Judicial pretrial continues Dec. 14 in Ontario Superior Court in Barrie for the direct indictment of three southern Ontario men charged in connection with a fraudulent art ring.
They are accused of making and selling fake paintings by renowned Ontario Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau.
Charged are James White, 81, of Essa Township, David Bremner, 75, of the Markham area, and Jeffrey Cowan, 47, of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
In early 2023, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Thunder Bay Police Service announced they had busted an art ring they say is responsible for an “apparent decades-long art fraud” that resulted in the manufacturing and distribution of more than 1,000 paintings being passed off as Morrisseau's work.
Also known as Copper Thunderbird, Morrisseau was the founder of the Woodlands School of Canadian Art and is often considered the grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada.
His work was characterized by thick black outlines and bright colours.
Prior to his death in 2007, Morrisseau expressed concerns about others painting and selling art in his name.
In 2005, he established the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society, designed to compile a database of his paintings with the intent of discrediting forgeries.
A 2020 documentary, There Are No Fakes, focuses on concerns about Morrisseau forgeries.
The OPP and the Thunder Bay police announced an investigation into the allegations launched in 2020 called Project Totton. Eight people were arrested — five in Thunder Bay and the three others being prosecuted in Barrie.
Police have said more than 1,000 alleged fraudulent paintings, prints and other artworks were seized. Some of the paintings sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
The five accused in Thunder Bay are David John Voss, 51, Diane Marie Champagne, 63, Gary Bruce Lamont, 61, Linda Joy Tkachk, 59, and Benjamin Paul Morrisseau, 53.
