Eight arrested for selling fake artwork attributed to Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau

A group of men in Thunder Bay, Ontario are in police custody, charged with creating and selling thousands of dollars worth of fake pieces of art by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau.

Ranging in age from 47 to 81-years-old, the men were arrested on March 1, and face a total of 40 charges related to forgery and defrauding the public, according to a release from the Ontario Provincial Police.

Among those arrested is Benjamin Paul Morrisseau, the late artist’s nephew, police confirmed to CTV News.

Of the over 1,000 fraudulent paintings and artworks seized by officers, police say some of the paintings were sold to unsuspecting members of the public for tens of thousands of dollars.

"Norval Morrisseau was a prominent artist of the Thunder Bay region and to profit off of his name is not only unethical, but also illegal," said Thunder Bay Police Chief Dan Taddeo, in a prepared statement.

Morrisseau - from Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation and also known as Copper Thunderbird - was a famous Canadian artist who gained international success and recognition, known for his "Woodland Style" of art.

Police say, before Morrisseau's death in 2007, there were already allegations of people creating and selling art under his name.

In 2020, the Ontario Provincial Police and Thunder Bay Police Service launched a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the alleged production and sale of fake artwork attributed to Morrisseau, culminating in the eight arrests.

"It was important for the OPP and the Thunder Bay Police Service to identify and hold accountable those who allegedly profited illegally by forging Norval Morrisseau's artwork,” said OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique in a statement.

Cory Dingle, the executive director of the Estate of Norval Morrisseau, says the forgeries were detrimental.

"This has been extremely damaging to Morrisseau, to the estate, his legacy,” Dingle said.

He says they began noticing the forgeries after Morrisseau was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

"I remember rolling (Morrisseau) into the gallery,” Dingle said.” The gallery owner came out and said, ‘Oh do you like that painting?’ And Norval said, ‘Yes who painted it?’ She says, ‘Oh it’s a Norval Morrisseau.”

Winnipeg artist Blake Angeconeb says he is highly influenced by Morrisseau’s work.

“He’s the one that took our stories, took images and took symbolism, pictographs, scrolls, and made it into contemporary art,” Angeconeb said.

Angeconeb and his partner were tapped to create the Morrisseau Google Doodle this summer.

He is glad to see the decades-long question of Morrisseau forgeries investigated - and arrests made.

“I was relieved and kind of went through the motions too, like the anger that you know that it actually happened.”

Morrisseau's estate is asking people who are concerned about the authenticity of their Morrisseau painting to contact them directly through their website. There, art owners have the ability upload photos of their paintings and the estate can begin verifying the pieces.

-with files from CTV's Taylor Brock