It's been nearly a decade since Michael Murray saw the painting of the Tea Lake Dam he received from his uncle in 1977 — the piece is a Tom Thomson original and whose disappearance has sparked an $11 million lawsuit against a Toronto auction house that has not claimed to have accepted the alleged masterwork.
A gift after Murray graduated from medical school, the painting hung in his uncle's Ottawa home, a property he inherited from Flora Schreim, the owner of a local flower shop where he worked. The painting came with the property and Murray says he believes it was a gift from the famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson to Scream's brother.
Michael Murray is suing Waddington's auctioneers and appraisers in Toronto, alleging conspiracy and negligence over the loss of a painting he says is an original Tom Thomson. CBC's Farah Merali has the story.
But while he could figure out how the 8×12-inch painting came into his family's possession, neither Murry nor a private investigator could figure out what happened to it, they say, because it was sent to be sold at Waddington's Auctioneers & Appraisers.
“I felt stupid — taken advantage of,” the 74-year-old told CBC News in a recent interview.
The lawsuit alleges the loss of the painting was caused by “gross negligence” and alleges that the auction house and a former employee “conspired with each other” to prevent the painting from dying.
None of the claims have been tested in court. In his defense statement, Waddington denies the allegations, saying the painting was never in the auction house. It also questions the authenticity of the painting, a small, colorful landscape believed to depict the Tea Lake Dam in Algonquin Park, Ontario.
Change hands
Murray told CBC News that he and his wife decided to sell the unsigned painting a decade ago and began the process of getting it authenticated. In 2013, Murray – who works as a doctor in Hawaii – sent the painting to the National Gallery in Ottawa to be reviewed by the Department of Conservation. Canadian Conservation Institute.
Staff there analyzed the paint and found a pigment called “Freeman's White” — a pigment found only in paintings by Thomson and the Group of Seven, according to a staff report, which was seen by CBC News.
“This strongly supports the attribution of Tom Thomson,” the report reads.
According to the statement of claim, in April 2014 the painting was examined by a University of Toronto art historian who attributed it to Thomson. In summer 2014, according to the claim, the painting was sent for restoration and then in July 2014 to the Nicolas Metivier Gallery in Toronto.
Gallery owner Nicholas Metivier, who declined to speak to CBC News for an interview, recommended Waddington's services in Toronto in 2015, Murray told CBC News. Metivier also introduced him to Stephen Ranger, who at the time was vice president of business development for the auction house and appraisals, he said.
“It was all credible references, every step of the way,” Murray said.
Murray said he exchanged emails with Ranger, in which Ranger agreed to manage the sale at a fall 2015 auction, but Murray said he never received any official documents from Ranger or Waddington.
The statement of claim says Murray inquired about progress with the ranger, who confirmed the painting was “persistently” with Waddington, but in 2017 Murray was told the painting would be temporarily placed in storage. Murray told CBC News that he had not been in contact with Waddington for several years due to health issues in his family.
In 2021, after Murray claimed to have made “a lot” of inquiries at Waddington, he received an email from a representative of the auction house stating that the painting was not there.
“It took a long time to sink in,” Murray said. “I was thinking, 'Where's my painting?'”
Appraised at $1.5 million
In early 2022, Murray approached Steven Bookman, managing partner of Bookman Law, for help.
“There is strong evidence written through emails and other communications that it was in (Waddington's) possession,” Bookman said in an interview with CBC News.
“We have very little concern about establishing its validity as the real Tom Thomson.”
That same year, Murray commissioned an appraiser to review available documents related to the painting and evaluate existing photographs. An appraisal report seen by CBC News estimates the painting's value at $1.5 million.
“The last price we had was in 2022. These Tom Thomson paintings are incredibly in demand, so I don't know if it's gone up since then.”
Waddington's response
CBC News contacted Waddington and its president, Duncan McLean, and received a response from their attorneys: “This case is currently in court, we cannot comment at this time.”
However, in a statement of defense filed in response to Murray's lawsuit, Waddington denies the painting was ever in its auction house, saying that whenever it takes possession of an artwork, it provides a receipt and enters that data into its system.
The statement said, 'There is no such record for the painting. “To the best of the defendant's knowledge the painting was never placed on Waddington's premises.”
The defense said the picture belonged to Thomson or “had any real monetary value.” It claims that Waddington's and McLean inquired about the painting in July 2021 and were advised by “external authorities” that it had not been authenticated as Thomson's work.
In court documents, Waddington alleges that in 2020 Ranger was running his own business in competition with Waddington's and that his employment was terminated — claims that have not been verified by CBC News. Reached for comment by email, Ranger told CBC News: “I left Waddington five years ago so I don't know where this painting is.” He did not respond to further requests for an interview.
In his statement of defence, however, Ranger said he picked up the painting in his capacity as Waddington's vice president and that he delivered it to Waddington. He claims the painting was in storage at Waddington at the time of the February 2020 departure. The statement of defense says: “At no time did (he) remove, sell or dispose of the painting from Waddington's premises.”
'Opaque' industries and challenges
In 2021, Murray took over Heywood Hunt and Associates To try and track down her missing picture.
“Anyone who may or may not have had that painting at any time — they weren't eager to admit they had that painting,” said Jeff Filleter, a senior investigator at the private investigation agency who led the case.
“Some of them reluctantly said, 'Yeah, we had it for a while, but it's gone.' So the challenge was to try and nail down exactly when the painting was going from point A to B to C.”
Filleter said what struck him was the lack of eagerness of many to share information.
“It got to the point where when we talked about ownership of the painting, everybody put their hands up and said, 'No, it's not me, it's not me,' which I thought was a little weird,” Filliter said.
He inquired about possible sales of the painting on the dark web or black market, but to no avail.
“Each time passes, because of the elusive nature of the art market, it becomes more difficult to find an object because of its opaque nature,” Det-Kunst said. Lionel Doe with the Toronto Police Service. Doe is not involved in civil litigation, but he completed a master's program in art criminology in Italy – the only member of the police service with such training.
“If there's no paper trail or an obscure paper trail to follow, adding more time to it makes it much harder to find.”
But in some cases, Doe says the passage of time can help recover a stolen painting, even if it hasn't been proven that the dead painting was taken on purpose.
“If it's a high-end painting or a masterwork, it appreciates at a level that eventually forces it to the surface because of the temptation to sell,” Doe said.
A trial date has not yet been set for Murray's case, which was filed in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice in March 2022.
While Murray said he regrets not asking Waddington for more paperwork, he said he felt confident that at each stage he was passed from one trusted expert to another, he said he wasn't sure what he could have done.
“I had a lot of confidence that I was dealing with honest, forward-looking people,” Murray said. “I feel betrayed.”
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