Norval Morrisseau Signature Comparison (Part II)

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Kevin Hearn Vs. Joseph B. McLeod and Maslak McLeod Gallery Inc.
/Court File No. CV-12-455650/
Awaiting Justice Edward M. Morgan's Judgement...
   
UPDATED, PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED POST
Originally published on Sunday, April 17, 2011

>>> Presented below are two paintings and a book, all signed by Norval Morrisseau in 1976...

 










From left to right: "Artist and Bird Form", canvas 25.5"x20.5", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau (VERSO signed with a paint brush); A book "Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways" inscribed by Norval Morrisseau on March 15th, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA (signed with a ballpoint pen) & "Fresh Spirits", canvas 23"x25", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau (VERSO signed with a paint brush) /Click on image to Enlage/


Exhibit #1































"Artist and Bird Form", acrylic on canvas, 25.5"x20.5",
© 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlarge/
~ Previously presented at www.woodlandartgallery.ca
Provenance: Acquired from a private collection of Mr. Rolf Schnieders (1928-2015), Thunder Bay, Ontario CANADA































"Artist and Bird Form" (Verso), acrylic on canvas, 25.5"x20.5",
© 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlarge/

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Exhibit #2
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"Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways"
ISBN: 0-7710-7975-3, © 1969 by Herbert T. Schwartz/Norval Morrisseau;
McClelland and Stewart Limited /Click on image to Enlarge/
~ Purchased by Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker from  "LEVIS Online Auctions"  

A dedication inscribed in "Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways"
~ signed by Norval Morrisseau on March 15th, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA /Click on image to Enlarge/

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-Exhibit #3

"Fresh Spirits", acrylic on canvas, 23"x25",
© 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlage/
~ This painting was previously presented on July 5th, 2008 (click HERE)
Provenance: Acquired from a private collection of Mr. Rolf Schnieders (1928-2015), Thunder Bay, Ontario CANADA
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"Fresh Spirits" (Verso), acrylic on canvas, 23"x25",
© 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlarge/

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Ms. Carmen Robertson* noted that Mr. Schnieders was "well-known conduit for Morrisseau's paintings in the Thunder Bay region" and was "actively handling works by the artist since 1960s. He operated small store on May St., in Thunder Bay ON called 'Yesterday's Treasures' for a number of years and this was one way he sold works by Morrisseau." 

* - An associate professor of contemporary Aboriginal art history in the Department of Visual Arts, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan & Member of the defunct Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS)

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INTRODUCTION:

There are many statements by Ritchie R. Sinclair a.k.a. Stardreamer, Coghlan Art Studio & Gallery and Kinsman Robinson Galleries regarding the issue that Norval Morrisseau rarely ever signed and dated backs of the artworks.-

The following are samples of their statements:-

>>> Mr. Ritchie R. Sinclair, who claims to be a long time protege of Norval Morrisseau, said: "I painted with Norval in the 70's, 80's and 90's. I never once saw him sign the back of canvases in black paint. From time to time he would title or sign a painting on the back with pen, pencil and even marker. I'd also like to point out that the "drybrush" look was abhorant to Norval. Instead he required just the right fluidity to his black paint because it was the colour he did "lining" with.

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"Furthermore, I find it absurd that Norval would paint the year on the back of these paintings. He never knew what day, month or year it was, or needed to. Prints required dates, paintings didn't. Everyone who knows Norval knew that it was like 'pulling teeth' to get him to title a painting."

Note: See 'Exhibit #2' clearly showing that Norval Morrisseau dated his dedication on March 15th, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba which was contrary to the statement that "he never knew what day, month or year it was, or needed to".

(click HERE to read this full comment by Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair in its original context or view screen capture of his statement by clicking HERE).

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>>> Mr. Bryant Ross, who is the gallery director of the Coghlan Art Studio & Gallery, said: "It is a fact that I worked with Morrisseau for over 20 years. During this time I received 100s of paintings directly from him. Not one was signed, dated or titled on the back."

