>>> www.NorvalMorrisseauLegalDefenceFund.com (Part I) ~ Revisited Again ~

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Weekend of Awakening
/February 28th - March 1st, 2009/
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- An Introduction
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"I don't wish my work to be exploited, but to be properly used as an art form in its proper place where for the generations of the great Ojibway people it can be seen in the future, as well as be appreciated by all our white brothers." Norval Morrisseau, September 1962
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~ The following has been trasferred in its entirety from the above stated web site ~
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I am glad to announce the establishment of the www.norvalmorrisseaulegaldefencefund.com. -
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There are and have been many misrepresentations by people with respect to the works of Norval Morrisseau. I direct the reader to Exhibit "A" which is an article in National Post of May 18th, 2001. In the second paragraph Mr. Don Robinson (of Kinsman Robinson Galleries*) states that he was suspicious of the authenticity of 23 paintings which were brought to him by another collector who purchased them at Kahn Auctions. I enclose in Exhibit "B" a statement from that collector. Mr. Robinson in the article only mentions that he bought some works of Norval Morrisseau at Kahn Auctions himself. In fact, over the period between late 1999 and early 2000 Mr. Robinson actually purchased 28 painting from the same auction house (please see Exhibit "C"), he openly encouraged other people to buy them and unsuccessfully bid on another 40 to 60 more paintings from the same auction house. Please refer to Exhibits "D" and "E" which are the statements from the auction house owners. Mr. Robinson in fact tried to get the supplier to sell to him directly and bypass Kahn auctions. The statements of the auction house owners clearly show this. Mr. Robinson also states in the article that Norval knows who are painting these "fakes" but to date he has never named them nor pursued legal action against them. The question is why would Mr. Robinson and his legal team not pursue the people Norval says he knows were painting these so called "fakes"? In fact, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Morrisseau's management team would be deficient in their fiduciary duties to Mr. Morrisseau by not pursuing these people which he says Norval said he knows are painting them. Moreover, to date Mr. Robinson and Norval's handlers cannot point to one case where they have proved that someone made, sold, distributed or even marketed one "fake". Not one case.
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Please now refer to Exhibit "F" which is the May 19th, 2001 letter from Don Robinson to his clients. It is interesting that in this letter Mr. Robinson does not mention the name of Kahn Auctions. Nor does he mention the fact that he bought and sold paintings from Kahn auctions in his gallery but contends that the collector who brought the paintings which were purchased from the same auction house (and same source) were fakes.
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- APPRAISALS DONE BY KINSMAN ROBINSON GALLERIES FOR PAINTINGS PURCHASED FROM KAHN AUCTIONS
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Kinsman Robinson claim to be experts with respect to the authenticity of Norval Morrisseau paintings. Please now refer to Exhibit "G" which shows an appraisal done by Kinsman Robinson Galleries from a client who clearly states where the paintings were purchased (Kahn Auctions) and the subsequent appraisal as of August 18th, 1999. Also, another appraisal done on October 30th, 2001 of the paintings also purchased at Kahn Auctions has been presented. In both cases the Kinsman Robinson Galleries provided appraisals. It is funny that the same auction house where Mr. Robinson purchased his Morrisseaus says are now fakes were appraised and authenticated by his own gallery as being authentic.
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I now refer the reader to Exhibit "H". Here is the correspondence from Mr. Robinson's own lawyer stating that Mr. Robinson did in fact purchase the painting(s) that he never bothered to tell the newspaper nor his own clients as per point 5 as per page 2 . Moreover, it was Mr. Robinson who was victimized and "taken in". Some expert. Mr. Robinson contends they are fakes but he has interestingly never asked for his money back. As far as the continuing investigation it's been seven (7) years and still no mention of anything. I guess experts take their time.
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I keep reading in the various national publications (National Post, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, even the Toronto Sun) etc. about the existence of all these so called fakes. However, I have yet to hear of anyone, anywhere or at any time being convicted or even charged with selling/distributing...etc of such Norval Morrisseau fakes. Moreover, at the opening of the Morrisseau show at the McMichael Gallery; Gabe Vadas proclaimed that he had a disk of 1200 Morrisseau paintings, 800 of which according to Gabe were fakes. I also enclose as per Exhibit "I" a copy some correspondence with Mr. Vadas' lawyer in Vancouver where his lawyer admits to the existence of this disk.
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- NORVAL MORRISSEAU HERITAGE SOCIETY
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This now brings me to the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS). Mr. Morrisseau's children want and have nothing to do with this Committee. In fact it is their preference that this Committee be disbanded. This Committee is supposed to work at arm's length and be independent yet they do not even have their own web site. Moreover, the only way to contact the Committee is via a post office box in Ottawa that is mentioned on Kinsman Robinson Galleries' web site. So much are independence and impartiality. Mr. Robinson has set up the Committee as his straw man. He then went to ADAC and had them implement a policy they prevented another member of the association to have the ability to authenticate a Morrisseau but then have other members of ADAC refer to the NMHS to provide the authentication.
