Yousuf Karsh, “Winston Churchill, 1941 (photo courtesy karsh.org)
Jeffrey Wood was sentenced to two years less a day in jail on Monday for stealing a portrait of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill taken by renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh.
“Wood admitted earlier this year that he stole the portrait from Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier hotel and committed forgery,” according to a story in The Globe and Mail.
“Karsh snapped the celebrated portrait in 1941 in the Speaker’s office just after Churchill delivered a rousing wartime address to Canadian members of Parliament.
“Karsh lived in the hotel, and operated a studio out of it, for almost two decades. He donated the Churchill portrait and six others to the hotel in 1998, when he moved out.”
The photo was then sold at auction in England to an Italian who didn’t know it was stolen. Wood, who lives in Ontario, said he planned to use money from selling the portrait to help his brother, who had mental health struggles and died before Wood received the proceeds from the sale.
During the sentencing, Justice Robert Wadden said it was difficult to determine how long Wood should be sentenced because there is very little Canadian case law on art thefts in Canada.
“The Italian buyer forfeited the portrait when he learned it was stolen,” according to The Globe and Mail. “Had he not done so, Wadden said, a major artifact of Canadian history would be lost forever.”
Born in Armenia, Karsh came to Canada as a refugee in 1923. He became legendary for his photos of famous people, including Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King and Audrey Hepburn. His work is found in collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, National Portrait Gallery in London and many others.The National Archives of Canada acquired his complete collection — more than 355,000 items — including negatives, prints and transparencies — in 1987. He died in 2002.
Source: The Globe and Mail, Wikipedia