A white arts center manager sold artworks by Australia’s most prominent Aboriginal artist for millions of dollars right under her nose.
Sally Gabori, a late Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda woman who rose to fame after beginning to paint when she was already in her 80s, thought of Brett Evans as a member of her family, but the art dealer was defrauding her along with a number of other painters.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened an exhibition of Gabori’s work at a prominent contemporary art gallery in Paris.
Gabori’s vibrant use of color had mesmerized the art world and made her works highly regarded.
Evans was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in February for secretly selling 176 pieces of art, the majority of which were by Gabori.
The 62-year-old admitted admission to 35 charges of dishonestly taking advantage of his position as CEO of the Mornington Island Art Centre in Queensland.
Additionally, the Mt Isa District Court mandated that he pay back the $421,378.20 owed to artists, including Amanda and Elsie Gabori.
Dorothy Gabori, the daughter of Gabori, told the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend magazine, “He took advantage of an old lady.”
Evans, who Gabori addressed to as her “son-in-law,” sold the works of art directly to customers who made deposits into his personal bank account.
He also fabricated paperwork to make it look as though the transactions came from the arts center.
According to Beverly Knights, the art manager of Gabori’s estate, the paintings were sold for a pittance that was significantly less than their market worth, which would be in the millions.
Evans encouraged Gabori to start painting at the Mornington Island Art Centre in 2005, and she created more than 2000 pieces of art before her death in 2013.
For the first time ever, an Aboriginal artist’s solo exhibition was presented at the prestigious Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris.
Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, opened the exhibit while in France earlier this month.
Mr. Albanese wrote on social media that “Sally Gabori’s paintings are lively, and her irrepressible passion for her motherland shines through in every canvas.”
The great-granddaughters Tori Wilson and Narelle Gabori, as well as Gabori’s daughter Amanda Gabori, all attended the opening.
The final three years of Gabori’s life, from 2010 to 2013, saw Ms. Knight and Evans set aside artwork they deemed unsuitable for sale.
Unbeknownst to her Evans sold the art to private collectors and galleries with some paintings believed to have ended up with US comedy legend Steve Martin, who is a keen collector of Aboriginal art.
Evans sold the entire stash of paintings before he resigned his position in 2014.
When suspicions about the art centre’s finances were raised the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations was called in to investigate.
Evans claimed the work was presented to him by Gabori, a tale the court dismissed.
Almost half the pieces were bought by Sydney philanthropist Pat Corrigan, who made his money in freight, while the rest went to individual collectors and tiny galleries.
Gabori was from the Kaiadilt people who were some of the last coastal Aboriginals visited by Europeans on Bentinck Island in Queensland’s Gulf of Carpentaria.
In the 1940s natural disasters robbed the island of drinking water so they fled to nearby Mornington Island where the Kaiadilt built kinship links to the Lardil people who lived there.
Evans married into a prominent Lardil family with ties to the Gabori family, which is what entitled him to be dubbed ‘son-in-law’.