Provided with this painting are several letters of authenticity and a recent appraisal by Wayne Morioka in 2006:

One American school oil painting on canvas by John Melville Kelly (1878? or 1879? - 1962), titled, "Camouflage Makers", dated 1945, depicting the artist's future daughter-in-law, Marion, and son John, Jr., weaving strands of multicolor strips of cloth into a wire netting, Marion standing in profile, wearing a pink blouse rolled back at the sleeves and loose fitting light green pants with left cuff rolled up, her waist tied with a colorful sash, shirtless John Jr. seated on a box beside her, wearing a pair of blue jeans, lower right with indistinct signature Kelly and unclear inscription, mounted in a light koa wood frame...
Provenance: The current owner of this painting acquired this work from a Honolulu collector in 1992.  The painting was authenticated in a letter signed by John Kelly, Jr., and his wife Marion who examined the painting in 1992.  The painting is the subject of an article by Lois Taylor in the Honolulu Star Bulletin dated August 19. 1992.  During an interview for the article, John Kelly, Jr., states unequivocally that this painting is authentic and that he and his wife were the subjects of the painting.
Comments: John Kelly is believed to have completed only a small number of oil paintings on canvas.  One example is in the collection of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu and depicts the signing of the sugar treaty between the Portuguese government and the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association which brought Portuguese contract laborers to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations.  The vast majority of works by John Kelly are his famous print studies and a few works on paper.  A Kelly print with virtually the same composition, also titled Camouflage Makers, is known in a print dated 1943.  This print was reproduced in a large Christmas card sent out by the Honolulu Star Bulletin.  It is interesting to note that Camouflage Makers is a reflection of a very historical moment in Hawaii during World War II and represents the artist's very personal response to events in Hawaii.  As such, the painting's historical value cannot be overlooked.
As noted previously, the vast majority of John Kelly's works are his beautiful etchings and aquatints of Hawaiian and Polynesian figures and Hawaiian landscapes.  For these prints, there is an established market.  The valuation of the Camouflage Makers is quite problematic because Kelly's oil paintings are extremely rare and there are almost no sales of his oil paintings.  Moreover, the subject of Camouflage Makers does not fit the stereotypic mold of John Kelly's oeuvre.  Although the subject is quite unusual, the authenticity of the painting is well established.  This alone adds significantly to the value of the painting.  Based on a general review of the robust state of the market for rare Hawaiian paintings by important artists, a fair market value has been determined for Camouflage Makers.  This fair market value assessment takes into consideration a number of factors: a) the rarity of the work b) the importance of the artist c) the historical context of the painting d) the condition of the work, e) and the overall quality of the painting.
Fair Market Value: $250,000
[Signed] Wayne W. Morioka, ASA
Appraiser
Senior Member
American Society of Appraisers

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Letter from John Kelly Jr. and Marion Kelly:
To Whom It May Concern:
Both I, John Kelly Jr., and Marion Kelly have seen the painting "Camouflage Makers" (32" x 43").  It was painted by my father, John Kelly.
Marion and I both posed for the painting.  It was painted with oil on canvas during the war years.
Signed, John Kelly Jr.
Marion Kelly

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August 19, 1992 Honolulu Star Bulletin article by Lois Taylor:

Artist's son says it's all in the ears
John Kelly's model offers sound proof of painting's authenticity

"I could tell it was authentic the minute I saw the ears, said conservationist and historian John Kelly Jr.  "They're my ears, and I can still wiggle 'em."  And he did.
Kelly was referring to a large oil painting recently offered for sale by its owner, Robert Palma.  The painting portrays two young Hawaiian people weaving strips of colored cloth through chicken wire, making camouflage for small military targets here during World War II.  It was painted by Kelly's father, the prominent artist who died 30 years ago, and he used his son and daughter-in-law, John and Marian as his models.
"Dad 'Hawaiianized' everybody he painted," Marian Kelly said, "but he didn't change John's ears and the slight shoulder stoop."  John Kelly said that he remembered when the original sketch was done, early in World War II when civilians were hired by the military as camouflage artists.
The actual painting wasn't completed until the end of the war, and somewhere in the late 1940s, the Star-Bulletin used a reproduction of it on its corporate Christmas cards.  Then it seemed to vanish.
The painting was rediscovered about 18 months ago by Palma's partner, Tom Warner.  Exactly where it had been is vague, and Warner would not give the name of the previous owner.  "A Japanese national who lives in Hawaii Kai had the painting for 10 years in his garage.  He had no idea of what it was, and he told me a couple of different stories about where it came from," Warner said.
John Kelly's signature in the corner was just barely legible, he added, and the picture was in a modern frame.  But a koa frame, which Warner was told was the original, was also in the garage and eventually Palma bought both pieces.  The painting was cleaned; the frame was restored and put back on it.  But there was still some question in Warner's mind of the authenticity.
This is because Kelly made his mark in Hawaii's art history with his many etchings, and only two other oil paintings are known to exist.  According to John Kelly Jr., these are an unfinished one that he owns, and one in the Bishop Museum painted about 1932 of the signing of a sugar treaty between the Portuguese government and Hawaiian sugar planters.
It is known that Kelly was commissioned by the government to paint a recruiting poster about 1942.  War horrified him so much that his drawing of a lone soldier was refused.  "The soldier's eyes contained all the shock to the human soul that is brought on by war," the writer of Kelly's obituary wrote in 1963.
To authenticate the painting of the camouflage painters, Warner called John Kelly Jr., hoping that Kelly might have found reference to it in his father's papers.  It solved his problem when he learned that John and Marian were the models.
The junior Kelly was serving in the navy during World War II, and was at sea much of the time.  His father sketched the two of them separately.
"I remember that Dad stood me up against a white wall and told me how he wanted me to hold my arms, explaining what the figure was doing.  John posed later, by himself," Marian said.  Neither of them recalls seeing the finished painting, but have no doubt that this is it.
John Kelly Sr. and his wife Kate came to Oahu in 1923.  He was a young advertising artist commissioned to show prospective buyers the glorious possibilities of a watermelon patch between the beach and a steep hillside near Kailua.  The developer called the area "Lanikai," and Kelly sketched houses, streets, landscaping and a yacht club.  It was a huge success, and in short order the watermelons gave way to something close to what Kelly had visualized.
He worked for several years as head of the Star-Bulletin's art department, leaving in 1932 to devote all of his time to art.  He is best known for his etchings of graceful Hawaiian women and his color engravings.  They are now in galleries, museums and private collections all over the world.  But because owners tend to hang onto them, there isn't much traffic in Kelly's work.  It is sales of artwork that attract attention.
His wife Kate was a sculptor whose work includes the bronze tablet commemorating Amelia Earhart at the lookout on Diamond Head Road and the plaque of Queen Liliuokalani at Iolani Palace.
Palma said that the painting of the camouflage workers has been appraised at $125,000.  He is willing to sell it and hopes that it will be bought by a local buyer so that it stays in Hawaii. [August 19, 1992]

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The recent publication, John Melville Kelly Hawaiian Idyll published by the Honolulu Academy of Arts also illustrates an original photograph of John Kelly Jr. and Marion Kelly posed for this painting on page 9.