Sunday, February 17, 2008

Justice for Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

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Michael R.Moniz reporting:

Thunderbear-Canadian Art Gallery (currently 'Avalon Treasure') eBay vendor thunderbear888 (currently *avalon*)
/ Michael R. Moniz commentary in red text /


Old Art Scam surfaces on-line
Buyers Beware:Phony Norval Morrisseau paintings
have been selling on eBay,
VAL ROSS reports

They're back. It's another invasion of the fake Norval Morrisseaus.For years, canvases allegedly done by the great Ojibwa Artist have been turning up in galleries and in auction-canvases which the artist, through his business manager and friend Gabor Vadas insists are bogus.

Now they are showing up on eBay. "It's a new wrinkle on an old scam," says Toronto Lawyer Aaron Milrad who acts for the artist and the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society.

/ I quote lawyer Richard H.Baker in his letter from the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society: "the Society has not had, nor appointed, solicitors. Incorporation was handled by the late artist's solicitors."

The letter I recieved from the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society through my Lawyer Ethan M. Rogers of Daigle & Hancock L.L.P clearly states that no solicitors have ever been appointed to the committee except for the incorporation of the NMHS. Therefore Lawyer Aaron Milrad cannot be held accountable for the legitamacy of his statements in this Globe&Mail article since he has never been employed by the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society to speak on their behalf regarding the issue of authenticating Artworks by Norval Morriseau and as for any involvment regarding the Incorporation of the NMHS that is a different matter altogether. Logically any comments made by lawyer Aaron Milrad in the Globe&Mail article will have to be dismissed). /

And so far eBay's position is that it's up to a vigilant public to inform eBay's 203 million registered members of fakes via an automated program;the company takes no further responsibility.

One ad, which appeared in the late January, read "A Genuine 100 percent Athentic (sic) Acrylic on Canvas painting by Norval Morrisseau... An Excellent Investment and Golden Oppurtunity... "Prospective buyers were told that the painting comes with a certificate by a "Highly Qualified REGISTERED CERTIFIED MEMBER OF A.D.A.C. (Artists Dealers Association of Canada)."

/ The above paragraph refers to my listing on eBay in January of 2007. My eBay ID was bluenova999 and was changed to thunderbear888 in the month of April 2007. You can see a picture snap shot of my eBay listing for this detail and the piece "Father and Son" that was in the newspaper article but strangely omitted on the internet Globe&Mail archive site. /
 


/An article from "Globe&Mail" and image posted on eBay in the bottom left corner - Click on image to enlage/

 
/ I am including detailed pictures of the article as it appeared in the Globe&Mail Newspaper which shows my eBay ID name at the time as bluenova999 and the item number for the eBay listing that this painting was associated with which was item No.150081372110. The title of the piece is "Father and Son" dated 1977. I had sold the painting to a gentleman in Toronto. I have proof of all documentation of this sale to him through eBay.

The Globe&Mail article has damaged my good reputation. I was forced to change my ID from bluenova999 to thunderbear888 because of the slanderous publicity that was generated by this article written by Val Ross reporting for the Globe&Mail in Feb.2007.

I also decided to open an eBay store and title it ThunderBear-Canadian Art Gallery as part of my new marketing strategy to increase sales through eBay.

The Globe&Mail article also caused me to lose two painting sales with an eBay customer who had committed to purchase two paintings from me but later renegged on her obligation to pay me because she had read the article here set out by the Globe&Mail and became highly suspicious and worried that the pieces I was selling to her were not genuine. That was a loss of over $11,000 U.S. in the month of April 2007 on those two paintings.

She repeatedly refered to me as a "Scam Artist" and texted me the link that can be found for this article in the Globe&Mail archives on the internet as the source for her concern and decsion to no longer continue with the sale that by eBay policy she had legally been commited to finalize with me. I chose not to sue her but to go after the Globe&Mail newspaper instead for damages rendered.

One other previous customer of mine also had declined to do any further business with me and another potential customer had decided not do any further business with me because of the implications of the Globe&Mail article. They both had read and told me that this article had scared them off from buying any more pieces from me. One of these potential customers I will mention had went around asking other people for their opinion about a different piece I was selling in the early part of 2007 on eBay which I still have for sale by the way. The piece's title is "Inorganics". He was interested in buying this piece and he recieved two positive results and one negative result from three different people. I later found out that the negative result he obtained came from Bryant Ross-eBay vendor coghlanart,who had told this potential customer of mine and I quote Mr.Ross in his email to this potential customer "it's an obvious forgery". I have all the email text messages regarding this interference by this eBay Vendor.

Thanks alot Bryant Ross for interferring and the loss of a potential sale for me... you have no right to interfere with other vendor's sales and this act allown can terminate your eBay membership keep that in mind I certainly am. The painting titled "Inorganics" has been appraised by Joseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery who is a member of the Art Dealers Association of Canada.

So far at this point in time, two paintings renegged on and two potential painting sales were interferred with because of this article sent out by the Globe&Mail. "How many other potential painting sales have I lost because of this Globe&Mail article, I can only speculate?"
By April 2007 I decided to change my eBay ID and seek lawyers councel with the on going damage to my reputation and not to mention the reputation of the late great Norval Morrisseau. I have spent to date thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees with this case against the Globe&Mail newspaper. We are progressing.

My lawyer is Ethan Rogers and I have launched a law suit against the Globe&Mail newspaper for damages rendered past, present and future to my business on eBay. I demand retribution and compensation not to mention official letters of apologies. Moniz v. CTV Globemedia Publishing Inc.et al.
Lawyer: Ethan M. Rogers
Daigle & Hancock L.L.P
Barristers and Solicitors
51 Village Centre Place
Mississauga,Ontario
L4Z 1V9
Tel. 905.273.3832 Ext. #236
Email:ethan@daiglehancock.com
File Case No.6036 /


Trouble is, there's no such organization.What ADAC usually stands for is the Art Dealers Association of Canada; it's president, Patricia Fehely,is appalled to see her organization cited as endorsing the sale of dodgy goods."I have never been so angry as now, at seeing ADAC's name so blatantly plastered on something which the artist says is not authentic," she said last week, adding: "They didn't even spell authentic right."

That ad has since expired and the vendor vanished. But Vadas has found at least two other phony Morrisseaus currently on offer on eBay.

