Sunday, November 17, 2013

Norval Morrisseau Portrait by Susan Murar

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     /This post was originally published on May 5th, 2012/ 


by

Portrait of Norval Morrisseau

Portrait (White clay): 8'-0" x 3'-6" x 2'-2" (Height x Width x Depth)
Staff (White clay): 3'-10" x 1'-10" x 10" (Height x Width x Depth)
/The portrait has not yet been cast into bronze/

* Inquires from patrons and cultural institutions wordwide are welcomed-


"It is no less than a gift to humanity."

It takes great strength to live this life, to incorporate a vision that one believes in with all one's heart- something that one feels is important beyond all other considerations. Norval Morrisseau had this vision despite the controversy that he produced with his life. He had an interior strength that never gave up, a vision that he must leave us with his paintings - his gifts.

I hope that "Spirit Walker" with his vision to document Norval's life in its most significant moments (and the small details) finds the same strength that Norval found, to continue to work on this enclyclopaedic volume of knowledge on the internet, his blog to Honour Norval Morrisseau. It is no less than a gift to humanity. Gifts in our lives have a beauty that we cannot often see, Norval knew this as he travelled to the House of Invention to bring us our special gifts of beauty in his paintings.

We are learning more about Norval and his gifts of such immense beauty because of "Spirit Walker". I doubt that Norval Morrisseau would say anything other than, "Blessings Be".

Susan Murar, Sculptor
BA, MFA, AOCAD





IMPORTANT UPDATE:

The following is communication between Ms. Susan Murar and Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS) regarding the above presented portrait of Norval Morrisseau:

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Susan Murar's letter to NMHS
From: Susan Murar <susan.murar@yahoo.ca>
To: "norvalmorrisseauheritage@gmail.com" <norvalmorrisseauheritage@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 10:43:35 AM
Subject: Morrisseau Portrait

Dear NM Heritage Society:  After two years of research and studio work, the 1st 3D and monumental portrait of Norval Morrisseau changing into "Copper Thunderbird" has been completed, size 8'x 6' in two sections, photographed in the white clay it was sculpted in, it can be viewed on YouTube Video: morrisseau murar. This was not commission but a labour from the heart to honour Morrisseau's gifts to our world. The portrait includes the sacred bear, the Ojibwa medicine snake and turtle, thunderbird/fish headdress and, shaman staff/medicine stick. This portrait is a "major" piece that should be preserved and exhibited in a major Canadian cultural institution- and the sculptor needs someone of vision to make this happen.

Since the completion, three other monumental works related to Morriseau's life and oeuvre have been sculpted, "The Ascended Master", "Ancestoral Shaman", and, "Spirit Presence" at the House of Invention.

The sculptor is not First Nations, however of Czechoslovakian/Swedish ancestry (b. 1942), and has completed studies at three universities, exhibited nationally and internationally and is considered a "nationally recognized Canadian sculptor" SEE work purchased by the Canadian Library/Archives, Gatineau/Quebec.

The sculptor is also a clairaudient and as such has recorded very sensitive and beautiful messages from Morrisseau and the Ojibwa Nation during the two year process of sculpting his monumental portrait- some very small quotes from these messages are printed in larger lettering at the bottom of text pages, on the YouTube Video. The complete messages will be available to researchers/press when the portrait is unveiled and celebrated.

Please help the preservation of this important work of art- I remain the sculptor, Murar, cum laude BA, MFA, OCAD U (1984).

~ Click HERE for a screen capture of this communication between Ms. Susan Murar and NMHS.
  
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NMHS Response to Susan Murar

From: Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society <norvalmorrisseauheritage@gmail.com>
To: susan.murar@yahoo.ca
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 10:43:39 AM
Subject: Re: Morrisseau Portrait

Thank you for your email. Since the out-of-court settlement in January 2012 by the Morrisseau Estate of the will contestation brought by the artist's natural children, the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS) has been seeking to secure the cooperation of these parties in our project of creating a scholarly basis for the authentication of his work.

Currently we have had no response from any of them. Unfortunately, this has brought our project to a standstill. As a result, at the moment we are not in a position to respond to inquiries, but we continue to hope that things will improve in the near future.

The Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society
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Website: http://www.norvalmorrisseauheritagesociety.ca/

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This transmission is a
confidential communication for addressee only.

~ Click HERE for a screen capture of this communication between NMHS and Ms. Susan Murar.

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Note: This presentation of e-mail communication with Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society has been approved by Ms. Susan Murar of Stratford, Ontario.

BLOG MASTER'S COMMENT: Note that an individual who signed this e-mail communication with Ms. Murar did not even have the courtesy to sign it with a person's name.

Strangely, if you pay attention to the date and time at which Ms. Murar e-mailed to the NMHS and the NMHS' reply, it appears that her e-mail and their response was only 4 seconds apart.

Is this really possible?

