8 people arrested in fraud investigation into faked Norval Morrisseau artworks

Eight people have been arrested in the fraudulent manufacturing and distribution of artwork that claimed to be by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau, the OPP said at a Friday news conference.

The investigation by the OPP and Thunder Bay Police service resulted in 1,000 alleged fradulent art pieces seized.

Norval Morrisseau was a renowned Ojibwa artist who pioneered the bold, bright Woodland style. He was an influential figure in the contemporary Indigenous art movement in Canada.

In 1978, Morrisseau was made a member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He died in 2007 and was honoured with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award during the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Awards (now Indspire) show in 2008.

Plagiarism of Morisseau's work has been an ongoing problem. In 2020, TVO aired the documentary There Are No Fakes" about how Canadian musician Kevin Hearn, of the Barenaked Ladies, was caught in a legal battle after he bought a Morrisseau painting he believes to be fake from a Toronto gallery.

This is a developing story.