Norval Morrisseau

Norval Morrisseau (March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation. He is widely regarded as the grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada. Known as the "Picasso of the North," Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality and mysticism. His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. He founded the Woodlands School of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the "Indian Group of Seven."

Biography

An Anishinaabe, Morrisseau was born March 14, 1932, on the Sand Point Ojibwe reserve near Beardmore, Ontario. His full name was Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau, but he signed his work using the Cree syllabics writing ᐅᓵᐚᐱᐦᑯᐱᓀᐦᓯ (Ozaawaabiko-binesi, unpointed: ᐅᓴᐘᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ, "Copper/Brass [Thunder]Bird"), as his pen-name for his Anishnaabe name ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ (Miskwaabik Animikii, unpointed: ᒥᐢᑿᐱᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᑭ, "Copper Thunderbird").

In accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, he was raised by his maternal grandparents with little connection to his actual parents. His grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a traditional Medicine Man and Knowledge Keeper, taught him the traditions and legends of his people. Morrisseau left the school when he was ten, preferring to learn from elders rather than continuing his formal education. According to Anishnaabe tradition, giving a powerful name to a dying person can give them new energy and save their lives. Morrisseau recovered after the ceremony and from then on always signed his works with his new name.

When he started painting, he was discouraged from sharing traditional stories and images outside of the First Nation, but he decided to break this taboo.

Morrisseau contracted tuberculosis in 1956 and was sent to Fort William Sanatorium to recover. There he met his future wife Harriet Kakegamic with whom he had seven children, Victoria, Michael, Peter, David, Lisa, Eugene, and Christian.

After being invited by Ontario Provincial Police Constable, Robert Sheppard, to meet the artist, the anthropologist Selwyn Dewdney became an early advocate of Morrisseau's and was very interested in Morrisseau's deep knowledge of native culture and myth. Dewdney was the first to take his art to a wider public.

Jack Pollock, a Toronto art dealer, helped expose Morrisseau's art to a wider audience in the 1960s. The two initially met in 1962 while Pollock was teaching a painting workshop in Beardmore. As Pollock did not drive, Susan Ross whom Morrisseau had met in 1961 and Sheila Burnford drove Pollock to visit Morrisseau at his home to view more of his works. On that occasion, he had a vision of Jesus encouraging him to be a role model through his art. He converted to the apostolic faith and started introducing Christian themes in his art. A year later he was arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour and was incarcerated for his own protection. He was assigned an extra cell as a studio and was allowed to attend a nearby church.

Morrisseau joined the Eckankar movement in 1976 and gave up drinking. He connected Eckankar's emphasis on soul travel through the astral planes to his traditional Ojibway teachings.

Morrisseau was the founder of a Canadian-originated school of art called Woodland or sometimes Legend or Medicine painting. His work was influential on a group of younger Ojibwe and Cree artists, such as Blake Debassige, Benjamin Chee Chee, and Leland Bell. His influence on the Woodland school of artists was recognized in 1984 by the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers. He spent his youth in remote isolation in northern Ontario, near Thunder Bay, where his artistic style developed without the usual influences of other artists' imagery. As the sole originator of his "Woodland" style he became an inspiration to three generations of artists.

In 1978, Morrisseau was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

As Morrisseau's health began to decline as a result of Parkinson's disease and a stroke in 1994, he was cared for by his adopted family of Gabe and Michelle Vadas. In 2005 and 2006, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa organized a retrospective of his work. This was the first time that the Gallery dedicated a solo exposition to a native artist. In the final months of his life, the artist used a wheelchair and lived in a residence in Nanaimo, British Columbia. He was unable to paint due to his poor health. He died of cardiac arrest—complications arising from Parkinson's disease on December 4, 2007, in Toronto General Hospital. He was buried after a private ceremony in Northern Ontario next to the grave of his former wife, Harriet, on Anishinaabe land. Norval Morrisseau was honoured with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award during the NAAF Awards show in 2008.

Style

Morrisseau was a self-taught artist.

The cover art for the Bruce Cockburn album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws is a painting by Norval Morrisseau.

Two of Morrisseau's paintings from the mid-1970s appear in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining including The Great Earth Mother (1976) and Flock of Loons (1975).

Fakes and forgeries

thumb|left|On the left, 2004 email from Norval Morrisseau requesting the removal of nine items identified as fakes from sale, directed at an unknown dealer. On the right, a 2007 press release from Norval Morrisseau disavowing any link with the "Morrisseau Family Foundation", and identifying the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society as the sole authority to create a catalogue raisonné of his work.

The prevalence of fakes and forgeries was of deep concern to Morrisseau, particularly during his later years, and he actively sought to remove these from the marketplace.

In 2005, Morrisseau established the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS). The Society is currently compiling a database of Norval Morrisseau paintings to discredit many prevalent Morrisseau forgeries. This committee, not affiliated with any commercial gallery or art dealer, comprises highly respected members of the academic, legal and Aboriginal communities working on a volunteer basis. It is charged with creating a complete catalogue raisonné of Norval Morrisseau artwork. The NMHS is currently researching Morrisseau art, provenance and materials and techniques in order to complete the task assigned to them by the artist.

The Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC) issued the following directive in the Winter 2007 newsletter to their membership: "The Art Dealers Association of Canada is enacting a rule and regulation that no certificates of authenticity will be issued by any members of ADAC with respect to any works or purported works by Norval Morrisseau and that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society is the sole authority for the authentication of works by Norval Morrisseau." ADAC also revoked the membership of a dealer who failed to comply with this directive.