Is it humanly possible to read an e-mail consisting of 279 words, think about it, and respond to it by using 125 words in a reply e-mail - all this in just mere four seconds?
(visit http://www.wordcounttool.com/ to verify word count of both e-mails). Have the NMHS ever submitted their name to be included in the Guinness book of records as this appear to be worthy of the inclusion in it? 

This 'time descrepancy' caused me to think that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society used an automatic reply for all e-mail requests from people who are concerned about what is going on with Norval Morrisseau's Legacy and the situation in the Norval Morrisseau art market.

I tried myself to verify if this thought makes any sense and I e-mailed them with just a simple subject line 'Test' and with no body of text whatsoever. I received the same reply within a few seconds of sending it (click HERE & HERE to see the screen capture of my e-mail and their reply). If you read their response carefully you will find that it was exactly the same as 'The Guinness Record Time' of their reply to a lengthy e-mail by Ms. Susan Murar.

Sadly this means that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS) has not done anything of substance in the last eight (8) years to give any peace of mind to the countless Norval Morrisseau collectors and admirers of his art.

They continue ignoring the responsible task of protecting his legacy. They claim in their mission statement that "they were supposed to research, document and preserve Norval Morrisseau's artistic achievement and protect the integrity of his art" and "establish and maintain a registry of his works, publishing and updating a catalogue raisonne of his artistic output and providing the necessary expertise to authenticate his art."

Also, in 2008 two members of NMHS called my genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings FAKES. These same paintings, signed on the back by the artist using drybrush (DB) technique, have since been authenticated by Forensic Science in 2011 and 2013).

They also recognized Kinsman Robinson Galleries as "a trusted dealer of Norval Morrisseau's art". The same gallery was the one which launched a $1,000,000 SLAPP suit against me as they intended to interfere with my right to freedom of expression (click HERE to read about this Superior Court of Justice - Ontario court case Kinsman Robinson Galleries vs. Ugo Matulic /CV-10-417123/ - case won by the Defendant).

"The Plaintiffs have actively and deliberately taken action to corner the market in paintings by Norval Morrisseau. They are using their own position, as a former Morrisseau dealer, to inflate the value of their own holdings of Norval Morrisseau's paintings, and deflate the value of paintings held by Matulic, other Morrisseau collectors and art galleries all across Canada, by falsely claiming that many genuine Morrisseaus are forgeries, especially those signed on the back by the artist in black paint using drybrush (DB) technique. However several of these paintings have been positively confirmed for the signature authenticity by three independent forensic document examiners from Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary."
(Statement of Defence /CV-10-417123/, Sept. 21st, 2011; ¶ 4, Page 2)

In Melissa Fung's 'CBC News Report' aired in 2005 (click HERE to view the video) Mr. Paul C. H. Robinson who is the director for Kinsman Robinson Galleries stated that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS) "will look at the paintings and will determine which are by his hand and which are not" even knowing that NMHS has not authenticated any of the Norval Morrisseau paintings (click HERE and find Mr. Richard H. Baker's letter sent on January 9th, 2008 to lawyer Mr. Ethan Rogers which was part of a court case Moniz vs. CTV Globemedia Publishing Inc. The case was settled in the Plantiff"s favour.) 

This letter also stated that "The Society (NMHS) has not yet dealt with identifying the outside experts or galleries capable of authenticating Morrisseau art and it recognizes that Kinsman Robinson Galleries is a trusted dealer of Norval Morrisseau's art".

This automated statement by the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society is just is another proof that the NMHS has not authenticated even a SINGLE Norval Morrisseau painting it has collected in its registry since 2005.

Closing notes: If you click on NMHS website link http://www.norvalmorrisseauheritagesociety.ca/ there is no information there, and you need a password to log in. Not even the names of the members, or what their mission statement is.

Also, click HERE to read about the truth behind 'Open Letter to the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society' which I wrote almost six years ago on December 2nd, 2007.

This letter written by Ugo Matulic (Blog Master) which addressed some of Norval Morrisseau authenticity issues still remains unanswered to this day. 


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1 comment:

Susan Murar said...

Spirit Walker, of course I do not know the "scope" of the complaints about the NMHS....however, I ask you, has any artist in the world before or after their demise, had a 'correct' catalogue of their work produced, and verified as authentic? I remember when Picasso died, they wanted to do that- but they gave up and said it was an impossible job. Morrisseau produced 10,000 works in his lifetime- a few people-NMHS- would have to give up their entire lives just to make a 'dent' of a start. It would take an institution like a university, or a special foundation over many lifetimes and/or forever to accomplish that.

As well, in the entire scheme of life on earth, we are not supposed to find out/ know everything in our own lifetimes, the future would not exist if we figured out everything- what would there be left for future generations to learn to explore, to take as their own discoveries, to leave to their children and their future. It seems that digging up the past literally and figuratively is a major preoccupation of mankind (too bad we can't dig up the future!). Has there ever been a concern over "fake" Picasso's? If not why not.

Susan Murar, Sculptor

19 November, 2013 09:55

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