/ The paragraph above in the article states that the vendor has vanished. This simply has never been true. I have always been on eBay selling my paintings to the public and after I sold "Father and Son" at the end of January in 2007, I went on to sell another Norval Morrisseau painting in Feb.2007 to a gentleman in British Columbia titled "Spirtual Beings" dated circa 1970's. After that sale I went on sell two more paintings to another gentleman in Richmond Hill Ontario who purchased two paintings off of my eBay listings. The titles of these two other paintings are "Shaman and Apprentice" and a small "Thunderbird" piece. Patricia Feheley seems to be fixated on my ability to spell the word AUTHENTIC...ok is that good enough for you now Patricia... if not let me know?



/Click on image to enlage for detailed observation of the artist's brush stroke technique/
 

Unknowingly Patricia Feheley in her statement above had insulted one of her own members of ADAC who was none other than my appraiser Joseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery. All of my paintings that I sell have been professionally appraised by this member of ADAC.
Maslak McLeod Gallery is located in Toronto Ontario at 118 Scollard St. M5R 1G2 Canada; Tel: 416.944.2577; gallery@maslakmcleod.com ; www.maslakmcleod.com
Credentials: Joseph Mcleod
Art Dealers Association of Canada; Canada Council for Aboriginal Buisness, Canada; The Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ont. ; CanadaMuseum of Thunderbay, Thunder bay, Ont. Canada; Museum of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ont.; Canada; Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, U.S.A.; Master Dealer - Sotheby's.com; Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.; Governor's Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.; The Pequot Museum, Conneticut, U.S.A.; The Heard Museum, Pheonix, Arizona, U.S.A.; Volkunder Museum, Munich, Germany; Exposicao de Arte Indigena, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Collectors have greedily amassed Morrisseau canvases ever since his first exhibition of flat,stylized mythological figures made headlines in 1962. The value of his best individual works has climbed as high as $100,000,butressed by recent shows such as the National Gallery of Canada's Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist (which will go to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York in October, 2007).

But there is confusion over what is his best work, and indeed,what is his work at all. Morrisseau fell on hard times in the 1980's and could be seen on skid-row street corners in Vancouver, peddling paintings for the price of a bottle. Speculators bought them cheaply, without documentation, and attempted to donate them to public galleries for huge tax write-offs.

"Artists are entitled to do inferior works,"says Milrad. "The problem is the fakes." He's referring to works Morrisseau knows he did not create. Often drably coloured with wonky signatures, they've turned up for more than a decade at auction and in galleries. Vadas has more than 1,000 examples on file.

Two years ago the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society formed a six person committee of museum and government experts to compile a list of all authentic Morrisseaus. To date, the committee has identified 1,200 pieces - those with proper provenance thanks to gallery exhibitions or conscientious owners. The only way any vendor of a Morrisseau can claim it is genuine is if this committee authenticates it.

Feheley has advised that the real ADAC only stands behind those paintings endorsed by the committee.

/ I quote from the letter sent to me by the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society-
"Though able to do so, the Society has not yet made an evaluation of authenticity for any of the art it has collected in its registry. To date over 1,700 works have been registered. All information recieved is confidential."

To date the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society has amassed 1700 paintings in their catalogue raisonne of Norval Morrisseau's work. My Lawyer had posed several questions to the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society to authenticate Norval Morrisseau's work in regards to the painting "Father and Son" that I had listed on eBay and had been accused of selling as a fake on eBay by the people that Val Ross of the Globe&Mail newspaper published along with two other paintings that I wrote about that were renegged on by an eBay customer that I mentioned earlier in this article.The NMHS has come back to us with their answer that even though they have 1700 paintings cataloged they are admitting that none of these paintings have been authenticated?


Below is the actual copy of the letter that we have recieved. It is now obvious to me that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society in my opinion has been given unwarranted credit for their involvment in the Norval Morrisseau world of Art or has been grossly misunderstood by the public as to their powers. I was led to believe like the rest of the public that this committee was involved in authenticating Norval Morrisseau's work's of art. The committee had established this belief in me falsely.

As for Mr.Gabe Vadas and his list of 1000 examples on file of alledged forgeries. I ask you Mr.Vadas to kindly present such listings for competent examination by experts other than the members of the NMHS who are not in the position at the moment of assessing Norval Morrisseau's art on the levels of authenticating such pieces for the public record. Maybe Mr.Vadas will be in a better position to enlighten all of us collectors and vendors of Norval Morrisseau's works of art to safe guard the legacy of Norval Morrisseau so that it remains untainted. Thank You.


/"The letter from the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society" - Click on image to enlage /


/ So what do we have here exactly? Well the persons mentioned in Val Ross' article are Gabe Vadas, Aarron Milrad, Patricia Fehely, and the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society have some explaining to do. I demand an APOLOGY from all of these people and the Globe&Mail publisher as well. I demand retribution and payment for damages rendered by the false claims made by these people mentioned and quoted in Val Ross' Globe&Mail article.

I am still open for business to any one of you mentioned above and I accept Bank to Bank wire transfers, Certified checks, Money orders, PayPal and cash. If you wish to purchase a fine authentic piece of art from me just contact me through my eBay store Thunderbear-Canadian Art Gallery and please submit your offers." An Excellent Investment and a Golden Oppurtunity" awaits you. Thank You. /


In fact, fakes of all kinds are a growing problem for eBay. Last year, Louis Vuitton filed a civil suit against the on-line marketplace in France (it's estimated that 90 percent of Vuitton bags on sale on eBay last year were phony). But lawsuits take time, and eBay, which sells $45-Billion (U.S) worth of goods annually, is well equipped to defend itself.

A similar case against eBay, filed in 2004 in a U.S. court by Tiffany, the luxury jeweller, will come to trial in May,2007. Until U.S. courts tell eBay to police counterfeits more actively, the recourse eBay offers to outraged parties is to join it's automated Verified Rights Program (VeRO).
"Counterfeits are bad for rights owners and for eBay," said Erin Sufrin, a spokesperson for eBay Canada."For this reason, the co-operation of rights owners-who have the necessary expertise in their product-is very important. As eBay is not a retailer, we never take possession of the items sold on our site.Therefore, we do not have the ability to inspect or examine them.
 
Late last month, Milrad couriered a letter to eBay's San Jose, Calif., headquarters saying: "Before any purported Morrisseau works are accepted by you for sale, it is imperative that you and the seller have the work reviewed by the committee and the artist himself to avoid law suits."

