Could this be the biggest case of art fraud in history?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 April 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
Known in his lifetime as the ‘Picasso of the North’, Norval Morrisseau was one of Canada’s most revered indigenous artists. But now, police have charged eight people who they believe produced more than a thousand fake artworks under the artist's name, making millions of Canadian dollars and perhaps making history in the world's biggest case of suspected art fraud.
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Guests:
- Will Pavia, New York Correspondent, The Times.
- Jamie Kastner, producer and director of There Are No Fakes.
Host: Luke Jones.
Clips: Ontario Provincial Police, CBC News, There Are No Fakes (2019), Stardreamer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Signifikant, der SICK Podcast, wer und was dreht unsere Welt, wir reden drüber. |
| 0:18.0 | Early March this year. |
| 0:20.0 | At the police headquarters of a small town in Ontario, Canada. |
| 0:24.0 | At press conference is underway. |
| 0:28.0 | Four detectives, sitting in what looks like an art gallery. |
| 0:32.0 | Today you will hear results of a two and a half year long investigation |
| 0:37.0 | that has led us to uncovering a significant and complex case of art fraud. |
| 0:48.0 | Behind them ten large colourful paintings, Indigenous figures, lizards, birds, fish. |
| 0:55.0 | They're supposedly by the very famous Indigenous Canadian artist, Norville Murasso. |
| 1:01.0 | What you see behind me today represents examples of the types of work |
| 1:07.0 | made under and profited from Norville Murasso's name. |
| 1:12.0 | But they're all believed to be fakes. |
| 1:15.0 | The scale of the alleged deceit is unprecedented. |
| 1:19.0 | Police think that more than a thousand paintings, with millions of Canadian dollars, |
| 1:23.0 | have been forged by three criminal groups. |
| 1:27.0 | We have seized more than 1,000 paintings, prints and other art that were purported to be authentic. |
| 1:35.0 | In addition, we arrested eight individuals and have laid, since laid, 38 charges. |
| 1:43.0 | It was a scandal that shocked the art world. |
| 1:46.0 | Murasso is colourful on canvas and in his own life, but with fame, has come forgery and outrage. |
| 1:54.0 | But how on earth did it happen and who's suspected of making the fakes? |
| 1:58.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
| 2:02.0 | I'm Luke Jones. Today could this be the world's largest art fraud? |
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