Note: Click HERE to read of Mr. Bryant Ross' contradictions regarding to this statement.

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(click HERE to read this full comment by Mr. Bryant Ross in its original context).

Click HERE for Mr. Bryant Ross defacing the genuine Norval Morrisseau painting certified by Forensic Science which was acquired canvas from an art dealer Mr. Anthony Martinenko of Winnipeg, Manitoba who acquired it from personal collection of Mr. Rolf Schnieders (1928-2015) of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

>>> Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Principal Morrisseau dealer, said: "In twenty-eight years of dealing in Morrisseau's art, I observed that Norval had rarely written anything on the back of any canvas, but when he did, it was always in pencil or ballpoint pen - never in black paint."...

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... Further they say; "And, generally speaking, he didn't title his paintings on the front - rarely on the back side either."

(click HERE & HERE to view screen captures of the KRG's statements).


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"Warriors in Circle of Life," acrylic on canvas, 34" x 32",
© 1974 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlarge/ 

PROVENANCE: Acquired by Mr. David Voss of Thunder Bay, Ontario who supplied it to Mr. Randy Potter of Kahn Auctions, Pickering, Ontario. It was purchased on September 29th, 1999 by Mr. Donald Robinson of Kinsman Robinson Galleries (KRG).
/Click on image to Enlarge/


> The signature painted with a dry brush (DB) technique on the verso of the above presented acrylic painting on canvas has been positively identified to have been authored by Canadian Anishinaabe/Woodland artist Norval Morrisseau. 

Kenneth J. Davies

These discoveries were conducted and documented by Full Time Forensic Document Examiner Mr. Kenneth J. Davies of 'Hawkeye Studios (Grapho-Lab® Services)' (Calgary, Alberta). 

These findings were presented in report is dated September 25th, 2017. (Click HERE for the post addressing this issue)

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Note: It is important to mention that in 1999 and early 2000 co-founder of Kinsman Robinson Galleries (KRG) - Donald C. Robinson, purchased 28 painting at Kahn Auctions, Pickering, Ontario (later called Randy Potter Estate Auction, Port Hope, Ontario) and he openly encouraged other people to buy them and had unsuccessfully bid on another 40 to 60 more paintings from the same auction house - EACH OF THE PAINTINGS WERE SIGNED WITH BLACK PAINT ON CANVAS VERSO AS THE PAINTINGS PRESENTED ABOVE & THE FIRST MR. ROBINSON'S PURCHASE "WARRIORS IN CIRCLE OF LIFE, 1974" PRESENTED ABOVE AS WELL  (click HERE for more info and/or click HERE [1] to view samples of other paintings acquired from the same source as these paintings which were purchased by KRG from Kahn Auctions, Pickering, Ontario CANADA).
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[1] - paintings come with Forensic Report by Brian Lindblom, Forensic Document Examiner & Apraisal by Joseph McLeod of Maslak McLeod Gallery - former member of Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC).

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SIGNATURE COMPARISON (Items involved)

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From left to right: "Artist and Bird Form", acrylic on canvas, 25.5"x20.5", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau; A book "Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways" inscribed by Norval Morrisseau on March 15th, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA & "Fresh Spirits", acrylic on canvas, 23"x25", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Click on image to Enlage/
~ These two paintings on canvas were acquired from a private collection of Mr. Rolf Schnieders (1928-2015), Thunder Bay, Ontario CANADA - the same source as paintings that came with Certificates of Authenticity signed by Norval Morrisseau on April 11th, 2002 (click HERE) 


SUMMARY:

From left to right: "Artist and Bird Form", canvas VERSO, 25.5"x20.5", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau (signed with a paint brush); A book "Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways" inscribed by Norval Morrisseau on March 15th, 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA (signed with a ballpoint pen) & "Fresh Spirits", canvas VERSO, 23"x25", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau (signed with a paint brush) /Click on image to Enlage/
~ Click HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE to see other artworks painted by Norval Morrisseau in 1976 which come with similar inscriptions