/ Knowing that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society has never authenticated the Norval Morrisseau artwork in their catalogue raissone renders Lawyer Aarron Milrad's plee for eBay to police their listings illogical now that the NMHS has not done any work themselves at authenticating the 1700 pieces that they have catalogued.
As for the 1000 pieces that Mr.Gabe Vadas has collected, we the public should like to know who are the able bodies to have passsed judgement on the pieces you have on file so that we the public can better protect ourselves from the "bad guys" and protect Norval Morrisseau's legacy from becoming tainted, a worthy and noble cause Mr.Vadas.
As for the NMHS I am dismissing your committee from any further duties and involvment with artworks created by Norval Morrisseau until the committee can authenticate the 1700 pieces that they have in their catalogue raisonne. /

In reply, eBay reiterated that the Morrisseau defenders should join veRO. As of Feb. 6, eBay still had two fake Morrisseaus on offer.
Such legal wrangling,Vadas says, costs the Morrisseau estate about $70,000 a year. It could get worse: Tiffany spends more than $1-million a year(U.S.) tracking down on-line counterfeits.
But Vadas insists the expense is worth it, adding: "The fakes are a cultural catastrophe. We must keep Norval's legacy from becoming tainted."

PS: I invite all personal comments from any one else with an interest in collecting Norval Morrisseau for enjoyment and investment purposes. Thank You

Michael R.Moniz
Thunderbear-Canadian Art Gallery (currently 'Avalon Treasure')
eBay vendor thunderbear888 (currently *avalon*)
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Note of a Blog Master: I would like you to know that I am in no way associated with this eBay vendor that was accused of selling a fake Norval Morrissseau work of art as per article stated above. As I stated from the beginning the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG is a platform for the truth to be heard and to protect the Norval Morrisseau legacy.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

started reading this blog a week or so ago, lots of intresting stuff. thanks to the blog master for this open forum.
Thunderbear888 seems to have a major battle ahead.
I'm no expert, but to me all of the works he has appear to done by the same artist, the big question is the artist Norval Morrisseau?
I don't know, but perhaps if you disclose where,when and from whom you got the paintings from, would give you more credibility?
as previously posted, an appraisal has nothing to do with authenticity
regardless of who did the appraisal.
Maslak clearly has been involved in selling Norval's work over the years, perhaps you should ask Maslak or Kinsman Robinson or any of the other established experts to authenticate your works?
I doubt any truth will ever come out until sellers in the secondary market start to disclose the origins of the works being offered.
this debate will rage for years to come, in the end many will be very surprised to find that they in fact own a Morrisseau like painting.

Anonymous said...

I think the N.M.H.S. was a good idea at the time but as soon as they realised that Gabe Vadas was in it for his own capital gain they jumped ship. No wonder!

Anonymous said...

How do you come to the conclusion that the foudation has disbanded?
Gabe has not commented publicly, I keep hearing people putting words in the mouth of others.
find the source of the questionable works and we are all alot closer to the question of "is it authentic"
simple as that.

Anonymous said...

The NMHS has not disbanded,they have not authenticated anyworks of Norval Morrisseau.This is really an outrage if you think about it!Because I believe other people like Vadas and Aaron Milrad have been giving the public a line of bull shit as to NMHS authority.Read the letter provided in the Blog and see for yourself.This means the Globe article was an attack by these guys to shut down the secondary market which sells Morrisseau's for less by attacking eBay as their venue for sale!This kind of Public relations has back fired on them and they even suckered Patricia Fehely into believing the NMHS's credentials for having them and only them to authenticate Morrisseau art.But they haven't even done it themselves with the 1700 pieces they have so far cataloged.you can also feel val Ross's aninimity towards collectors when she states the collectors have greedily ammassed works of art by Morrisseau.....
whats wrong Val Ross? You can't afford a Morrisseau...too bad?
Way to go Thunderbear888!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree, The NMHS should start to publish results from the works already submitted, and not wait another 5 or 10 years until they think that everyone has registered their works. to further delay this info would seem very unfare as there is this much demand for confirmation sourrounding the works of this great artist.
there is no reason not to make some finding available very soon.
this delay just furthers the issue.

just my 2cents worth.

Anonymous said...

Hi
just read the above posting and a question comes to mind. why did Thunderbear888 wait 8 months to contact NMHS ? ( Dec 11 07)
NMHSs response indicates TB888 letter was sent just 1 week after the passing of Morrisseau ???? I would suspect Norval spent many hours in the last decade documenting the works he knew he did not paint.
the master may be gone, but his words and works are well documented and will remain.
I"m also curious why your lawyer would allow you to publicly comment on this case in a public forum? let me be clear, I am not on anyone's side here, just very curious and intrested in the issues regarding this artist.

Anonymous said...

ThunderBear-Canadian Art Gallery
eBay vendor Thunderbear888
email:bluenova999@rogers.com
MICHAEL R.MONIZ

I have posed several questions to the NMHS in regards to their abilities and services.They take a long time to answer.Try it some time.The lawyer on their team,this Richard Baker has been dicking me around and making me wait tremendous periods of time for any kind of responses from him.He goes on vacation alot I hear.It's an old tactic to make the other guy spend lots of money hoping he will retire the case or withdraw and go away essentially due to increasing lawyer costs.
After the case was sent out to the Globe&Mail we did try to contact the individual members of the NMHS and never got any answers back from them? It was starting to look to me as if the committee was no longer active.There were rumours that the six member committee had disbanded aswell.
I thought just going to the Globe lawyers and saying that my pieces are authentic and were appraised by Joeseph McLeod would have been sufficent since he is a member of ADAC and CPA.In the article it was stated that no one can claim a Morrisseau was "AUTHENTIC" unless it gets the green light from the NMHS.So I contacted them to do such work and found out that they have not done any work like that themselves with the 1700 pieces they have catalogued.
As for the letter and it's public exposure...what's the problem? I don't see any words spelling out confidential.I own this letter it belongs to me I paid for it and anyone out there who wants it can have it.There is nothing that is untruthful in the letter.The NMHS is simply stating their truth and I respect them for that.It is the descrepencies in the Globe Article as it relates to the NMHS. That's where the problem is.It's the other people quoting the powers of the NMHS when they shouldn't have.No member of the NMHS was quoted as saying anything in the Gobe&Mail article.Those people are putting the NMHS in a position which they are not in and using the NMHS for their own purposes it seems.
In my opinion I think the NMHS should file a law suit against these people who have blatantly used the NMHS for their propaganda?

Anonymous said...

