Armenian Photographer's Works on View at Museum of Fine Arts

"Karsh 100: A Biography in Images" is on exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, until Jan. 19, 2009. (image: mfa.org)

Visit mfa.org to see a slideshow and video about the late photographer, Yousuf Karsh, and the "Karsh 100: A Biography in Images" exhibit.

The following article is from ArmenianWeekly.com.

BOSTON, Mass. — The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston recently partnered with the Consul General of Canada in Boston and with Estrellita Karsh to present “Karsh 100: A Biography in Images,” an exhibition of works by the late Canadian-Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh.

The exhibit opened to the public on Sept. 23 and will run until Jan. 19, 2009.

Yousuf Karsh arrived in Canada on New Year’s Eve in 1924 at the age of 16. He said he was more struck by the bright light of the day than the cold Canadian winter.

He was greeted by joyous sounds of the holiday and later wrote that after fleeing the “heartbreak” of Armenia, he could not yet begin to imagine the “infinite promise of this new land.” He soon traveled to Boston to apprentice with John Garo, a leading portraitist.

When he returned to Canada, he opened a studio in the capital, Ottawa, where he started his illustrious 60-year career as a portrait photographer.

Yousuf completed 15,312 sittings during his career, and met his wife, Estrillita, during one of those sittings in 1961. They were married in 1962.

At the opening reception at the MFA, museum director Malcom Rogers welcomed the attendees and spoke of Karsh’s special relationship with Boston and the museum, to which he was introduced in the 1920s.

“He thought of Boston as his spiritual home and the museum as his university where he studied light, composition, and shadow.” Rogers introduced the Canadian Consul General, Neil LeBlanc, who spoke of Karsh’s work and career in Canada. LeBlanc then introduced Estrillita Karsh.

During the tour of the gallery spaces displaying Yousuf Karsh’s iconic photographs, Estrellita Karsh often charmingly interjected her recollections of the individuals pictured, many of whom became friends of the Karshes.

For instance, she said that playwright Tennessee Williams wrote to Yousuf Karsh from a rehab center years after he had been photographed, asking for a copy of his old photo “to become once again the man I was.”

While the group viewed the image of 19-year-old Oscar-winning actress Angela Lansbury, Estrellita Karsh recalled being invited to her home in California some time after it had been destroyed by a fire. Lansbury had mentioned feeling badly about losing the Karsh photo in the fire, and on his return to Ottawa, Yousuf Karsh printed and sent her another copy.

In the exhibit, one also finds works from the Karsh’s private collection, such as the bronze bust of Yousuf Karsh by the sculptor, Jacques Lipchitz, done in 1970, as well as the bust of Estrellita Karsh sculpted by Emilio Greco.

For more information on the exhibit, visit mfa.org and click on “Exhibitions.”

source:  ArmenianWeekly.com

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