[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-909361884.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tA complex, sprawling legal case surrounding the late Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau took a new turn this week after an art expert testified that the painter\u2019s children were active participants in a scheme that saw many of his works forged and passed off as authentic.<\/p>\n
\n\tLabeled Canada\u2019s largest art fraud ever by investigators, the scheme has been the subject of a prolonged court battle that culminated last year in the conviction of Jeffrey Cowan, one of eight people arrested in 2023. He has been accused of taking part in an effort to sell 1,400 faked Morrisseau works between 2008 and 2021.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut this week, Morrisseau expert John Zemanovich said that the artist\u2019s own children were also culpable, since they allegedly played a role in the attempts to sell faux pieces by Morrisseau, who is sometimes termed the Picasso of the North. Though Zemanovich has previously made similar claims, his testimony on Monday before Ontario\u2019s Superior Court of Justice featured a more explicit condemnation of some members of Morrisseau\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\n\tAccording to Zemanovich, Morrisseau\u2019s children were \u201ccritical to the success of the fraud,\u201d per the Toronto Star<\/em>. He reportedly added, \u201cI really do not think there\u2019s any way possible it could have reached the size it did.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tZemanovich claimed that it would be \u201creasonable\u201d to estimate that there are between 5,000 and 7,000 authentic Morrisseau works, and that \u201cit would be reasonable to assume similar output with fakes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBecause of the court\u2019s schedule, lawyers for the Morrisseau estate have not had a chance to respond yet. However, the estate has previously said on its website that it is \u201cvery aware of the issues surrounding his art and we will work to bring clarity, justice and confidence back to his collectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/norval-morrisseau-children-forgery-scheme-expert-testimony-1234790939\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-909361884.jpg?w=1024″] A complex, sprawling legal case surrounding the late Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau took a new turn this week after an art expert testified that the painter\u2019s children were active participants in a scheme that saw many of his works forged and passed off as authentic. Labeled Canada\u2019s largest art fraud ever by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2024852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2024852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2024852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2024852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2024852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}