Churchill: An American Unoriginal
Ward Churchill, it seems, has forged artwork and sold the copies as his own. Michelle Malkin has a long story, with links, to this latest chapter in the Churchill story. Look at the pictures on Michelle's site or at the link below, and you'll see that there's little room for doubt on this one.
I've asked this question before: does Churchill ever tell the truth? What a fraud.
Michelle's source is Denver's CBS4, which says:
Placing Churchill's work beside that of renowned artist Thomas E. Mails and the two look like mirror images. But one is a copyrighted drawing. The other is an autographed print by Churchill.
When a reporter from the station tried to ask Churchill about the controversy, the prof tried to slug the reporter -- about the only response one could expect from a man of Churchill's character:
"Get that camera out of my face," Churchill said.
"This is an artwork we've got called 'Winter Attack.' It looks like it was based on a Thomas Mails painting; it looks like you ripped it off. Can you tell us about that?" Chohan asked.
That prompted Churchill to take a swing at Chohan while he held a stack of papers in his hand.
The exchange continued:
Chohan: "Sir, that's assault, you can't do that. Can I ask you about this? It looks like you copied it."
Churchill: "I was just grabbed by the arm. And that (camera) gets out of my face."
Chohan: "Sir, we're allowed to take these pictures, this is a public space."
Churchill: "You're not allowed to grab be by the arm."
Chohan: "He didn't touch you sir, we've got it all on tape. Sir, this is called Winter Attack. It's a serigraph by you. It looks like it was copied from Thomas Mails artwork. Can we talk to you about that please?"
Update: I strongly recommend going here and watching the video of Churchill's assault. Note that you must use Internet Explorer. Churchill tries to beg off the charge by saying that he created an original artwork of his own from the original by the late Thomas Mails, and that he notified the artist and the public at the time, which was 1981. Channel 4 spoke with Mails's son, who says he can't imagine that his late father would ever have approved such a move, and that the family still owns the copyright to the original. The reporter says the family is speaking with attorneys.
| Feb. 25, 2005 | 12:01 PM