>>> Maslak McLeod Gallery sued for selling a genuine Norval Morrisseau painting to Kevin Hearn - Band member of the Barenaked Ladies

IN PROGRESS! (Last updated on November 20th, 2017)

"Famed tenor drops suit alleging art dealer sold him fake Morrisseau paintings" by James Adams /Originally published on October 31st, 2014; Plaintiff's legal counsel in both court cases is Mr. Jonathan Sommer/

~ The Plaintiff's legal counsel is Mr. Jonathan Sommer who represented the Plaintiff in a recent court case Hatfield, Margaret Lorraine vs. Child, Donna and Artworld of Sherway. This court case concluded with devastating consequences for the Plaintiff Ms. Margaret Hatfield of Sarnia, Ontario costing her more than $40,000 of her retirement money (click HERE for this landmark court decision* confirming the authenticity of thousands of Norval  Morrisseau paintings). 

* - the Plaintiff's only witnesses in this related court case were Mr. Donald Robinson of Kinsman Robinson Galleries and Mr. Ritchie Sinclair. Both, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Sinclair were discredited by the Paul J. Martial's judgement on April 2nd, 2013 (click HERE).

"Spirit Energy of Mother Earth",  © 1974 Norval Morrisseau
~ Click HERE to view the inscription on canvas VERSO

Provenance: Purchased by an anonymous individual at Khan Auctions in Pickering, Ontario; sold to Mr. Kevin Hearn by Mr. Joseph McLeod (1928-2017) of Maslak McLeod Gallery (Toronto, Ontario) & exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) on June 11th, 2010 (click HERE)

This painting was authenticated by Full Time Forensic Document Examiner Mr. Kenneth J. Davies of 'Hawkeye Studios (Grapho-Lab® Services)' (Calgary, Alberta) - Click HERE. 



Who is Mr. Kevin Hearn* ('Plaintiff'):

> A misguided art collector who happens to believe this painting above is not a genuine artwork by Norval Morrisseau. 

* - A keyboardists for the Barenaked Ladies


Who is Mr. Joseph McLeod ('Defendant'):

> An art expert with a comprehensive knowledge of an artist's work who generated adequate consensus within the art community to establish the authenticity of Norval Morrisseau's works of art.

Mr. Joseph McLeod is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in Canadian 'Woodland Art' and his Maslak McLeod Gallery has built an impressive reputation in the art world for more than 30 years.

He has been a qualified expert witness for the Crown in Federal Court with respect to Norval Morrisseau's art in a pivotal Tax Court of Canada case relevant to cultural property donation program [see Zelinski, Whent, Pustina v. The Queen, (No. 92-424)].

Recently, Mr. Joseph McLeod testified in a pivotal court case relevant to authenticity of Norval Morrisseau artworks [see Hatfield, Margaret Lorraine vs. Child, Donna and Artworld of Sherway].

Mr. McLeod has also been called upon by numerous auction houses such as Sotheby's to help authenticate Norval Morrisseau artworks with his professional expertise.

Mr. McLeod was a member of Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC) and currently has a membership with The Canadian Association of Personal Property Appraisers (CPPA).  

>> Mr. Joseph McLeod has been instrumental in bringing Canadian Native Art to Germany, Italy, Brazil, Japan, China, France and Puerto Rico. 

 >>> Affiliations Curatorial and Appraisal Work of Joseph McLeod:

Art Dealers Association of Canada;
Canada Council for Aboriginal Buisness;
The Government of Canada;
Museum of Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay, Ontario CANADA;
Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, U.S.A.;
The Paul R. Macpherson Woodland Collection of Art,
McMaster University Museum, Hamilton, Ontario;
Sotheby's.com - Master Dealer;
Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.;
The Pequot Museum, Conneticut, U.S.A.;
The Heard Museum, Pheonix, Arizona, U.S.A.;
Govenor's Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.;
Volkunder Museum, Munich, GERMANY &
Exposicao de Arte Indigena, Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL.


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>>> In a recent court judgement "Hatfield vs. Artworld of Sherway" /Court File No. SC-09-087264-0000/ Judge Paul J. Martial stated the following about Mr. Joseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery:

“He demonstrated a superior depth of knowledge of Morrisseau…” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 25)

“The testimony of Mr. Joseph McLeod is indicative of his care and the detailed effort to confirm provenance, including the hiring of a forensic expert to examine the signature on the back of the painting indicate that he took his role to provide appraisals seriously. His testimony… demonstrates his depth of knowledge of the painter due to his lengthy association with the artist.” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 35)

"His (Ritchie Sinclair's) methodology in identifying forgeries is clearly inadequate and suspect since he testified that he does not even view the original paintings before condemning them as fakes." (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 16)

"Mr. Robinson (of Kinsman Robinson Galleries) was qualified as an expert in the area of valuation and appraisal. His testimony however overlapped into the area of handwriting and included an analysis of syllabic and English handwriting, areas for which he was not qualified.

