Churchill 1941 by Karsh of Ottawa (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Toronto. … the Karsh Caper. In 1941, Karsh captured the essence of Churchill and called the portrait the “Roaring Lion”. In 1988, he donated the signed print to Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa.
A different copy of the photograph was swapped for the signed print in late 2021 or early 2022. By mid summer of 2022, the swap and theft were announced when Sotheby’s auctioned off the signed print to a person in Italy.
The print was returned to Canada in September 2024.
This spring, Jeffrey Wood, was tried in Ottawa for the theft and found guilty.
My thanks to PHSC president Clint Hryhorijiw, and shortly after PHSC newsletter editor Patrick Gunn for the first announcement above (theft), and Cindy Motzenbecker of MiPHS via Clint for the second link (guilty).