>>> Note the presence of the copyright symbol © and consistency dating the year of execution of the painting with just last two digits preceded with an apostrophe.
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Norval Morrisseau painted his first name in a same fashion as a book inscribed dedication and in Norval Morrisseau's last name the two upper case letters 'R' are painted by him in a same way as in all three signature samples.
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Note the letter ''i'' in Norval Morrisseau's last name and how it is dotted up and to the right of the letter bar's top end. The letter ''i'' is also done in a lowercase script manner and found separated.
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Let us examine the first middle letter S as it appears in Morrisseau's last name. Here we have a most remarkable similarity between the look of this letter and the second Cree syllabic letter that Norval Morrisseau paints onto the fronts of his creations! Did Morrisseau do this consciously or subconsciously? One can only speculate. The syllabics read ''Copper Thunderbird'' on the front of the canvases. The letter S here is always separated in his written signature and Morrisseau painted the letter this way as well. This is a characteristic of his calligraphic style and is seen many times in his written letters on paper and also reflected in his painted signature on the reverse of the canvases he created.
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It is very important to mention that in his last name Norval Morrisseau would always paint the last letter 's' and letter 'e' connected in same fashion as his handwritten form as presented in the painting samples presented in this post.
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These are some of the tell-tale signs of authentic Norval Morrisseau's signature characteristics but there are few variations and inconsistencies that are not addressed in this Norval Morrisseau signature comparison. Note that slight changes in signatures presented in this post are influenced by writing instruments ("paint brush vs. ballpoint pen).

Click HERE for more information on Norval Morrisseau's signing habits/techniques. For novice collectors I strongly recommend reading Mr. Michael Moniz's (1965-2013) "Morrisseau Signature Identification Article 101" (Part I).

NOTE: In the 'Norval Morrisseau Signature Study' posts presented on this blog, We are eager to introduce numerous examples from known sources with provenance. We will use letters addressed by Norval Morrisseau/canvases and officially embossed signatures by Norval Morrisseau. As well as serigraphs to analyze Norval Morrisseau's signature as it is found on his artwork. This study is to confirm and introduce to the novice and seasoned collector the many aspects of Norval Morrisseau's caligraphy found painted most often on the reverse and front of his canvases.Signatures on limited edition serigraphs, books and other means of correspondence will also be submitted.

Dr. Atul K. Singla            Brian Lindblom (ret.)           Kenneth J. Davies

/Canada's top Forensic Document Examiner and Handwriting Experts/

> Every painting from the collections of Mr. Rolf Schnieders and Mr. David Voss which were submitted for signature analysis were authenticated by one of Canada's three top internationally recognized Forensic Document Examiners and Handwriting Experts from Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary (click HERE for these Forensic Reports which are available for FREE DOWNLOAD exclusively on this platform. <

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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:

"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)

NOTE: The genuine Norval Morrisseau painting involved in this court case was also acquired from Randy Potter Estate Auctions and appraised by Mr. Joseph McLeod. All painting sold through Randy Potter Estate Auctions came from the collection of Mr. David Voss of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

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~ All readers, collectors and admirers of Norval Morrisseau are invited to share your images (drawings, paintings, newspaper articles and painted objects), handwritten and other documents pertaining to the artistic legacy of Norval Morrisseau to be publicly articled on this blog... for the record.~

Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker
/spiritwalker2008@gmail.com/-

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>>> Reference posts:
- Norval Morrisseau Genuine Collage,
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Comparison (Part I),
- Norval Morrisseau Conspiracy Unveiled (Part IV),
- Morrisseau History Detective Stories (Part IV),
- 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),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part VIII),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part IX),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part X),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part XI),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part XII),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part XIII),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part XIV),
- Norval Morrisseau Signature Study (Part XV),
- "Morrisseau Signature Identification Article 101" (Part I) &
- Understanding Art of Norval Morrisseau (Part I).

 ~ Both of the paintings presented above where acquired from a private collection of Mr. Rolf Schnieders, Thunder Bay, Ontario CANADA.
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