"He has no formal training as an expert witness in handwriting analysis and his evidence is rejected. (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 37)

"Dr. Singla's forensic evidence is preferred in this regard and his finding that it is highly probable that the painting "Wheel of Life" was painted by Norval Morrisseau was supported by his detailed technical analysis of known signatures of' Norval Morrisseau. (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 37)

"The Court finds that there is overwhelming evidence that Norval Morrisseau signed paintings in black brush paint.” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 34)

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BLOG MASTER'S COMMENT:

Forensic Document Examinations have been deployed numerous times on various genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings. These artworks were successfully purchased at Randy Potter Estate Auctions and at other auction houses/commercial art galleries across Canada and around the world (click HERE).

These scientific findings have proven successful at determining authenticity of the artwork authored by Norval Morrisseau's hand against publicly known signatures by Norval Morrisseau and his letters of correspondence.

I am certain that this genuine Norval Morrisseau acrylic painting on canvas will be authenticated by forensic science as well.

Forensic Document Examinations were conducted on paintings which were signed by the artist with a dry brush (DB) technique commonly found on the reverse of these genuine Norval Morrisseau artworks.

Many forensic reports and their conclusive findings have been presented on this platform. These reports were prepared by the three top internationally recognized Forensic Document Examiners and Handwriting Experts (click HERE).

IMPORTANT NOTE: The first ever Forensic Document Examination analysis on Norval Morrisseau signature had been completed on January 24th, 2002 for Mr. Joseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery by Mr. Brian Lindblom of 'The Document Examination Consultants Inc.' (click HERE).

ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT NOTE:

After three years of investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Thunder Bay Police Service and after six court cases over the period of seven years nobody has ever been successful in pointing out one case where it was proven that someone made, sold, distributed or even marketed one "fake" Norval Morrisseau painting.

1.1 - Otavnik vs. Vadas SC 07-51428-00,
2.1 - Michael Moniz vs. CTV Globemedia Publishing Inc.,
3.1 - Drs. Browne and Witmer vs. Bearclaw Gallery,
4.1 - Otavnik vs. Sinclair SC 09-00082782-0000,
4.2 - CASE SUMMARY: Otavnik vs. Sinclair SC 09-00082782-0000,
5.1 - Hatfield  vs. Child SC-09-087264-0000 &
6.1.- Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic CV-10-417123.

~ In all of these court cases Forensic science have been used proving that paintings in question were signed by Norval Morrisseau and nobody else (click HERE).

Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker

From other sources:
~ Barenaked Ladies Keyboard Player Suing Toronto Gallerist Over Allegedly Fake Painting (The Huffington Post);
~ 'Art dealer’s lawyer denies client sold musician fake Morrisseau painting' (Globe & Mail) &
~ 'Barenaked Ladies’ keyboardist Kevin Hearn sues Toronto gallery for Morrisseau forgery' (National Post).


"NONE OF ALLEGATIONS FROM THE STATEMENT OF CLAIM BY MR. HEARN HAVE BEEN PROVEN IN COURT"

>>> Reference posts:

- Forensic Document Examination (Part I), - Experts in Norval Morrisseau's Art (Part I) /Ref.: Mr. Joseph McLeod/, - The Art of Norval Morrisseau in Galleries and Museums Around the World (Part VIII), - Another genuine Norval Morrisseau's painting exhibited at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), - "The House of Invention" by Kevin Hearn - musical tribute to Norval Morrisseau (2011), - Morrisseau's artwork in Auction Houses, Commercial Art Galleries & Museums Around the World, - Genuine Morrisseau paintings: Appraised, Authenticated and Forensically Analyzed...,  - Norval Morrisseau authenticating his artworks, - Endorsement by Thunder Bay Art Gallery of genuine Morrisseau paintings from 1970's, - Authenticity Statement by Mr. Goyce Kakegamic, - Statutory Declaration by Mr. Robert Scott, - Statutory Declaration by Mr. Deiter John Voss,
- Downloadable Norval Morrisseau Forensic Reports (Part I),
- Downloadable Norval Morrisseau Forensic Reports (Part II),
- Downloadable Norval Morrisseau Forensic Reports (Part III),
- Downloadable Norval Morrisseau Forensic Reports (Part IV) &
- Hatfield, Margaret Lorraine vs. Child, Donna and Artworld of Sherway (Part IV).
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