Norval Morrisseau's legacy 'irrevocably damaged' due to art fraud, says judge giving man 5 years in prison

David Voss, 52, was in Thunder Bay, Ont., court on Thursday for massive fraud case

A piece of Indigenous artwork on a table. — One of more than 1,000 paintings seized by Ontario Provincial Police in connection with an art fraud investigation involving fake paintings attributed to Norval Morrisseau. (Ontario Provincial Police)

CBC Indigenous: The man who oversaw the creation of thousands of forged artworks in Thunder Bay, Ont., falsely attributed to Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau faces a five-year penitentiary sentence.

David John Voss pleaded guilty on June 4 to counts of forgery and uttering forged documents for operating an art fraud ring out of Thunder Bay between 1996 and 2019.

Investigators have called the case Canada’s largest art fraud investigation, resulting in more than 1,000 paintings seized.

The sentence for Voss, 52, was handed down on Thursday by Superior Court Justice Bonnie Warkentin.

“The purpose of the creation of these fake paintings was to gain an economic benefit, but in the course of creating and selling these fakes, the legacy of Norval Morrisseau has been irrevocably damaged,” Warkentin told the court.

“His spirituality has been undermined and tarnished, so today, we have one small opportunity to address this wrong.”

Man shown beside painting — Morrisseau, shown with one of his earlier paintings at a Vancouver gallery on May 11, 1987, was a renowned artist from the Ojibway Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in northwestern Ontario. He died in 2007.(Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press)

Morrisseau died at age 75 in 2007. The renowned artist from the Ojibway Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in northwestern Ontario is known as the founder of the Woodlands School of Art. His work has been exhibited in galleries across Canada, including at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

“This is more than just an art fraud. It’s an appropriation of a cultural and spiritual identity of one of Canada’s most loved and valued artists,” Warkentin said.

Fraud case involved assembly-line process

According to an agreed statement of facts heard in court this past June, Voss developed an assembly-line process and enlisted multiple painters in the fraud ring. He would draw an outline in pencil and then mark the areas to be coloured in with letter codes corresponding to different colours.

“The painters were paid to apply the paint in accordance with this ‘paint by numbers’ process,” said the statement.

A total of eight people were charged in March 2023 in connection with the art fraud ring, after a years-long police investigation involving the Thunder Bay Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police:

Gary Lamont, David John Voss, Diane Marie Champagne, Linda Joy Tkachyk and Benjamin Paul Morrisseau of Thunder Bay.
Jeffrey Gordon Cowan of Niagara-on-the-Lake, James White of Essa Township and David P. Bremner of Locust Hill.

In December 2023, Lamont — who was considered the “ringleader” of the operation — was sentenced to five years of incarceration, with credit for one year of time already served. He pleaded guilty to a charge of making false documents, mainly artwork, attributed to Morrisseau, and a count of defrauding the public in an amount exceeding $5,000.

The charges against Champagne were withdrawn during Thursday’s proceedings. Others facing charges in connection with the case are expected back in court in the new year, the court heard.

Estate seeks restitution, changes to legal system

Cory Dingle, executive director of Morrisseau’s estate, addressed the courtroom ahead of Voss’s sentencing. He spoke of the financial hardships Morrisseau faced at the end of his life, “after a lifetime of giving.”

According to Dingle, the Morrisseau estate faces at least $100 million in losses as a result of the fraud ring. It could take decades for Morrisseau’s original artwork to regain its value.

Painting in Winnipeg Art Gallery collection part of investigation into Norval Morrisseau fakes

2 months ago, Duration 2:15

A case investigators have called Canada’s largest art fraud investigation has revealed one of thousands of paintings falsely attributed to renowned Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau was once on display in Winnipeg’s biggest art gallery.

“We seek not only restitution for the financial damages and ongoing financial burden of the cleanup, but a recognition of the holistic impact this art fraud has had on our lives, on Norval Morrisseau’s legacy, the estate, and on the cultural heritage of Canada,” Dingle said.

“We seek the active involvement of this individual to continue to assist in the identification of the fake paintings he produced.”

However, the Crown did not seek restitution, since determining an appropriate amount “would be so complex as to be unmanageable,” Warkentin said.

Dingle said the estate wants to see changes to Canada’s Criminal Code, civil code, and copyright act “not only to ensure this never happens again, but to give us the tools to clean up these crimes.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Law, Reporter

Sarah Law is a CBC News reporter based in Thunder Bay, Ont., and has also worked for newspapers and online publications elsewhere in the province. Have a story tip? You can reach her at sarah.law@cbc.ca

With files from Michelle Allan and Kris Ketonen