A fake Norval Morrisseau artwork seized by police. (Courtesy OPP)
Eight people have been charged in connection with the fraudulent manufacture and distribution of artworks claimed to be by the late Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau, the Ontario Provincial Police said Friday.
The suspects face a total of more than 40 charges, including forgery and fraud over $5,000.
The news follows an OPP investigation lasting more than two years, undertaken in collaboration with police in Thunder Bay, Ont. Five suspects are from that city.
Police have seized more than 1,000 paintings, prints and other works.
"Some of these paintings sold for tens of thousands of dollars to unsuspecting members of the public who had no reason to believe they weren't genuine," the OPP said in a statement.
Forgery allegations about Morrisseau's work go back decades. According to Thunder Bay Police, officers first investigated alleged fakes in 2000, although no charges were laid at the time. In 2005, the artist established the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society, which has been compiling a verification database of authentic works to help discredit fakes.
OPP press conference held March 3, showing some of the seized Morrisseau fakes (YouTube)
The apparent prevalence of forgeries was the subject of a 2019 documentary, There Are No Fakes, which traced the provenance of a supposed Morrisseau painting, Spirit Energy of Mother Earth, purchased in 2005 by Kevin Hearn, guitarist for the Barenaked Ladies. Hearn later learned of questions surrounding the work's provenance, and sued the Toronto gallery that sold him the painting, eventually winning on appeal.
Morrisseau, who died in 2007, was from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in Northern Ontario. Sometimes called the "Picasso of the North," he used bold lines and bright colours, a distinctive style known as the Woodland school that influenced countless other Indigenous artists.
His work has been exhibited in many solo shows in galleries across Canada and the United States, including the National Gallery of Canada and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ont.
Source: Ontario Provincial Police
