A scene worthy of a movie has taken place at the Château Laurier in Ottawa: a thief grabbed the famous portrait of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill “The Roaring Lion”, photographed by Yousuf Karsh in 1941, and took it replaced by a replica.
It was an employee of the hotel in the federal capital who noticed on Friday that the wore was not hung correctly in the Reading Lounge. By comparing with the other works in the living room, he found that the portrait of Churchill was different.
Further examination confirmed that the photo of Churchill mounted in the frame was not the original. Although the discovery was made on Friday, it was not possible to know how long the counterfeit had been in place.
The general manager of the Château Laurier, Geneviève Dumas, underlined in a press release that the hotel staff is “extremely sad following this heinous act”.
The police forces were made aware of the theft and the hotel launched an appeal to all in order to collect information on what could have happened.
“The hotel is extremely proud to host Karsh’s wonderful collection, which was safely installed in 1998,” added Ms. Dumas.
Six of the portraits in the collection are installed in the Reading Lounge, while nine more hang in the Karsh Suite.
The other five photos of the Reading Lounge have been removed until they can be hung more securely.
Yousuf Karsh and his wife have lived at Château Laurier for 18 years. The photographer’s studio was set up there for 20 years, starting in 1972, and several famous portraits were there, including that of Nelson Mandela taken in 1990.
According to what can be read on Yousuf Karsh’s website, Churchill’s portrait “changed his life”. The photo was taken after the then British Prime Minister gave a speech in the House of Commons of Canada on December 30, 1941.
In his address, Churchill began by thanking Canadians for their wartime efforts. He also spoke of the collapse of the French army and the failure of the French government.
“When I warned the French government that Britain would continue the fight alone, whatever its decision, the generals declared to the Prime Minister and a divided cabinet: ‘Within three weeks, England will have twist your neck like a chicken.” What a chicken! What a neck! “, he launched.
Karsh said he waited in the President’s room after the ‘electrifying speech’ to take a photo, but Churchill ‘grumbled’ that he had not been informed.
The Prime Minister refused to put down his cigar — and it was what happened next that allowed him to immortalize the famous pose.
“I took a step towards him and, without premeditation, but with great respect, I said to him: ‘Pardon me, sir’ and I snatched the cigar from his mouth”, explains the photographer in a passage from its website.
“By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so aggressive he could have eaten me up. It was at this moment that I took the photo. »
The portrait was added to the British five pound note in 2016, 14 years after the photographer’s death.