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Canwest News Service, Canada
July 5, 2012 Thursday 09:04 PM EST
CHEO to house world's largest permanent display of Karsh portraits;
Hospital 'meant a great deal to Yousuf,' says his widow
BY: Maria Cook, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA - Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh was "a child without a
childhood," says his widow, who has given 30 portraits to the
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), making its collection
the largest permanent Karsh display in the world.
"The hospital means a great deal to me," says Estrellita Karsh. "It
meant a great deal to Yousuf. He was a young boy in the middle of a
terrible political situation at the time in Armenia, where when you
got sick there was nothing you could do about it. You either died or
you lived.
"He told me when a typhoid epidemic ravaged his little town his mother
said to him, 'I'm giving you a tin cup and your own spoon. Don't let
anybody else use it. This is all I can do for you my son.'"
The photographs to be unveiled next Tuesday include portraits of such
luminaries as Albert Einstein, Jacques Cousteau, Muhammad Ali, Jean
Sibelius, Marc Chagall, Helen Keller, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso,
Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Martha Graham and Anna Magnani.
"When he came to Ottawa, which was a blessing, we thought one of the
nicest ways to say thank you was to do something for the children of
Ottawa," says Karsh.
"The photos have Yousuf's spirit in them and they would always know
that he cared for them."
In 2005, CHEO celebrated the first donation of 20 Karsh portraits with
the naming of the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh emergency department.
They hang in a hall near the department.
"The Karshes have been unbelievably generous to CHEO over the years,"
says Alex Munter, the hospital's president and CEO.
"Their donations have supported patient care, staff training and new
equipment - these world-famous photos are literally an illustration of
that generosity," he says.
"It's quite something to be headed to a meeting and catch the eye of
Winston Churchill or Walt Disney."
The latest gift brings the hospital's total collection to 50
portraits, which is said to be the biggest permanent display of Karsh
photos anywhere.
"Others may have more than 50 photos (such as the Library and Archives
Canada) but not 50 on display at once," says Sylvie Corbin, CHEO's
director of major gifts.
"There are future gifts coming," she adds.
Karsh, who died in 2002 at age 93, was one of the masters of
20th-century photography. He worked in Ottawa from 1931 until he
retired in 1992. The couple moved to Boston in 1997.
From: Baghdasarian
July 5, 2012 Thursday 09:04 PM EST
CHEO to house world's largest permanent display of Karsh portraits;
Hospital 'meant a great deal to Yousuf,' says his widow
BY: Maria Cook, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA - Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh was "a child without a
childhood," says his widow, who has given 30 portraits to the
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), making its collection
the largest permanent Karsh display in the world.
"The hospital means a great deal to me," says Estrellita Karsh. "It
meant a great deal to Yousuf. He was a young boy in the middle of a
terrible political situation at the time in Armenia, where when you
got sick there was nothing you could do about it. You either died or
you lived.
"He told me when a typhoid epidemic ravaged his little town his mother
said to him, 'I'm giving you a tin cup and your own spoon. Don't let
anybody else use it. This is all I can do for you my son.'"
The photographs to be unveiled next Tuesday include portraits of such
luminaries as Albert Einstein, Jacques Cousteau, Muhammad Ali, Jean
Sibelius, Marc Chagall, Helen Keller, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso,
Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Martha Graham and Anna Magnani.
"When he came to Ottawa, which was a blessing, we thought one of the
nicest ways to say thank you was to do something for the children of
Ottawa," says Karsh.
"The photos have Yousuf's spirit in them and they would always know
that he cared for them."
In 2005, CHEO celebrated the first donation of 20 Karsh portraits with
the naming of the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh emergency department.
They hang in a hall near the department.
"The Karshes have been unbelievably generous to CHEO over the years,"
says Alex Munter, the hospital's president and CEO.
"Their donations have supported patient care, staff training and new
equipment - these world-famous photos are literally an illustration of
that generosity," he says.
"It's quite something to be headed to a meeting and catch the eye of
Winston Churchill or Walt Disney."
The latest gift brings the hospital's total collection to 50
portraits, which is said to be the biggest permanent display of Karsh
photos anywhere.
"Others may have more than 50 photos (such as the Library and Archives
Canada) but not 50 on display at once," says Sylvie Corbin, CHEO's
director of major gifts.
"There are future gifts coming," she adds.
Karsh, who died in 2002 at age 93, was one of the masters of
20th-century photography. He worked in Ottawa from 1931 until he
retired in 1992. The couple moved to Boston in 1997.
From: Baghdasarian