The photographer Yousuf Karsh reaped the rewards in 1941 after he had just taken the politician’s cigar away. The photo became famous – and has now been stolen from a hotel in Canada.
Brazen theft in Canada’s capital Ottawa: A portrait photo of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was stolen from the reading room of the renowned Hotel Chateau Laurier. It is Churchill’s most famous photograph, taken and signed by Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh, one of the most prominent portrait photographers of the 20th century. Only now was the theft discovered, which had been committed months before.
Yousuf Karsh has portrayed countless personalities. The photo of the grim-faced British head of government, without a cigar in his mouth, which Karsh took on December 30, 1941 in Parliament in Ottawa after a speech by Churchill, went down in photographic history under the title “The Roaring Lion”. The Bank of England chose the portrait when it issued a £5 note in 2006.
From 1972 to 1992, Karsh had his studio in the Hotel Chateau Laurier, which today belongs to the Accor Group as the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. He lived in Boston with his wife Estrellita until a few years before his death in July 2002. When he left the hotel, he left a series of his photos to him. All of the limited edition images Karsh took in his studio are hand signed. They can be seen in the hotel’s “Karsh Suite” and in the hotel’s reading room. This included the famous photograph of Churchill.
Replaced with fake
“Yousuf Karsh’s photos are part of the history of Chateau Laurier,” said Geneviève Dumas, manager of the Fairmont Hotel in Ottawa. “That’s why we’re so sad that this particularly famous photo was stolen.” Last week, an employee noticed that the frame with the 50 by 60 centimeter picture, which was previously attached to four hooks, was only hanging on one wire and that the frame was slightly smaller than that of the other Karsh paintings in the room. Jerry Fielder, longtime Karsh associate and now curator of the estate, quickly discovered that the signature on the picture is not Karsh’s – and the picture is not the original that Karsh gave the hotel in 1998.
In the meantime, the time of the theft has been narrowed down to between December 25, 2021 and January 6, 2022. The Chateau Laurier now asked guests who had taken photos in the reading room in the past few months to submit them, and photos of the portrait were searched on social media. The last photo clearly showing the original was taken by a visitor on December 25, and the first known image of the fake on January 6.
This period marks the 80th anniversary of Churchill’s speech. Is someone particularly interested in this period of history or Churchill behind the theft? Churchill had come to Ottawa and on December 30 delivered a historic speech in Parliament, with which he swore Britain and friendly nations to war against Hitler. Karsh was a well-known photographer in Ottawa at the time and was invited by Canada’s Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to take a picture of Churchill.
Karsh, the celebrity photographer
Churchill, in good spirits after his speech and treated to a glass of the Canadian whiskey he loved, reluctantly agreed to a photograph in the Speaker’s parlour. Of course he had a cigar in his mouth when he sat down. But Karsh felt there were already too many photos of the politician with a cigar. “Sir, I’ve got an ashtray ready for you,” Karsh said. As Churchill made no move to put the cigar down, Karsh took it out of his mouth with a polite apology and went to his camera. The stunned Churchill glared at the photographer – Karsh took the picture. “He looked so aggressive. He could have devoured me,” Karsh later said.
“My portrait of Winston Churchill changed my life. I knew it was an important photo, but never dreamed it would become one of the most reproduced photos in the history of photography,” Karsh said. This image established his reputation as a top photographer. He photographed more than 15,000 people during his 60-year career. He left more than 250,000 negatives which are held in Canada’s National Library and Archives. He photographed top politicians, artists, athletes – including names such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Konrad Adenauer, Queen Elizabeth and Pablo Picasso.
Jerry Fielder cannot say how many originals of the Churchill picture exist. No new prints will be made from the negatives. Signed copies are owned by several museums and private collectors who bought directly from Karsh. In 1987 Karsh gave a picture of Churchill to the Canadian Speaker of Parliament John Fraser. It hung in the room where the photo was taken until 2018, when Parliament was closed for renovation.
Ottawa police are now investigating. Fielder, who worked with Karsh for 14 years, believes the theft was well prepared and planned. In view of its popularity, it is questionable whether the photo can be turned into money on the black market. Genevieve Dumas hopes the picture will be returned. “Perhaps the person who committed the theft will feel guilty and somehow return the photo.”
