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Yousuf Karsh Nude Photography

Canadian, 1908-2002

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.

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Artist: Yousuf Karsh
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...
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20th Century Yousuf Karsh Nude Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Elixir
Price Upon Request
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Yousuf Karsh nude photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Yousuf Karsh nude photography available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Yousuf Karsh in silver gelatin print and more. Not every interior allows for large Yousuf Karsh nude photography, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David Drebin, David Schoen, and Andreas H. Bitesnich.

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