Well this really provides the canopener to the tin of worms, doesn’t it? A few thoughts: 1]This whole Globe article begins with a lie: “old art scam”. There was no old art scam! The plaintiff was vindicated in court, and the merchants who have previously lost are merely continuing, in contempt of court, their attempt to quash all rivals for control of the secondary market in Morrisseau pieces.
2]About communication with the NMHS: In March of 2007 I published several articles dealing with these issues. Advance copies were submitted to the NMHS for comment. Five of six emails were returned as undeliverable. Follow-up letters, including by registered mail and verified by Canada Post to have been received, have not been responded to. For practical purposes, the NMHS appears to be defunct, with only a college student doing actual work at the moment, and little active participation by the experts. The NMHS is so behind in dealing with necessary paperwork, that the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Affairs even suspended its charter (subsequently re-activated). Certainly nobody from the NMHS was available to actually comment to the Globe, leaving the field open to Milrad and Vadas to mis-represent themselves as authorized spokespersons.
3]Where are the other eBay vendors? Although Bluenova999 was singled out in the article, ALL vendors were attacked and have a basis for a class action. Where are you guys?
4]This is a COMMERCIAL battle, not an ARTS battle. Attempts by either side to quote Morrisseau or demonstrate some personal connection to Morrisseau or some line of authority to Morrisseau are merely rationalizations in attempts to seek commercial advantage – to cut competitor’s throats. Take the whole thing with that grain of salt. In reference to which, I point out that in over 10,000 litigations in the past century in competition cases in Canada and the USA, NOT ONE CASE has been launched by a customer complaining that prices were too low! WITHOUT EXCEPTION, all 10,000+ cases have been launched by competitors who could not meet lower prices. NOT ONE of these 10,000+ cases has served the public interest. And Milrad demands such rights in his letter to eBay? Pfui!!!!
Karl H. von Harten
eBay vendor Nebiru Crossing

Anonymous said...

Another couple of points to add to the above: I am concerned about the reference to Don Robinson in the NHMS letter above. In published articles which were assumed to be scholarly, Don Robinson has made serious errors, such as confusing Ojibwe and Cree syllabics, which indicate that he is not qualified as an expert. He has publicly refused to authenticate Morrisseau pieces. On at least four occasions in the past decade, he has publicly contradicted himself as to what is genuine and what is not. This was primarily during the period of litigation to which the Globe referred to as “old art scam”. It needs to be pointed out, that NOT A SINGLE PIECE involved in that litigation WAS PROVEN TO BE FAKE. In fact, not a single piece claimed to be a Morrisseau original has ever been proven to be fake in any court of law anywhere. What was proven was that there was no “old art scam”. And this became a matter of public record, and was reported on by the Globe itself, so that in its own archives the Globe can confirm that Robinson/Milrad/Vadas are not credible. Obviously Val Ross didn’t even consult her own files!
When Morrisseau made a deal with Robinson to market his work, it was because, after Pollock’s departure, Robinson was the largest and best known gallery willing to take on Morrisseau – it was Morrisseau’s best option to get the most money for his work. Did Morrisseau intend to give Robinson a monopoly in perpetuity? I don’t think so, and Robinson has never offerred any evidence of such an intention by Morrisseau. Indeed, Morrisseau did make deals with other galleries to market his prints – Coghlanart, for example. Get rid of the fixation on Robinson as an expert or as one authorized to have a monopoly! And if the NHMS still has that fixation, what does it say about NMHS credibility?
I asked above: where are the other eBay vendors? I want to ask Bryant Ross specifically: why have you not signed on as a co-plaintiff with Bluenova999? Coghlanart, a legitimate seller of Morrisseau pieces, was libelled by the Globe when the Globe libelled ALL eBay vendors. Don’t you want to publicly defend your legitimacy, Mr. Ross?
KHVH

Anonymous said...

I also am an Ebay vendor. I sold a Morrisseau painting at around the same time. The person who bought it threatened to sue me because of coghlanart's "Authenticity remarks". He claimed it was a fake and of course it was not. The buyer then put it back on Ebay and sold it for MORE! So, I sell a so called "fake" and then the seller sells it as an Authentic Morrisseau? You guys must be in this together to try and get it on the "cheap"?

Anonymous said...

From the previous post. I did SAVE all the Ebay remarks from coghlanart.I was absolutely FURIOUS at this accusation. They stole the piece from me and then made a profit.

Anonymous said...

I have the solution to all who are debating this issue. please scrape a very small amonut of paint from one of your paintings ( on the edge) this will not be seen or affect the value of your work, collectivly we can all pitch in a few bucks and have the paint tested to see if it is from the 70s
I have attached full contact info for a company that can do this process. I would ask that a unbiased person witness the paint sample being removed.
please google the info below.
now we can get results, are you intrested in results, or endless debate?
the sample will not affect you art works value.please post and I will start the donations process at $50.00
if you are not comfortable with this company , there are several hundred others equally competent and perhaps more local?

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Anonymous said...

Re: above suggestion. Interesting one but what will this prove - that a painting was painted in the 70's. From what I know, and my knowledge could be limited compared to others on this site, those that claim the paintings are fake are not claiming that they were painted recently rather then in the 70's. Perhaps they believe that the paintings were done in the 70's but by someone else with or without Morrisseau there. Confirming they were painted in the 70's would only prove one thing and not that they were painted by Norval himself. A good step but not a complete answer to rest upon and show anyone that they are wrong to claim these paintings are not original.

Anonymous said...

In reference to above paint chip comments: Morrisseau habitually mixed his saliva and/or his urine into his paint. If DNA tests were applied to these paint chips and showed Morrisseau's DNA, that would be conclusive for that painting. Since he did not always use saliva/urine, an abscence of the DNA would not, however, be conclusive evidence of a fake.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

My sincere sympathies to the vendor who got rooked above. Yes, this is exactly what they are trying to do. That is also the basis of Vadas’ claim about his secret file of 1000 fakes. These are just items that he has publicly labelled as fakes – so many that he has to keep files to keep track – subject to future rehabilitation when he obtains possession or control of the items. Quo vide other blogs; I think I’ll insert a summary below later when I retrieve my files on it..
KHVH

Anonymous said...

in regards to 3 posts above.

correct you are, my curiousity was more about the chance these may have been painted later then the
70s,in which case it would be a no brainer, your point about who was painting in the 70s is an equally important question that will one day come to light.

Anonymous said...

May I suggest that Paul Biro of Biro Fine Art Restoration (MOntreal) and Forensics be contacted to look into authenticating some of these works? He's been involved in some noteworthy forensics when it comes to authentication of fine art. It seems even easier than most situations because Morrisseau's thumbprint has been used by Vadas to sign papers... There are also other things that are analyzed including the age of paints etcetera...

