Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. is denying claims it defamed and breached a contract with an Alberta art gallery by implying its works could be fakes.
In March, EA Studios (Jasper) Ltd., which operates out of Calgary, launched a lawsuit against Norval Morrisseau Estate alleging defamation and breach of contract. The claim was filed in Alberta's Superior Trial Court.
Cory Dingle says he is the executive director of Morrisseau's estate. He has spoken out to media outlets, including CBC, about the profuse fraud of the late artist's work.
The art market has been flooded with thousands of works falsely attributed to Morrisseau since the late 1990s, making it difficult to authenticate and sell his paintings. Considered by many to be the Mishomis, or grandfather, of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada, he was from Ojibway Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in northwestern Ontario and died in Toronto in 2007 at age 75.
EA Studios gallery claims it had an agreement with Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd., represented by Dingle.
The agreement included a requirement for EA Studios to promote Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. as the definitive source for authenticating Morrisseau's works, says the gallery in its lawsuit.
Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. would reassure potential customers that the paintings they wanted to buy were authentic Morrisseau creations, and Dingle would get 10 per cent of any successful sale to clients he referred to the gallery, according to the statement of claim.
The lawsuit claims Dingle did the exact opposite. Instead, it claims, Dingle implied EA Studios' Morrisseau paintings may be fakes, and suggested they purchase authentic works directly from himself and/or Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
In a statement of defence filed May 20, Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. said it never made this agreement with the gallery.
"As there was no agreement between [the] plaintiff and the defendants, no breach of any contract or agreement as alleged can or did occur," said the statement.
It also denied Dingle knew the paintings in EA Studios' inventory were authentic or received directly from Morrisseau during his lifetime, contrary to the plaintiff's allegations.
Gallery says it hired investigators to pose as buyersEA Studios is also suing Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. for defamation.
The art gallery claims Dingle's statements to potential buyers implied the gallery "is, generally, an unethical organization of low moral character that sells inferior and possibly fake artworks that were obtained through an abusive, and possibly criminal, exploitation of a vulnerable Indigenous artist," according to the claim.
According to the gallery, Dingle also claimed that he was the only source for purchasing authentic Morrisseau paintings, and that only he and the estate had a reliable catalogue of genuine works, the lawsuit alleges.
EA studios said it hired two private investigators in October 2024 to pose as potential buyers interested in paintings in its inventory after becoming suspicious that Dingle was not holding up his end of the deal. It claims the private investigators had two calls with Dingle during which he made defamatory statements that undermined the gallery's credibility and reputation.
Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. claims that Dingle spoke little or nothing about the gallery in October 2024, according to the written statement of defence. It also says Dingle didn't say anything defamatory to the private investigators posing as buyers.
"In the event that Dingle provided defamatory statements to the private investigators, which is not admitted but specifically denied, the defendants state that there were no damages (economic or reputational) suffered by the plaintiff, as any such private investigators were not in the market to purchase a Morrisseau painting from the plaintiff," reads the statement.
WATCH | in 2023, Cory Dingle said there are Canada has become a fake art 'dumping ground':EA Studios also argues Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. defamed it in a social media post that said "'the only authorized, legal prints of Norval's work on the market are those sold by the alleged estate.'"
The gallery said this statement "implied that the many authentic prints being sold by the plaintiff, and others, are fraudulent."
Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. counters that this was not defamation because it did not directly identify the gallery in its post.
"As the estate holds the right of reproduction over all of Morrisseau's artwork, there can be nothing in the social media post which is even implicitly defamatory."
Estate assets not all distributed: defence claimIn its defence statement, Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. describes itself as "a corporation incorporated under the laws of British Columbia in order to more efficiently manage transactions on behalf of Morrisseau's estate."
The assets of Morrisseau's estate have not been fully distributed yet, it says.
Morrisseau, shown with one of his earlier paintings at a Vancouver gallery on May 11, 1987, was from the Ojibway Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in northwestern Ontario. (Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press)Dingle was appointed as an agent of the estate by Gabor Vadas, a longtime friend of the artist, and Morrisseau's children, says the statement.
"Dingle is also authorized to act on behalf of the estate in relation to certain business and operational matters."
Corporate records show Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd. has a registered office in Vancouver. The listed directors are Morrisseau's daughter, Lisa, and Vadas, who was adopted by Morrisseau in accordance with the artist's shamanistic traditions.
Vadas was the executor and sole beneficiary of Morrisseau's will. The estate was later divided between Vadas and Morrisseau's children in an out-of-court settlement.
"From Norval's death on, Vadas did very little, and nothing effective, to stop the production and circulation of the fraudulent works," says EA Studios in the statement of claim.
Vadas specifically denies that, Norval Morrisseau Estate says in its defence statement.