Inside one of the largest art frauds in history

In today’s The Big Story podcast, Norval Morrisseau is among the most prolific Indigenous artists in Canadian history. Art dealers and auction houses have made millions selling his works. The only problem? A whole lot of them have turned out to be fake.

Luc Rinaldi is an award-winning magazine journalist who wrote about Morrisseau forgeries in The Walrus. “The art world in general, and particularly the Indigenous art world, this story is not an exception, this is symbolic of a problem that runs much deeper,” says Rinaldi.

So how did authorities uncover the deception? Who’s behind the fakes? And what does this story tell us about artists’ ability to protect their work?