Anonymous said...

I am going to try to post the file I promised above, but its current format might not be compatible with this blog. We'll see in a moment. The article is not well-written; an English teacher would probably grade it as D+ or C-; so please pay attention only to the factual content, not the form of presentation. This item has been circulated primarily in the Toronto-area Morrisseau community since mid-2005, but deserves wider attention. The original author had reasons to remain anonymous; I do know who the author is, but will continue to honour his need for anonymity.
KHVH




Now that the Globe and Mail article of April 23/05 has revealed
the controversy concerning fakes and the government invest-
igation of the business practices of Kinsman Robinson Galleries,
many other facts are coming to light.
Allegations by Don Robinson of fake Morrisseaus first appeared
in a National Post article on May 18/01. In that article Don Rob-
inson declared that Morrisseau had identified 23 paintings as
fakes.
A collector brought the paintings to Robinson for appraisal.
Don Robinson complimented the collector on his collection, and
cautioned him to ensure that it was well insured. Instead Rob-
inson caused the May 18 article to appear, without consulting
the collector. In the article Robinson said he was suspicious
for some time, yet two weeks earlier he was complimentary of
the pieces.
In the article Robinson indicated that he purchased a few
paintings from the same source. In fact, he purchased 28
canvasses, in auctions held from September 29,1999 to
March 8,2000. He also purchased a single painting by another
native artist, which he deemed fake and returned for credit. A
statement from the auctioneer indicates that Robinson never
attempted to return any of the Morrisseaus. The statement
further advises that Robinson bid on 40-60 other paintings,
while actively encouraging others at the auction to purchase
the Morrisseau paintings. Statements also reveal that Robinson
was concerned about the number of paintings being auctioned
as he was not selling them as quickly as he was buying them.
Don Robinson sought the source of the paintings being auc-
tioned and tried to convince him to sell only to Don Robinson.
The consignor refused. The consignor indicated that he had
collected over 500 pieces since 1980, when he first met Mor-
risseau at a friend's house in Thunder Bay, and had a chance
to watch him work. The consignor noted that Don Robinson had
re-sold over 50 paintings that had been owned by the consignor
and sold by him to others.
The consignor also pointed out a piece Battle for Life featured
in the Globe and Mail on April 10, 1999 came from his collec-
tion. He also notes a piece that hangs in the prime minister's
office as being from his collection. "I'm sure you get the point"
he says.
Following this article the collector, whose pieces were alleged
fakes, requested, through his lawyer, a copy of Norval Morris-
seau's affidavit. Don Robinson has consistently refused to
provide it.
In order to prove legitimacy to their pieces the collector, along
with others, including Toronto galleries who had pronounced
the pieces genuine, commissioned a report on the signatures,
(in English 'Norval Morrisseau') on the front and back of the
paintings. Document Examination Consultants Inc. were prov-
ided letters and pictures of paintings from Morrisseau and con-
cluded that the signatures able to be read were, in their expert
opinion, by the hand of Norval Morrisseau. This can be con-
sidered solid evidence of the legitimacy of the pieces.
The next affidavit from Morrisseau was March 14,2003,directed
at Maslak-McLeod Gallery's web site and alleging four pieces
to be fakes. For example, the piece Self-Portrait,Copper Thun-
derbird called a fake in the affidavit, was consigned by the
Mayor of Red Lake,Ontario who acquired it from Norval Morris-
seau himself, according to Joe McLeod.
On April 24,2003 following issuance of a catalogue The Devel-
opment of the Woodland School of Art, Morrisseau signed an-
other affidavit pointing out alleged fakes in the catalogue. It is
extremely important to note the contents of this affidavit. Six
pieces alleged to be fakes in the affidavit of May 18,2001 (Nat-
ional Post article) were no longer deemed to be fake. Battle
for Life referred to earlier as the masthead of the Globe and
Mail article (April 10,1999) accompanied by an interview with
Morrisseau is alleged fake by Morrisseau some 14 years later.
How can anyone take these affidavits seriously?
It is evident that Morrisseau often changes his mind as to what
is real or fake.
On May 7,1994, Karl Comete witnessed the following at Kinsman
Robinson Gallery and has detailed it in a statement: "A man ask-
ed Morrisseau to autograph a photo of a painting he recently
purchased from the gallery. Morrisseau loudly denied it was
his work. Robinson rushed over, reassured the man and
guaranteed the work's authenticity. The tension was palpable
to all present as Morrisseau, unpersuaded, proclaimed he
would sign the photograph only to 'save your [Robinson's]ass'".
Mr.Comete also points out that Robinson has said that Morrisseau
paintings do not have faded English signatures on the back. Mr.
Comete advises that he purchased a painting directly from Rob-
inson in 1993 with exactly that type of signature. Also of note,
Mr.Comete points out that for a self-professed expert, Mr. Robin-
son's statements about Morrisseau's syllabic signatures as being
'not quite right' are quite surprising. Morrisseau's signature is
often different, being tailored to the painting, Mr.Comete points
out. A painting The Storyteller The Artist and His Grandfather
published in The Art of Norval Morrisseau is missing the third
syllabic letter. In a 1991 article in Artpost Robinson states that:
"Morrisseau has always signed his paintings and drawings with
his Indian name in Ojibwa syllabics". Morrisseau did not use
syllabics until the early 1960s. Before then he signed the back
of the work, or initialed the front. In addition, the syllabics are
Cree, not Ojibway. Don Robinson is a relative newcomer to
the Morrisseau marketplace.
On August 18,1999 Kinsman Robinson Galleries appraised two
Morrisseau canvasses for Matt Fountain. The appraisal clearly
states under Provenance "Kahn Country Auctions,Pickering;
Private Collector,Thunder Bay". On October 30,2001, 5 months
after the National Post article, Kinsman Robinson Galleries ap-
praised two Morrisseau canvasses for Jonas Plis, also pur-
chased at Kahn Country Auctions. Recently, a further affidavit
allegedly from Morrisseau dated March 5,2005 alleged fakes
were being sold on a Toronto gallery website. Once again, the
affidavit conflicted with earlier affidavits as to what was real
and what was what Morrisseau called fake.
To summarize: affidavits from Mr.Morrisseau put forward by
Robinson/Milrad are entirely unreliable. While, as the recent
Globe and Mail article suggests, Mr.Morrisseau may be saner
than ever, he cannot be taken seriously as able to identify his
entire body of work, said to be as much as 9000 pieces. On
the other hand, serious collectors and reputable, long-term gal-
leries have provided both appraisals and forensic evidence to
support the legitimacy of the work. As the Globe and Mail ar-
ticle points out, much of his life was spent under the influence
of drugs and alcohol. To expect anyone to remember details
of their life in such an existence would be unrealistic. Lawyer
Milrad, in the Globe and Mail article of April 23,2005 remains
convinced that forged Morrisseaus are being produced. He has
presented no credible evidence of any kind. Lawyer Milrad is
further quoted who exactly is supposed to authenticate if it
can't be Morrisseau and a committee formed on his behalf.
The affidavits from Morrisseau put forth by lawyer Milrad clearly
tell us that Morrisseau cannot be relied on. Ever since the
National Post article of May 18,2001 in which Don Robinson
revealed that he was fooled, he has put forth affidavits from
Norval Morrisseau, never giving his own opinion. Realizing
from the evidence at hand that neither Don Robinson nor Norval
Morrisseau are capable to authenticate Morrisseau paintings,
each of us must rely on those people who over the course of
many years have proven themselves trustworthy and capable.
As Joseph McLeod pointed out in the Globe and Mail article,
there are many non-commercial, academic types fully capable
to judge the validity of a Morrisseau painting. As to Kinsman Rob-
inson Galleries being the exclusive representative of Norval
Morrisseau, we note that Mr.Morrisseau has not painted for
several years. There are many galleries dealing with Morris-
seau's work, several of them for periods of time longer than
Kinsman Robinson. Should, in the years to come, there be clear
and compelling evidence for a need to form a committee to id-
entify Morrisseau's work then surely those who have been
party to the events described herein should have nothing
to do with its formation or membership.

