1956
Yousuf Karsh’s portrait of Winston Churchill used on the British ￡5 note is the most famous of his many definitive photographs of the men and women who shaped the 20th century.
Born in 1908 in the Ottoman Empire, Karsh escaped the Armenian genocide in 1922 by fleeing on foot to Syria. His father then sent him to Canada, where Karsh’s uncle worked as a photographer in Sherbrooke, Quebec. There Karsh learned photography and later took an apprenticeship with Boston painter and portrait photographer John H. Garo. Karsh opened his photography studio in 1931 and began working for the Ottawa Little Theatre. He had his journalism breakthrough in 1936 when he documented a meeting between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
In 1941, his portrait of Winston Churchill with an expression of serious, steady resolve was used as the cover of LIFE magazine. The issue was credited with increasing American public support for WWII. His prolific portraiture would go on to include Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alfred Hitchcock and more.
He was an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of London, a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and an officer of the Order of Canada. In 2002, he passed away at the age of 93.
His work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the National Portrait Gallery in London and many others. His honors included the Canada Council Medal, the United States Presidential Citation, a Gold Medal from the Canadian Association of Photographic Art and the Achievement and Life Award from Encyclopedia Britannica.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of original Yousef Karsh photography.
Pablo Picasso 1954
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Original gelatin silver print made later in the artist's career from the original negative and signed by the artist on the front of the mount. Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photograph...
Silver Gelatin
Elixir
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Original gelatin silver print made later in the artist's career from the original negative and signed by the artist on the front of the mount. Includes overmat - 28 x 22 inches. Yous...
Silver Gelatin
Georgia OKeeffe
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Original gelatin silver print made later in the artist's career from the original negative and signed by the artist on the front of the mount. Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographer (1908 - 2002) and is considered one of the most renowned portrait photographer of our time. He has perceptively photographed the statesmen, artists, and literary and scientific figures that have shaped our lives in the 20th century. Known for his ability to transform “the human face into legend,” many of the portraits that he created have become virtually the image of the great man or woman they portray, whether Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein or Helen Keller...
Silver Gelatin
Humphrey Bogart, 1946
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Original gelatin silver print made later in the artist's career from the original negative. We have a few different sizes available, unsigned and authenticated by the estate so conta...
Silver Gelatin
Andy Warhol, 1979
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Original gelatin silver print made later in the artist's career from the original negative and signed by the artist on the front of the mount. Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographe...
Silver Gelatin
Georgia O'Keeffe
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed by the artist on the front of the mount. Printed later circa 1980-90s. Excellent condition. The piece does NOT include the frame. Frame shown just for reference. From the esta...
Silver Gelatin
Kennedy, Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961
By Mark Shaw
Located in New York, NY
Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961, kb_118 -- Photographed by Mark Shaw for the Nov. 24, 1961 issue of LIFE, this image is an out take from the article describing the r...
Giclée
Kennedy, Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961
By Mark Shaw
Located in New York, NY
Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961, kb_118 -- Photographed by Mark Shaw for the Nov. 24, 1961 issue of LIFE, this image is an out take from the article describing the return of "high-brow" music to the White House. This photo was featured in Shaw's best selling 1963 book...
Giclée
Kennedy, Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961
By Mark Shaw
Located in New York, NY
Pablo Casals Seated at White House Concert, 1961, kb_118 -- Photographed by Mark Shaw for the Nov. 24, 1961 issue of LIFE, this image is an out take from ...
Giclée
Pablo Picasso, 1954 - Yousuf Karsh (Portrait Photography)
By Yousuf Karsh
Located in London, GB
Pablo Picasso, 1954 - Yousuf Karsh (Portrait Photography) Signed on mount Silver gelatin print, mounted on card, printed by the artist or under his direct supervision 38 3/4 x 29 1/2 inches Provenance: Estate of Yousuf Karsh, Museum of Fine Arts Boston Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) was one of the most significant portrait photographers of the twentieth century. His portraits are easily recognisable for their bold use of studio lighting and closely cropped composition. Karsh’s photographs...
Silver Gelatin
Kennedy, Pablo Casals Performs at the White House, 1961
By Mark Shaw
Located in New York, NY
Pablo Casals Performs at the White House 2254_0134. Image size is 22" x 32" (for 24" x 36" paper size). All Mark Shaw prints are made to order in limited ...
Giclée
Kennedy, Pablo Casals Performs at the White House, 1961
By Mark Shaw
Located in New York, NY
Pablo Casals Performs at the White House 2254_0134. Image size is 10" x 15" (for 11" x 17" paper size). All Mark Shaw prints are made to order in limited ...
Giclée
