In 1993, renowned Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau and his friend Cory Dingle were surprised to find a painting attributed to Morrisseau in a Vancouver gallery. This incident marked the beginning of a widespread issue involving fake Morrisseau artworks. Morrisseau, a groundbreaking self-taught artist from the Anishinaabe community, is famous for his unique pictographic style and was the first Indigenous artist to exhibit in a Canadian contemporary gallery.
Since Morrisseau’s passing in 2007, over 6,000 fake paintings have been discovered, causing his estate substantial financial losses. This fraudulent activity has been labeled as one of the largest art scams globally. To combat this problem, Morrisseau’s estate, managed by Dingle, collaborated with two professors to develop “Norval AI,” an artificial intelligence tool that can authenticate Morrisseau’s artwork by analyzing key features.
In a bid to further address the issue of art forgery, Chloe Ryan, an engineering student, founded Acrylic Robotics. Using advanced technology, the company can replicate paintings with remarkable precision, aiding in the identification of fake Morrisseau pieces. The collaboration between Morrisseau’s estate and Acrylic Robotics has led to the refinement of the robotic painting process to achieve greater accuracy in detecting forgeries.
Despite the success in identifying fake Morrisseau artworks, concerns persist regarding the potential misuse of this technology against artists. The ongoing development of methods to distinguish reproductions from originals aims to ensure responsible dissemination of Morrisseau’s work. This initiative seeks to make high-quality reproductions accessible to institutions and communities that value Morrisseau’s art but may not afford original pieces.
