» HOWTO: Trade Norval Morrisseau
Please forgive me a gauche moment to discuss the crassly commercial.
Norval Morrisseau was a local(-ish) Aboriginal Canadian artist whose works are collected by the National Gallery. He died just over two years ago.
Recently some of his pieces have been appreciating at a good clip: Seven times ROI in under a year in a recent transaction to which I was privy.
There is currently quite a bit of turbulence in the Morrisseau market as he is very commonly forged. According to Wikipedia no Canadian art galleries are licensed to provide certificates of authenticity for works purporting provenance from Morrisseau, that right resting with The Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society.
A catalogue raisonné of Morrisseau’s work is still under construction and until such is established it will be difficult for his work to fetch demand-appropriate prices. This provides a valuable opportunity for collectors to establish a position in his work.
Things to look for when considering purchase of a prospective Morrisseau include the style of the piece (his most popular efforts, pictured above, are both easier to forge and easier to pass as forgeries) and the presence of identifying marks of workmanship, particularly visible fingerprints texturing the surface.
I read this as: “This is the worst possible time to buy a Morrisseau. The market is full of forgeries, and they should be growing at a rate of 700% per year. Soon there will be a list of his works that will clean up the market.”
Jared
15 Dec 09 at 9:49 am
Also, those paintings are by Copper Thunderbird. Norval Morrisseau died in 1951. Perhaps this is part of the confusion?
Jared
15 Dec 09 at 9:55 am
Once the market cleans up the buying opportunity will have evaporated. In fact, the one and the other are the same idea. The market is grossly rewarding people who have the eye to identify non-forgeries.
Jack
15 Dec 09 at 11:03 am
Do you actually think anyone who reads this blog is better than average at identifying forgeries? If this is supposed to be investment advice, it’s the dangerous type, eh?
Jared
15 Dec 09 at 11:37 am
“Look for fingerprints in older work” — that’s the above-average hint. Investing isn’t easy and isn’t risk-free. If it was then everyone would be rich
Jack
15 Dec 09 at 12:13 pm
Maybe there’s a reason that it’s illegal for random people to flag penny stocks on the Internets.
Jared
15 Dec 09 at 3:10 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j61OkNYHD9Q&feature=player_embedded
James Bouchard
17 Jan 10 at 4:22 am
This website shows the difference between a real one and a not real one! It’s even got videos and stuff: http://www.morrisseau.com
Nullan
28 Jan 10 at 1:16 am
knowing whats a real Morrisseau and whats a fake is not as hard as on may think. Check the books and avoid the BS. great deal to be had, just dont be had.
founditfirst
2 Apr 10 at 4:10 pm