Civil case against estate of Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau is dismissed

VANCOUVER — The lawsuit brought by a British Columbia man against the estate of acclaimed Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau alleging he was sexually assaulted by the painter has been dismissed.

Mark Anthony Jacobson filed the lawsuit last year, seeking $5 million from the estate in general, aggravated and punitive damages.

He claimed Morrisseau reached into his pants and touched him on the buttocks after Morrisseau’s assistant suggested he could heal Jacobson’s back pain.

In response to lawsuit, the estate said Morrisseau “was in no position to be physically or socially aggressive” at the time of the alleged 2006 assault, that he “had no libido,” was held upright in a wheelchair by straps, and was in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease before dying the next year at the age of 75.

The dismissal order, which was signed by Jacobson and Jason Gratl, the lawyer for the estate, was filed in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday.

The document says the case was dismissed “for all purposes” and without costs to any party.

Morrisseau was a trailblazer for contemporary Indigenous artists across Canada and received numerous honours, including the Order of Canada.

His distinctive and colourful pictographic style has also been widely forged.

At least 6,000 fake Morrisseau paintings have been uncovered, costing his estate $100 million in losses, a crime police have called the biggest art fraud in world history.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2026.