In Canada, a famous photographic portrait of Winston Churchill was stolen and then replaced by a copy in a luxury hotel in Ottawa, announced this week the establishment, which launched an appeal to the public to find the work.
It took several months for the employees of the Château Laurier to realize that a copy was on display whose frame, badly fixed, was different from the other portraits exhibited in the hall of renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh.
But it only took a few days for the many photos of the work sent by former customers to help management estimate the date of the theft to within a week and a half, the director of the museum told AFP. hotel, Geneviève Dumas.
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“
Someone probably wanted this photo, either for their private collection or to sell
it,” added the director, for whom the work is priceless.
However, estimated at 100,000 US dollars, the portrait depicting the British leader after his address to the Canadian Parliament in 1941 would have been stolen between December 25, 2021 and January 6, 2022.
Iconic shot
This photograph "
is part of the history of Yousuf Karsh, the history of the hotel as well as Canadian and British history in times of war
", underlined Geneviève Dumas, who says she is "
deeply saddened by this theft shameless
”.
The snapshot is one of Winston Churchill's most iconic and even features on £5 notes.
It shows the British leader in the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, moments after Yousuf Karsh pulled a cigar from his mouth.
"
He looked so belligerent he could have eaten me up
," the photographer said, according to his website.
Known for his portraits of many personalities such as Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and Queen Elizabeth II, Yousuf Karsh was very attached to the Château Laurier.
After fleeing the Armenian Genocide and taking refuge in Canada, he and his wife lived there for 18 years.
His very first exhibition was presented there in 1936 and his studio was established there until 1992. The artist died in 2002.
Following the theft, the hotel had the portrait authenticated as fake before filing a complaint.
Ottawa police have launched an investigation and are reviewing CCTV footage.
But identifying the thief may be difficult, argues Geneviève Dumas, who recalls that health restrictions were still in place at the time and that the author was surely wearing a mask.