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Family feuds over control of native painter's legacy
Artist's sons endorse different organizations to authenticate works

Grania Litwin
Times Colonist

Thursday, October 25, 2007

An ugly public rift has developed between two groups seeking to protect the
legacy of Nanaimo-based Norval Morrisseau, one of Canada's most celebrated
living painters.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake in the dispute between the
Morrisseau Family Foundation, publicly launched last month by Morrisseau's
son Christian, and the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society, a group of
academics endorsed by Gabe Vadas, a man Morrisseau considers to be his son.

At issue is which organization is arbiter of the works created by
Morrisseau, an Ojibway artist whose paintings sell for as much as $100,000.

As prices for Morrisseau works rise, so do the number of forgeries in the
market. They are a concern not only because of fraud, but also because a
flood of fake paintings devalues the true works of an artist and diminishes
the amount of money he receives for his work.

Morrisseau, 75, cannot speak clearly because he has advanced Parkinson's
disease. However, he has signed a public statement disassociating himself
from the Morrisseau Family Foundation.

A spokesman for the Morrisseau Family Foundation could not be reached, but
on Sept. 15, Morrisseau's son Christian, also an artist, announced its
creation, saying it would "serve to carry on Morrisseau family artistic
traditions and to protect and nourish the Morrisseau family legacy."

In a press release, Christian also said the foundation will authenticate
works by Morrisseau.

But Vadas says the only official group looking into Morrisseau's art is the
Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society. This committee of art experts came
together two years ago to create a catalogue raisonné -- a comprehensive
catalogue of all Morrisseau's artworks, including provenance, size and
condition.

Greg Hill, curator of Indigenous Arts at the National Gallery of Canada, is
a member of the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society. He said the Morrisseau
catalogue raisonné contains about 1,300 works and is growing. The task is
challenging, since in the late 1980s, Morrisseau's alcoholism landed him on
the streets of Vancouver, where he sold paintings for as little as $10.

"There are many works out there that are questionable and we are trying to
get a handle on it," Hill said. "Some are sold on websites, some in
galleries, others are in private collections."

Last year, Morrisseau, who was called the Picasso of the North by painter
Marc Chagall, became the first aboriginal artist to have a solo exhibition
at the National Gallery of Canada.

glitwin@...

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007