Anonymous said...

very intresting,and again I will say, a very busy day on the blog. I have only heard bits and pieces of these comments myself over the years, but now that these details are posted ,I would certainly be intrested in hearing a reply from KRG?
finally some details to digest.
KRG? your comment would be.....?

thanks, and waiting

Anonymous said...

I believe that three of the anonymous postings above [and probably a minimum of 10 elsewhere in this blog’s archives] reveal in their grammar, vocabulary, spelling error, style and sentence structure the penmanship of Bryant Ross, since all cited author characteristics also appear on his website. Why are you such a chicken shit, Mr. Ross? You already have a good name as a reputable Morrisseau vendor --- although you have tarnished that name exclusively through your own words in the past year --- and you should have the guts to sign every contribution you make to this blog. You have used your good name to do something for which you have criticized others: you have made an false authenticity judgement in at least two fully-documented instances in which your libel is actionable, and you have done so on the basis of a cursory examination of a single image, without a physical or detailed examination of the item itself. You have thereby caused real pain and suffering, and have stolen food out of the mouths of others. Karma multiplies logarithmically --- what have you set in motion, Mr.Ross? By whose appointment have you gained the powers of Inquisition?
Indeed, you do possess a rather horny beast: the ethical dilemma. On one horn, you have the moral obligation to support your comrades-in-arms, the legitimate eBay vendors of Morrisseau art. You have a moral obligation to sign-on as a co-plaintiff in the suit against the Globe, and [as partial recompense for your foolishness] a moral obligation to contribute a minimum of $10,000 --- not one cent less, Mr.Ross! --- to the exorbitant cost of that suit.
On the other horn of the dilemma, you have your fear-inspired foolish and irrational claim for many months that you’re the only legit guy on eBay and that everybody else is selling fakes. Jesus and Shakespeare used the poetic or literary device of hyperbole effectively. But you are neither Jesus nor Shakespeare, and the exagerration which they used as a device for emphasis or humour was not what you put forth --- you meant your hyperbole, and you meant it literally. Ludicrous, by any standards! But although many of us are laughing at you, others took you seriously, and you have – for them – tainted the Morrisseau legacy. You have demonstrated that you have not understood the shamanist and Christian message of Morrisseau’s art. There is a wide gulf between competition and co-operation. Morrisseau advocated co-operation --- one-ness. You are advocating its opposite – competition and monopoly – and you have been handy with that knife. It is Morrisseau’s blood which you are shedding.
You have demonstrated, with the two horns of your ethical dilemma, an extraordinary talent to verbally suck and blow at the same time. But, Mr. Ross, that skill is not sustainable, and you must make choices. Will you suck, or will you blow?
Your hyperbole on your website placed you firmly on the side of the west coast con artist [pun intended] who has for some years appeared to control the Morrisseau secondary market, and through kidnapping, assault, libel and intimidation has maintained that false front. And false front it is, though you were taken in through your fear of in future losing your rights to market Morrisseau prints. We can all understand that and can forgive you --- if you make some attempt at restitution to those whom you have harmed. The con artist who made so many victims, and who is the chief taint of Morrisseau’s legacy, is about to be fully exposed, and he cannot hurt you anymore, Mr.Ross!
Will you suck, or will you blow?
KHVH

Anonymous said...

Up to now I have not personally attacked anyone on this blog.I am not going to start now.
I welcome anyone with real questions for me, I will do my best to answer them in an honest and understandable fashion. Those that just want to bait me into some emotional response will not be heard.
I have put my own name on every posting that I have made to this blog.

Anonymous said...

I see you are still afraid to answer the question, Mr. Ross: why have you not responded to the Globe and Mail's attack on you, Bryant Ross, eBay vendor Coghlanart, as a member of the class of eBay vendors libelled in that article?
Also, you have RETRACTED, by deleting it, the offensive hyperbole from your website. Are you going to make your reason for this retraction known? Is an apology forthcoming?
Two postings above have specifically pointed to your words as the direct and primary cause of financial losses and emotional distress. Will you have the human decency (which you might have aquired by exposure to Morrisseau's art) to respond to that?
Will you suck, or will you blow?
KHVH

Anonymous said...

a post for the paranoid and the delussional on this blog.
I can state that there are many of us who have sat back and read this blog for some time, (quietly)
it is only now some are asking the tough questions, and we still don't see any answers from those who like to slander but will not share with us where they purchased these works that seem to be in question. if, as you claim, you seek the truth. share with us the history of the works? I think you have mistaken the comments of many,as being comments from Mr Ross. how wrong you are. again. you do seem to be fixated on the grammer of many who post, perhaps you should focus an equal amont of time in finding and posting where your paintings came from. this is a legit question to which I have not heard any response to even though it has been asked several times by several people? why? when I first read this blog I had no idea what was going on and who to trust, all that seems to be much more clear now.where did the paintings in question come from?

