Two prominent Australian artists are taking legal action against two Melbourne art dealers for selling alleged fake works carrying their names.

Charles Blackman and Robert Dickerson began their case against art dealers Peter Gant and Helen Stewart in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Dickerson today told the court a drawing purported to be his was “clumsy” and out of proportion.

He says he is so convinced the work bearing his name was not by his hand that he would put his “life on it”.

Dickerson says he felt sickened and disgusted when he first became aware the work, Pensive Woman, was being purported as his.

“No, it is not,” he said during cross-examination, adding the suggestion was demeaning.

“It affects me very much, it makes me look stupid. It’s a very bad drawing [and] it looks absolutely, incredibly bad.

“What should have been a good drawing turned into a bloody awful one.”

Dickerson says he first became aware of the work in 2006 and told his son to contact the auction house selling it.

He says the work was placed back into the vendor’s hands, but in 2008 he discovered it was still circulating in the market.

Blackman was not in court, but is claiming that two works – Three Schoolgirls and Street Scene with Schoolgirl – are fakes.

Blackman and Dickerson are each seeking damages of $25,000.

The authenticity of the works first came into question when buyer Robert Blanche had them valued.

Mr Blanche bought the Blackman works from Ms Stewart’s Gretz Gallery in Albert Park for $13,500 in 1999.

In 2005, Mr Blanche bought Pensive Woman direct from Mr Gant for $10,800 after relying on his valuation.

Later that year Mr Blanche sought updated valuations for investment reasons, and was told by art experts the works were fakes.

The court heard Mr Gant, who ran Gallery Irascible in Carlton, had earlier sold the Street Scene with Schoolgirl, purportedly by Blackman, to another man in 1998.

But after the buyer received expert advice that things were “not right” with the work, he cancelled his payment and Mr Gant accepted the return.

Mr Gant then gave Ms Stewart’s gallery the work, along with Three Schoolgirls, and valued them at a total of $17,500.

The artists’ representative, Colin Golvan SC, says art experts have verified the works are fakes.

Both artists have settled their claims with Ms Stewart but their action against Mr Gant is continuing.

In 2008 Mr Blanche demanded a refund of $31,800 for the three works from Ms Stewart, which was arranged and paid for by Mr Gant who took back the works.

The artists claim Mr Gant engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of the Fair Trading Act, by falsely claiming the works were theirs.

They say their reputations have been blighted, and have also sought injunctions stopping the works from being sold.

The trial is continuing.

- AAP