BRISBANE.- Nationally acclaimed painter Richard Dunlop has been charged with stealing almost 1300 pieces of artwork worth $2.6million, most of it from artist friends and colleagues. Dunlop appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with more than 50 offences including stealing, break and enter, bringing stolen goods into Queensland and fraud.

Australia's largest criminal investigation into the alleged art heist began last year after a complaint by Brisbane artist Allyson Reynolds over the theft of her art.

He was granted bail by magistrate Jim Herlihy after the prosecution indicated it would not oppose it on the condition Dunlop surrender his passport and not have any contact with the 35 police witnesses.

“I can only reiterate what I’ve said in the past — that there has been no theft,” he said.