Morrisseau also engaged in more direct intervention, identifying fake and forged works available for sale, particularly those purported to be painted by him in the so-called "70s style". He wrote to galleries and made sworn declarations identifying items being sold as "fakes and imitations". were directed to at least seven dealers and galleries during 1993–2007, requesting that fake and forged works be removed or destroyed. These dealers were the Artworld of Sherway, Gallery Sunami, Maslak McLeod Gallery, Bearclaw Gallery, Gary Bruce Thacky (AKA Gary Lamont of Thunder Bay, Ontario) and Randy Potter Estate Auctions.

"The (previous lower court) trial judge erred in failing to find that the Gallery's provision of a valid provenance statement was a term of the purchase and a warranty, not mere puffery," the new appeal decision states.

Mr. McLeod's assertion that the painting was genuine was only matched by his elusiveness in demonstrating that fact, which can only be explained as deliberate," said the appeal panel. "With respect to the provenance statement, Mr. McLeod made a false representation, either knowing that it was false and without an honest belief in its truth, or he made the statement recklessly without caring whether it was true or false, with the intent that Mr. Hearn would rely upon it, which he did, to his personal loss." Gallery owner Joseph McLeod is no longer alive;

The debate concerning the authenticity of the "70s paintings" commonly found in the marketplace, continues with ongoing litigation.

Law enforcement have launched an active investigation into the Norval Morrisseau art fraud as confirmed by the National Post:

"However, police in Thunder Bay say they have now launched a criminal investigation into a possible art fraud ring involving Morrisseau paintings. Spokesman Scott Paradis said Friday investigators are "not prepared to speak about potential suspects or persons of interest." "The criminal investigation is one of several major developments to take place after what's shown in the film, which ends with the outcome of the lawsuit."

On March 3, 2023, the Thunder Bay Police and Ontario Provincial Police announced they had pressed charges against 8 people and seized over 1,000 paintings in the forgery cases. Police described it as "the biggest art fraud in world history." On December 4, 2023, the 16th anniversary of Norval Morrisseau's death in 2007, additional details of the investigation and the art fraud ring emerged with the guilty plea of Gary Lamont, 1 of the 8 people charged in the Norval Morrisseau art forgery case. Lamont pleaded guilty to 2 of 5 charges in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Thunder Bay, Ontario, defrauding the public of an amount exceeding $5,000 and forgery (making false documents, mainly artwork), with the three remaining counts expected to be withdrawn.

The joint operation, between the OPP and the Thunder Bay Police Service, called Project Totton, took years and laid 40 charges against Lamont and 7 other still alleged forgers operating in Thunder Bay and Southern Ontario.

JEFF COWAN

The final accused in the Norval Morrisseau art fraud case is now representing himself in ongoing criminal proceedings. Jeff Cowan, a resident of the Niagara Region, faces seven counts of fraud and one count of uttering a forged document. A jury was selected, and the trial began on September 15, 2025, before Superior Court Justice Laura Bird.

Operating out of Niagara-on-the-Lake (and formerly St. Thomas), Cowan was identified by the Ontario Provincial Police and Thunder Bay Police as a primary source for hundreds of forged works attributed to the legendary Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau.

While other rings in the operation (led by figures like Gary Lamont and David Voss) focused on mass-producing "paint-by-numbers" forgeries, Cowan's group specialized in the marketing and legitimization of these works. He allegedly provided false provenances and crafted elaborate backstories to convince galleries and private collectors that the paintings were authentic "lost" treasures.

Cowan's own personal lore was equally colorful; shortly before his 2023 arrest, he reportedly shared tales with local media about "lost treasure" buried by missionaries in Bolivia, claiming his return to South America was only delayed by the looming criminal charges.

According to evidence presented in court, Cowan worked in a tightly knit trio:

Jeffery (Jeff) Cowan: The source and distributor who claimed many of the works came from his uncle, a claim that remained unsubstantiated.
James (Jim) White: An elderly art dealer who acted as a major distributor, moving works from Cowan's hands into legitimate galleries and auction houses.
Paul David Bremner: An appraiser who provided the "bogus certificates of authenticity" that gave the fakes their veneer of credibility.

Between 2016 and 2021 alone, records showed White made dozens of trips to Cowan's home, purchasing nearly 500 forged works for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

K v Cowan

When the case finally reached the Barrie courthouse in late 2025, Cowan chose to represent himself. He maintained a defiant stance, famously telling local reporters, "We are going to flip the script," and expressing total optimism for an acquittal.

His defense rested on two main pillars:

Systemic Uncertainty: He argued that Morrisseau's own history of substance abuse and inconsistent signature styles made it impossible to prove provenance for any mass collection of his work.
Scapegoating: He claimed the Crown had not met its burden of proof and that he was merely being used as a convenient target for the broader failures of the art market.

In November 2025, the jury rejected his arguments. After two days of deliberation, Jeff Cowan was found guilty on four counts:

Three counts of fraud over $5,000
One count of uttering a forged document

Two other fraud counts were withdrawn by the judge before reaching the jury. Unlike his co-accused (White and Bremner) who took plea deals resulting in house arrest, Cowan's decision to take the case to trial has left him facing the possibility of a significant prison term.

As of February 2026, Cowan's sentencing hearing is ongoing. In a final shift in strategy, he has set aside his self-representation and hired experienced appeal lawyers. His defense team is currently arguing that he was not a "ringleader" but perhaps merely "willfully blind," as they attempt to mitigate the upcoming sentence in a case that has irrevocably damaged the cultural legacy of the "Picasso of the North."