lavender Bay".
Police say the works were created in 2007 and 2008, years after Whiteley's death in 1992.
At a committal hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday, defence barrister Robert Richter QC questioned Prof Sloggett about a consignment notice dated 1988 and a catalogue gallery, also from that time, that shows a photo of the work "Orange Lavender Bay".
Prof Sloggett, the director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne, said fakes that come into her office generally come in with much more provenance than those that turn out to be genuine.
"Anyone who produces a work can produce provenance, clearly," Prof Sloggett told the court.
Pressed by Mr Richter on the "hard science" used in the examination of paintings, Prof Sloggett said there is no "smoking gun" in this type of analysis.
"There's not one knock-out scientific test," Prof Sloggett said.
The hearing continues.
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