Sittings
Photographs
Legacy
William A. Burden
William A. Burden, 1946 In 1942, with the strong support of leading aviation executives, the Harvard Business School established the Aviation Research Program to develop vital information and guidance that…
Russ Bannock, 1919-2020
Russ Bannock, 1943 Russell William Bannock was a Canadian fighter ace during the Second World War. This portrait of Bannock was in the private collection of Mr. Bannock’s family and…
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1950 The original Broadway production of Oklahoma! opened on March 31, 1943. It is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist…
Lord Louis Mountbatten
Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1943 Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten was born Prince Louis of Battenberg on June 25, 1900. He was an uncle of Prince Philip, and second cousin…
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells, 1943 H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel War Of The Worlds was first serialized in 1897 and came out in hardback in 1898. With Martians invading England,…
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw, 1943 by Yousuf Karsh In an article in the UK Observer the author of a new book talks about how Charlotte Shaw was heavily involved in her…
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth and family, 1951 On this day, June 2, in 1953, Princess Elizabeth was formally crowned Queen Elizabeth II. This informal family portrait was made earlier, in 1951 at…
H. G. Wells: War of the Worlds
H. G. Wells, 1943 On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles supposedly* caused a nationwide panic with a radio broadcast of his adaptation of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds,…
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s 70th anniversary
Photo: Matt Holyoak/Camera Press. The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke framed by Thomas Gainsborough’s portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte from 1781. The Queen is wearing a…
The Robert Simpson Company
“Color Photo Karsh Ottawa” During wartime, Canadian retailers did their best to support the war effort at home by selling war bonds and supporting enlisted staff. “Of a total of…
Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms
Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society, at the grand opening of New-York Historical Society’s “Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms” on May 30, 2018. © Melanie Einzig “Rockwell,…
Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, 1966 On this day, November 20, in 1947, Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London. Karsh had photographed Her Royal Highness…
Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth, 1943 Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born on this day, April 21, in 1926. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George…
Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden, 1949 Anthony Eden was born on this day, June 12, in 1897. He became Prime Minister of Great Britain after Winston Churchill‘s resignation in 1955. Karsh photographed The…
Archives Canada
William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1936 A mystery is solved thanks to our wonderful colleagues at Archives Canada, where the Karsh Fonds are held. Jill Delaney, lead archivist, was able to…
King George VI
King George IV, 1943 On February 6, in 1952, Britain’s King George VI died and his eldest daughter Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. Both were photographed by Karsh in 1943,…
Loma Mulvihill and Richard Jones
Loma Mulville, 1943 We heard an extraordinary story from a relative of two people who were photographed by Yousuf Karsh in the 1940s. Pilot Officer Richard Jones was photographed in…
VE Day
King George VI, 1943 May 8, 2020, marked the 75th anniversary of the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender…
A. V. Alexander
The Right Honorable A. V. Alexander MP, First Lord of the Admiralty, 1943 An author contacted us to inquire about a black and white portrait of “Harold Alexander” for publication…
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw, 1943 Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw died on this day, November 2, in 1950. He wrote more than sixty plays and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel…
Prince Philip, 1921-2021
Prince Philip, 1966 Britain’s Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has died. Karsh photographed the British royal family on several occasions, from 1943 through to 1987. See more images of…
Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth, 1951 Great Britain’s longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, Elizabeth II, is 95 today. Born April 21 in 1926, she became queen after her father King George VI died,…
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito, 1954 Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was born on this day, May 7, in 1892. Tito was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various…
Clement Attlee
…cards reading: 1941: “Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP”; 1943: “The Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP, Deputy Prime Minister”; 1945: “The Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP, For LIFE Magazine”; and 1949:…
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells, 1943 The English author H. G. Wells was born on this day, September 21, in 1866 (d. 1946). Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels,…
Princess Elizabeth
The cover of this week’s Hello! Canada features this beautiful color portrait from Yousuf Karsh’s 1951 sitting with Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth. This official portrait of Princess Elizabeth was…
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee
Princess Elizabeth, 1951 On February 6, 2022, Her Majesty The Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking her reign of 70 years. Born in 1926,…
Judith Jamison
Judith Jamison, 1990 Judith Jamison is an American dancer and choreographer (b. 1943). She was photographed by Karsh in 1990, when she was the director of the Alvin Ailey American…
Queen Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth, 1951 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 96th birthday today. Born in 1926, Karsh first photographed her as Princess in 1943, and again in 1951; those 1951 portraits show…
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito, 1954 Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary politician serving in various positions from 1943 until his death on May 4, in 1980…
Clement Attlee
…Sitter cards reading: 1941: “Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP”; 1943: “The Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP, Deputy Prime Minister”; 1945: “The Right Honorable Clement Attlee MP, For LIFE Magazine”; and…
King George VI
King George VI, 1943 On February 6, in 1952, Britain’s King George VI died and his eldest daughter Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. Both were photographed by Karsh in 1943,…
Princess Juliana
Princess Juliana, 1943 Juliana (1909-2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. She is pictured with her third child, Princess Margriet, who was born on…
Agnes Macphail
Agnes Macphail, 1934 Agnes Macphail (1890-1954) was the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons and one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature. She…
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann, 1946 Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, winning the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born on this day, June…
Exhibitions
Karsh Centenary Exhibition
General
A Brief Biography
Leaving Armenia – Arriving in Canada The Early Years – Garo The Early Years – Ottawa His International Career The Later Years – Boston Leaving Armenia – Arriving in Canada…