Anonymous said...

Auction houses consistently sell Morrisseau paintings that come with a provenance. It just seems that the paintings from Kahn Auction and more currently being offered for sale by Randy Potter come with no provenance or it is not being shared. But they will have provenance and it is not being shared (to my knowledge) with anyone that has purchased one of these paintings leaving those with them to state they came from a private collector in Toronto or Thunderbay or... Someone knows the provenance of these paintings and those that do should step forward and offer it to the public to build some creditability to these paintings.

My understanding is there is a gentleman in Thunderbay who has a very large collection of paintings collected over the years. He is associated with an man who's father used to be a jail guard that knew Morrisseau when he was in prison. This guy runs the paintings back and forth to be sold in the GTA on behalf of the owner. Question is - who is this person(s) or even more important is where did he get such a large collection of paintings that many of us own today and of which some would claim are fakes?! If this was known information, we would have provenance to these paintings and a lot of the mystery would be gone.

Sorry if my grammer or spelling is poor in this contribution. This is a blog and I type my thoughts and do not bohter to re-read.

Anonymous said...

Good point, Morrisseau did spend time in jail, and as such had plenty of time to paint many works, several questions still come to mind.
are the paintings being sold by the persons mentioned above the same paintings?
names of people give more cred,than " a guy who use to"
there will always be questions and there seem to be a lot of hurt feelings in this blog.
I do think that most want to hear the truth.those in posession of the works discussed here "should"
have the biggest intrest in the truth, as they are the one's who have invested time and money.
personally, If I was selling works which people claimed were fake or suspect, I would post the names of the people I got them from and let them take a bit of heat.
today, I have only seen a clear battle between TB888 and Mr Ross, both defending their own positons.
I would also like KRG to post regarding the info posted here on the blog yesterday regarding the Khan auction link?

"always listening"

Anonymous said...

will the blogmaster post any photo's from his own collection?
or perhaps you already have?
thanks

Anonymous said...

The bottom line is..Mr. Ross you conversed with an Ebay purchaser of mine stating my Morrisseau was a FAKE. He then went and sold it as an ORIGINAL MORRISSEAU on EBAY. Did you give him an Authenticity certificate?
You cost me A LOT of money and you should be accountable for that. I think I should sue your ass. What have you to say about this? I am sure you have repeated this over and over again to many. Anyone else like to JOIN ME in a suit?

Anonymous said...

No officer of the court, in his or her right mind, would file a lawsuit based on these 'nutcracker findings.'

Anonymous said...

ThunderBear-Canadian Art Gallery
eBay vendor Thunderbear888
email:bluenova999@rogers.com
Michael R.Moniz

Val Ross has passed away...Globe obituary...on the 19th of February 2008 with a long battle against brain cancer.

I wish to express my condolences to the Ross family.

Anonymous said...

My condolences to Val's family.

C.T.


The person you are referring to is Gary Lamont and Linda Lamont aka Gary Bruce Thacky ( Thunderbay Vendor)

perhaps we now have the source or supplier? not an accusation, just an observation? any comments?

more has been revealed to so many in the last few days, that with tidbits posted throughout are starting to create an image, I can almost see it now.
please keep posting.
thanks
C.T.

Anonymous said...

maybe we should get LT Columbo to investigate?
please no more BS accusations, get your works registered.
is it because you are concerned or lack the confidence of these academics? will they some how deceive you?
perhaps they are all out to get you?
get on the meds and off of the soapbox your protesting is doing nothing to promote or validate the works you say are authentic.
there is only one option at this time and it is the NMHS.
like it or not.

Anonymous said...

With reference to the continued references to the NMHS:
Further up in this blog we have the letter from the NMHS which states that “although able to do so”, the NMHS has authenticated NOT A SINGLE PIECE to this date. It is all very well to keep urging everyone to register with the NMHS, but quite simply: THE JOB IS NOT BEING DONE!! Who are the NMHS? These are people who, like all skilled successful people, have very busy personal timetables. Their work for NMHS is VOLUNTARY. IT IS NOT PAID FOR. It is not realistic for anyone to expect them to get on with the job in the forseeable future. To be brutally frank, we are looking at a timetable of 20+ YEARS – we are waiting, realistically, for the next generation of experts who will replace the aging current NMHS. If we want to speed up the timetable, the public must find the money to pay an expert to work full-time for NMHS. If we compare possible salaries with similarly qualified people elsewhere in the arts world, we are looking for someone who will be paid $120,000+ per year. Payroll costs for statutory expenses in Ontario run 27%, so add $32,400+. Our expert will probably need two office assistants. Add $75,000+ for payroll and $20,250+ for statutory payroll expenses. We will want them to have a modern office equipped with computers and with the latest in imaging technology, etc. Add $100,000 per year. Our minimum budget is now $347,650 per year. Who’s going to pay? Well, the people who own Morrisseau work will be the ones who benefit by getting proper registration and credentials – they should pay. The estimated current market value of the entire Morrisseau life-time work is about $300 MILLION, and since the artist has passed on, expect that to increase at about 20 % per year for a decade, then level off to the rate of inflation. If everyone who owns a Morrisseau pays a voluntary tax of $1.16 per $1000 of appraised value, we will more than meet our budget.
I am writing out a cheque for $46.40 right now for my tax to get the ball rolling.
Who is going to be next?
It is NOT so very well to keep harping on sending things to NMHS. Somebody has to pay for this service, and it ought not to be our already over-loaded government – it ought to be the people who benefit.
O.K., who’s next?
Karl H. von Harten

Anonymous said...

I have no issue in putting in $50.00.
Im not even fortunate enough to own a Morrisseau of any kind.
just love the art.

Anonymous said...

I think that most of the insiders in the business do know, as I do, the name of the consignor who still wishes to remain anonymous, and the flap that they keep making about this is because the consignor refuses to deal with them. The two principal gallery owners who keep bringing this issue up, do know who that consignor is, but have both been denied access to this consignor's supply, for his own good reasons. It is out of jealousy and greed that they keep attacking those who do have access to this supply, and want to honour that consignor's privacy. Nevertheless, the cat might get out of the bag if the consignor is subpoenaed as a hostile witness at the up-coming trial.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

As I said before above, this is a COMMERCIAL battle between people wanting to get as big as possible a slice of a $300 million pie, and is not an ARTS battle -- it has nothing to do with the authenticity of the art.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

RE: "SUE YOUR ASS"
I don't know which of you is suggesting the class action suit,so can we hear from each of you, not anonymously -- Gary, Robert, Steve -- ? I'm sure that if you go for it, others will chip in with financing.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

Hi as to seperate comments in this blog I will add "C.T." to all my posts from here on in.
I ask again where and when is this case to be heard.
I would also like to know why it seems the the people with what seems to be and endless supply of Morrisseau works always want to remain anonymous? and those selling them can't or don't remember where exactly they came from?
it was recently pointed out to me that a auction house ( 1 of many)east of Toronto seems to have a dozen or two Morrisseau paintings a month for sale, and has for years? it is starting to look like "morrisseau "
painted 100,000 paintings? maybe more? does anyone know where I can get a nice original copy of
"dogs playing pool" ?