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With respect to Mr. Morrisseaus' Estate. Norval's family was left with nothing. It is one of the purposes of the Norval Morrisseau Legal Defence Fund to raise funds in order to help Norval's children at least benefit from any future dispositions of their father's works including all intellectual rights.
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To conclude, I ask the reader to forward a copy of this site to any other collector and send a link to your local newspaper. I will keep people informed as to where and how payments to the Norval Morrisseau Legal Defence Fund can be made. -
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Source: www.norvalmorrisseaulegaldefencefund.com
---------/Additional Information - "PDF" Document No. 1/
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* - Kinsman Robinson Galleries /Principal Morrisseau dealer - Representing Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007) and his artwork over the last nineteen years./
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BLOG MASTER'S COMMENT: The reason why I started this blog 16 months ago was due to false statements made by Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Coghlan Art Studio & Gallery and individuals* (a List of Individuals presented at the end of this paragraph) closely associated with Norval Morrisseau regarding paintings in question. I felt the need to create a platform that will speak for Norval when this priviledge to speak for himself was put in the hands of others that were only interested in their personal financial gain by putting the Legacy of Norval Morrisseau aside.
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I am dissapointed that Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society is not honouring their mission statement which states:
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"The Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society was established at the request of Norval Morrisseau to research, document and preserve his artistic achievement and protect the integrity of his art. It seeks to achieve this mission by establishing and maintaining a registry of his works, publishing and updating a catalogue raisonne of his artistic output and providing the necessary expertise to authenticate his art."
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-Why are they silent? Is their silence approval for what has been presented on www.morrisseau.com? If they truly care in "protecting the integrity of Norval Morrisseau's art" they would need to speak up. Their silence is hurting the legacy of the man they are supposed to protect and the longer they wait to publish a public statement regarding this matter presented herein, the longer the legacy of Norval Morrisseau will suffer.
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This website www.morrisseau.com is a disservice to Norval Morrisseau, his legacy and the people of Canada. It is full of lies put forth by the people who have little or no expertise to judge the authenticity of Norval Morrisseau's and who are acting only for greed of others using false histories as their methods of deception.
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I am a strong believer that Norval Morrisseau's Legacy belongs to his people "the Great Ojibway" and to family that bears his name - Morrisseau Family.
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"May the truth be told and known to all"
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Megwetch

Spirit Walker
/spiritwalker2008@gmail.com /
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* - Donald (Don) Robinson of the Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Bryant Ross of the Coghlan Art Studio & Gallery & Gabor (Gabe) Vadas, who for the last 20 years of Norval Morrisseau's life functioned as Mr. Morrisseau's guardian, business manager and 'adopted' (although not legally so) son.
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>>> CLOSING STATEMENT: Created by world-renowned Canadian Aboriginal painter Norval Morrisseau, the 'Androgyny' was installed In the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (OSGG) in the Rideau Hall (Ottawa) that replaced Charlottetown Revisited, a work created by the Jean Paul Lemieux, which has been on loan from the Confederation Centre of the Arts since 2006.
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The loan of 'Androgyny' to Rideau Hall is made possible thanks to a partnership with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Indian and Inuit Art Centre. The piece will be on display until 2011 and will be seen by everyone visiting Rideau Hall.
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"In my opinion the Government of Canada could have honoured Norval Morrisseau in a much better way if they had investigated these issues themselves through legal authorities at their disposal. The legacy and great body of artwork by the late Norval Morrisseau is a 'National Treasure' that will honour the commitment made by the Canadian Government in regards to our unique and diverse cultural heritage to be enjoyed by future generations of Canadians".
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>>> Reference postings:
- Norval Morrisseau's Certificate of Authenticity (Part I),
- Norval Morrisseau's Certificate of Authenticity (Part II),
- Norval Morrisseau's Certificate of Authenticity (Part III),
- Norval Morrisseau's Certificate of Authenticity (Part IV),
- Changing Faces of Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair (Part I),
- Changing Faces of Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair (Part II),
- Changing Faces of Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair (Part III),
- Changing Faces of Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair (Part IV),
- Changing Faces of Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair (Part V),
- Blog Master's Public Address V,
- Blog Master's Public Address VI,
- Morrisseau History Detective Stories (Part I),
- Morrisseau History Detective Stories (Part II),
- Morrisseau History Detective Stories (Part III),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part I),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part II),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part III),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part IV),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part V),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part VI),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part VII) &
- Justice for Norval Morrisseau Found.
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- Still image of Norval Morrisseau in this posting from "The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau" - film by NFB © 1974