Plus de 50 faux Morrisseau retirés du marché (Phare Ouest)
- John Zemanovich
- Jul 31
- 7 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Une firme canadienne spécialisée dans l’authentification d’œuvres d’art, Art Experts Canada, a retiré du marché plus de 50 tableaux faussement attribués à Norval Morrisseau. Artiste peintre anishnabe, mort en 2007, il est considéré par beaucoup comme le grand-père de l'art autochtone contemporain au Canada. Certains enfants du célèbre peintre anishinabe auraient joué un rôle dans l’authentification et la mise en circulation des faux tableaux. John Zemanovich, un des fondateurs de la firme Art Experts Canada et un expert de Norval Morrisseau, discute de cette nouvelle.
Note: * (M. Zemanovich fait ici référence à l'étude des techniques de fabrication de faux dans le cadre de son travail d'expert en authentification. Ces connaissances servent uniquement à détecter les faux, et non à en produire en vue de la vente.)
"Le projet Totton a abouti à l’arrestation de huit personnes et elle a saisi plus de mille faux Morrisseau. Toutes les poursuites judiciaires sont conclues et la condamnation du marchand d’art Jeff Cowan à la fin de 2025 est la conclusion finale de l’accusation. M. Cowan est actuellement en attente du prononcé de sa peine. On ne sait pas avec certitude combien de faux Morrisseau il y a, mais nos estimations situent le nombre de faux tableaux entre 4000 et 6000.”
John Zemanovich
Radio-Canada (31 Juillet, 2026)
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Well, a Canadian firm specializing in the authentication of artworks, Art Experts Canada, has pulled more than 50 paintings falsely attributed to Norval Morrisseau off the market. Norval Morrisseau, let me remind you, was an Anishinaabe painter who died in 2007. He's considered by many to be the grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada. He's also known for his use of vivid colours and his depictions of traditional legends. Another aspect of this discovery of the fake Morrisseau paintings is the role that some of the famous Anishinaabe painter's children may have played in authenticating and circulating fakes. We're discussing it with John Zemanovich, one of the founders of the firm Art Experts Canada and an expert on Norval Morrisseau. John Zemanovich, hello.
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Hello.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
So tell me, Mr. Zemanovich, how were these forgeries first discovered? It was the subject of a fairly major investigation — Project Totton, is that right?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Yes... I personally first became aware of it in the early 2000s, when it was reported by the media. After that, I collaborated with Norval's son — Christian Morrisseau — I built him a website and helped him sell his paintings. And during that time, I met Joseph McLeod and Jim White, two major distributors of these fakes. I wasn't an expert back then, but I came to recognize that these paintings formed a category of their own. Then Mr. White and Mr. McLeod tried to hire me, promising me considerable sums. That aroused my suspicions. And between Norval's funeral and my personal trip to Red Lake, where he lived, I became convinced that it was fraud and that these paintings were probably all fakes.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
And that led to arrests? And to seizures of paintings as well?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Yes, the Project Totton investigation led to the arrest of eight people and the seizure of more than 1,000 fake Morrisseaus...
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
1,000?!
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
1,000. And all the legal proceedings concluded with the conviction of art dealer Jeff Cowan at the end of 2025 and the final resolution of the charge. And Mr. Cowan is currently awaiting sentencing.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
So, what gives away a forgery? How do you recognize a fake painting?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
I have to say there's no single magic solution I can offer. What I can tell you is that there are several styles of fakes attributed to Norval Morrisseau. Some were sold in good faith by acquaintances of the artist — people who were fooled because they didn't know his complete body of work. There are also specific types of fakes that weren't accounted for in the police investigation, as well as others of which only a few examples exist in certain regions of Canada. What I can say is: if a painting is connected to one of the people who were arrested, avoid it... If the signature on the back is painted in black, that's a warning sign...