Anonymous said...

From my understanding - it is the Thunderbay supplier mentioned above who is providing this paintings to the GTA-East auction house. He has made the decision to supply them on a weekly/monthly basis a number of Morrisseaus. My knowledge is that it is this supplier that also provided the paintings for the Kahn Auction - from which this auction house likely spun off from when Kahn closed it doors (Kahns name has been brought up many times and I think it is important to note that Kahn was a very reputable business that ran weekly Tuesday night auctions that were great). Most owners of the well known Morrisseau galleries know exactly who this person is that is supply them to this auction house but my understanding is that he is a bit of a intravert and not interested in working with others. He is well known by name to many as is the individual that runs the paintings back and forth on his behalf. Is it that those wanting an in on this supply are frustrated that he will not provide them with access so in return the goal is to tarnish the reputation of these paintings to hopefully decrease their value? Or do they have a leg to stand on - since he has chosen not to come forward and share provenance on them we are left only to say we acquired this painting from a private collector in Toronto, Thunderbay or...not much of a leg to stand on her with out more details!

Anonymous said...

I also heard that Morrisseau spent time in jail and that the jail guards provided him with art supplies to paint. It is possible that if this person was associated in some way wiht Morrisseau when he was in person that he could have collected a very sizeable collection of his work. If he was in prison he would have had the time to paint hundreds of paintings! That being said I am not sure when he was in prison and if this would be the same time frames as the dates of these painting often questioned.

Once again - like comment above - if the owner shed some light to the public he would be doing justice to his own name, the name of the people who have bought the paintings in good faith and most of all to Norval Morrisseau himself.

Anonymous said...

C.T. here
no problem with Kahn, they are still in business, I stop in every once in awhile. I am a bit frustrated here that we still are not getting details from those who are selling these works?
I don't own any Morrissea's, hell I can hardly afford my internet connection, but I do love the art.
as this blog seems to go back and forth,I ask is it time to get a dif blog where we could just discuss Morrisseau and his art? any takers? the authenticity issue will always remain. the suckers will always get taken in, and the serious collectors know what and where to buy, thats how it is and thats how it will always be. sad but true.
C.T.

Anonymous said...

C.T - thanks for letting me know Kahn is still in business. Used to go every Tuesday but thought they closed.

Anonymous said...

Gabe is right on Gary's paintings - every last one of them is.

Anonymous said...

RE: ABOVE
Gabe's 15 minutes of fame are over. Who cares what he thinks? He is now irrelevant. You omitted the last word of your sentence. That word should be: AUTHENTIC.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

All you have to do is call Gallery 223 in Nanaimo and ask how much paint Gabe bought over the last few years ( Since Norval stopped painting). He was their BEST customer. And who's paintings were FAKE?

Anonymous said...

C.T. here
nice that we are now bringing in the "religous" aspect. that always seems to go over well.
yes it was important, but the personal views of people who post here should not matter to anyone.
this kind of battle has historically created nightmares.
keep religous opinions out.
just my thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Norval Morrisseau's paintings are expressions of spiritual values and beliefs. There can be no understanding of those values and beliefs without discussion of SPIRITUAL matters.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

With regards to your specific comment, I am hoping that Bryant Ross is clever enough to appreciate the specific joke intended in the post. If it goes over his head, I'll be disappointed.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

as to above, I agree. intelectual flyweights should post elsewhere.
there are blogs in which you could debate your very clever and deeply philisophical views.
clearly some of these thoughts apply to Norval, thats OK. but I for one could give a rats ass about your interpitations.

Anonymous said...

When the blogmaster started this blog, he made it quite clear in the first few postings, that this blog was intended to honour Norval Morrisseau the man. Morrisseau was a shaman who painted -- not a painter who was also a shaman. That is the secret to the genius of the art which he produced, and that is the intended and stated purpose of the blog -- interpretation of the master shaman. All of the postings dealing with the history of commercial exchanging of that art detract from the purpose of the blog: INTERPRETATION & HONOUR
KHVH

Anonymous said...

My last post was here at 23-02-08:14:32. Some child has been using my initials since then. It appears that this is just another chat room without substance. Good bye.
KHVH

Anonymous said...

"as previously posted, an appraisal has nothing to do with authenticity"

The above quotation came from an anonymous blogger:according to Joeseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery he told me that an "Appraisal is the same thing as Authenticating the work"
He said to me "if the piece wasn"t real why would I place a value of $20,000.00 Cnd on to it?If it weren't real?"

ThunderBear888

Anonymous said...

eBay vendor thunderbear888
email:bluenova999@rogers.com
Michael R.Moniz
SKYPE ID:michaelrockefellor

The company linked below can be contacted for further details concerning the nature of their work.Mr.Brian Lindblom will also testify in a court of law and has already worked with identfying Norval Morrisseau's signatures that have been painted on the reverse side of canvases.
DOCUMENT EXAMINATION CONSULTANTS INC (BRIAN LINDBLOM,B.A.,FSSocDIP)
Mr. Lindblom is regularly called upon by law enforcement agencies and is one of CANADA'S Experts in the field.
I have compiled an interesting detailed body of work titled "How to identify a Norval Morrisseau Signature".This article will be inserted into the blog.You can view this article now in my "about Me" page that is found in my eBay store Thunderbear-Canadian Art Gallery.It is an ongoing work and will be added onto as I see fit.Thank You.

Link to signature article by Thunderbear-Canadian art Gallery:

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=thunderbear888

Link to Document Examination Consultants, Inc. Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents by a Qualified Forensic Document Examiner.

http://www.decinc.ca/

Economic Analyst said...

I find the 1970's painting are MUCH more vibrant than at any other time period. I like them much much better. So, can you give me the names of the "fake artists" that painted them? I would like to congratulate him on his incredible strokes. Thy are quite magical for me and as well as MANY others who enter my home