Standing in front of a Norval Morrisseau original for the first time, most people have the same reaction. They take in the rich, saturated colour, the layered symbolism, the confidence of every stroke. Then they see the price and quietly conclude that collecting isn’t for them yet.

But Morrisseau’s world doesn’t have to be out of reach. A signed, numbered print brings that same vibrant medicine and warmth into your own space, proving that you don’t need a museum’s budget to become a custodian of his stories.

EA Studios Calgary currently offers silk screen prints of nine different Norval Morrisseau paintings, each pulled from an original painted during his sponsorship at the Maligne Canyon Tea House in Jasper, Alberta, and each signed and numbered by the artist himself.

Why Prints Open The Door

If you’ve ever looked at a gallery wall and worried that art collecting is out of reach, please know that this world is absolutely open to you, it’s simply a matter of finding the doorway that feels right.

An original Morrisseau painting is a significant investment, and it should be treated as one. A print asks something different of you. You’re still buying an authenticated, signed piece from the same body of work, produced under the same sponsorship, but at a scale that doesn’t require the same conversation with yourself about budget.

Not everyone who loves the Woodland School of Art is ready to book a private viewing and walk out with an original. Some people are still deciding whether collecting is something they want to do at all. A Mother And Child Silk Screen Print lets you find out. You live with the colour and the symbolism on your own wall before deciding whether you want to go further.

Prints exist so the same image can reach more people, at a scale that fits more budgets, without changing what the work is or where it came from.

What Makes A Limited Edition Valuable

Not every print is worth the same, and the difference comes down to a few specific things.

The edition size matters most. A limited edition is fixed at the time of printing, and once the run is complete, no more copies are ever made. EA Studios’ Family Protection Silk Screen Print, for example, was printed in 1988 and limited to 99 total prints. That number will never grow. Fewer prints in an edition generally means more demand per print over time, though the artist’s reputation and the specific image both factor in, too.

Signing and numbering are what separates a limited edition print from a poster. Each print in the collection carries Morrisseau’s signature along with an impression number showing its place in the edition, for instance 12 of 99. That number identifies the exact print (12) in the edition size (99). A print numbered near the start of an edition isn’t inherently more valuable than one near the end.

Before buying any limited edition print, ask the same three questions a serious collector would ask:

• How large is the edition?
• Is it signed?
• Is the edition closed for good?

A closed edition with a modest run (approximately 50 to 100 prints per edition) and a verified signature is the strongest combination for long-term value.

Whether a print increases in value over time depends on factors outside any single purchase, including how the artist’s broader market performs and how much demand exists for that particular image. What a gallery can control, and what you should expect from one, is documentation. A print with a clear edition size, a verified signature and a documented source gives you a real basis for understanding its value. A print without those things is a guess, no matter what it’s priced at.

Artist’s Proofs Versus Numbered Prints

Alongside the numbered edition, some prints in the collection are also available as artist’s proofs. An artist’s proof is a print set aside outside the main numbered run, traditionally used by the artist to check colour and quality before the full edition was printed. Artist’s proofs are produced in smaller quantities than the numbered edition and are signed and marked separately, usually with the letters AP.

Because of this smaller run, an artist’s proof is usually worth more than a numbered print of the same image. To see if a piece is available as an artist’s proof, click on a print, such as Primitive Art Form Silk Screen Print, and look for the “Artist Proof” pairing under each frame option in the Frame Selection dropdown.

For the full explanation of how artist’s proofs are numbered, what they’re worth relative to a numbered edition, and what to ask a gallery before buying one, read our complete guide to artist’s proofs.

Every EA Print Comes With Provenance

Norval Morrisseau’s market has a well-documented fraud problem, and it applies to prints as much as it applies to originals. Anyone buying a Morrisseau print, from any source, should ask for the same thing: proof of where it came from.

Every print in our collection comes from a painting Morrisseau completed while sponsored by EA Studios at the Maligne Canyon Tea House in Jasper, a relationship that ran through the 1980s until the Anishinaabe artist moved to the West Coast in 1989. That Woodland art history is documented and it’s the reason the studio can speak to the provenance of every print it sells.

If you’re looking at a Morrisseau print anywhere, ask where the original came from, who produced the print run, and whether the gallery can document the chain from artist to edition. A gallery that can’t answer those questions in detail isn’t one to buy from.

See Prints & Originals Together

A Norval Morrisseau print isn’t just a placeholder for something else, it is a deeply meaningful piece of his Indigenous legacy in its own right, carrying the exact same medicine, story and spirit as his canvases. Browse the print collection to see what’s currently available.

If you’re not sure yet whether a print or an original is the right next step, it is likely easier to answer in person than online. Book a viewing and see prints and originals side by side. There’s no pressure to decide anything on the spot. Some collectors start with a print and stop there. Others use it as the first step toward something larger. Either way, you’ll understand what you’re looking at before you decide.

Have questions about our available prints? Reach out to EA Studios through our website, or call directly at +1 866-621-7201.