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Why?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
It doesn't guarantee that it's a fake, but it should prompt the buyer to have the work checked — because Mr. Morrisseau didn't normally sign the back of his works. And although it may seem self-serving on my part, the real secret to avoiding buying fakes is to require the seller to have the piece authenticated by an independent expert.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Yes, because if you give away the tricks for spotting a fake, well, that could give ideas to other people, I imagine?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Yes... We don't want to educate the fraudsters.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
No... We don't want to educate them, no. That's it — the future fraudsters. Why are there so many? There are a lot of fake Morrisseaus in circulation... he's said to be the most forged artist in Canada. How did that come about?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Well. We don't know for certain how much fraud there is, but our estimates put the number of fake paintings between 4,000 and 6,000. Yes.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Oof... That's enormous. But is it easy to forge a Morrisseau? Does he have a style that makes it particularly easy?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
There's a style that might make us think it's simple to make forgeries, but — to an expert eye like mine... I'm telling you, it's not very easy to make a good forgery. It took me seven years to learn how to make a good forgery. * (Mr. Zemanovich is referring here to the study of forgery techniques in the course of his work as an authenticator. This knowledge serves solely to detect forgeries, not to produce them for sale.)
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
You can't do this yourself... If you've bought one, you have to put it in the hands of experts, I imagine... And we mentioned — I mentioned it a bit at the start — well, this isn't all over, but to what extent might Norval Morrisseau's children be involved in this fraud? It's not certain... But what would the role have been, for example, of his son David Morrisseau?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Unfortunately, since I still have to testify on this matter in September — my lawyer advised me to refrain from commenting on it. What I can say, though, is that you can find articles online discussing my previous testimony from June. There's also, notably, an excellent French article on the subject published by Radio-Canada and written by Ismaël Houdassine and Dominique Degré. * (Mr. Zemanovich is referring to this article in English and the original French version of the article)
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Well, we're referring to our own articles. That's not a bad thing. So... what do you do with these forgeries? You say there were 1,000... Where do they end up? What do you do with them?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
The question of the seized paintings is currently before the courts and awaiting Cowan's sentencing to resolve the question of the family's alleged involvement in the fraud. From our point of view, there are many reasons to acquire these paintings. We want to take them off the market so that the artist's authentic works can truly represent his legacy. We also want to prevent other collectors from becoming victims. And finally, we also want to use them for research purposes as well as to raise public awareness, in the hope of guarding people against these forged works.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
So what do you do if you think you're in possession of a fake Morrisseau? You're told it's a fake Morrisseau... Do you lose your money? What happens?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
It depends... For us... When we authenticate a work for a client, we enter into a contract whose terms allow them to exchange a forged Norval Morrisseau work for a substantial refund. That's our way of encouraging clients to hand these paintings over to us so that we can take them off the market.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
And you do this at your own expense? If I understand correctly, is that roughly it? To protect the real Morrisseaus? Is that why you do it?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Yes. For me... it's because I started out as a Morrisseau collector... around 1995, and... I love his art, and we want to protect this artist, who we think is truly important to Canada.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Do these fakes sell? Can they be sold? Can you buy a fake Morrisseau? Does a fake Morrisseau have any value?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
The value of the forged Morrisseaus that we still see on the market — they've lost about 70% or more of their value... There isn't much value in these forgeries. But... I'm not a lawyer, but I think that in Canada you're still able to sell forgeries... It's not illegal — but you have to inform the buyer.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
And there are museums that would like to put on an exhibition about the fakes, or about the history of Norval Morrisseau. Do you think that's a good idea?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
I think it's a good idea, and we would certainly lend them to institutions wishing to use them to shine a light on the problem and raise public awareness. From our point of view, if we can get something positive out of it, why not?
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
And is there... well, we're talking about Norval Morrisseau... Are there other artists who are forged too? Is there a significant art-fraud network in Canada?
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
I think that — without naming names — wherever you find valuable artworks and wealthy collectors, and criminals too, you're going to find a fraud network. And we have to remember that in Canada, there's no special law-enforcement unit dedicated to art-related crime, and for me, I feel that the Norval Morrisseau fraud case perhaps demonstrates the need —
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
— for such an agency... Thank you very much, Mr. Zemanovich. Thank you so much for taking this time with us.
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Thank you for your interest.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
Thank you. Goodbye.
JOHN ZEMANOVICH:
Goodbye.
MARIE VILLENEUVE:
John Zemanovich is one of the founders of the firm Art Experts Canada and an expert on Norval Morrisseau.
