Norval Morrisseau: "Miskwaabik Animiiki / Copper Thunderbird" (Graham Bezant Collection: Toronto Star)
Art dealer Jim White has pleaded guilty to his role in what has been called Canada's biggest art fraud. He admitted “he handled works falsely attributed to the late Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau," according to a story in The Globe and Mail.
White “pleaded guilty to uttering forged documents and possessing property obtained by crime for the purpose of trafficking.”
According to The Globe and Mail, White “bought around 500 fakes for more than $450,000 and then distributed them across Canada.”
White was one of eight people charged in 2023, as part of a lengthy investigation responsible for creating thousands of fake Morrisseau paintings. His sentencing will take place Aug. 7.
“To hear [White] plead guilty to criminal offences is a watershed moment,” said lawyer Jonathan Sommer in The Globe and Mail story. “This is something we’ve been waiting on for a long time.”
It has been estimated that at least 4,500 Morrisseau forgeries are in circulation and forgery allegations about his work go back decades. The 2019 documentary, There Are No Fakes traced a supposed Morrisseau painting, Spirit Energy of Mother Earth, which was bought by Barenaked Ladies guitarist Kevin Hearn in 2005.
Source: The Globe and Mail
Also see: Calgary Gallery Files Defamation Lawsuit
McGill University Says Morrisseau Likely Fake
Morrisseau Art Fraud Ringleader Pleads Guilty
Ontario Provincial Police Arrest Eight in Norval Morrisseau Art Fraud Ring
David Voss Sentenced For Role in Morrisseau Art Fraud
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