August 24th 2022

Heist in the nation's capital

 

Who does not, even in the most sentimental of circumstances, enjoy a good mystery? I ask this question in response to a mysterious heist that has just now been discovered in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, a story that seems to be making international headlines(1). You see, a child by the name of Yousef Karsh was born in Mardin, Armenia in 1908, and grew up in the backdrop of Ottoman (Turkish) atrocities in the region that culminated in the Armenian genocide. Following this, when Karsh was just 17, his family immigrated to Canada. On New years eve, 1925, they arrived travelling by sea at a Halifax port. Here, Karsh would fall in love with photography, and eventually, have the chance to take this photograph of Sir Winston Churchill. 

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{Said photograph by Karsh of Churchill}

 

Last Friday, August 19th, the Chateau Laurier, a historical hotel right next door to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, reported that ‘the Roaring Lion’, the name of the portrait of Churchill, which had been resting in the hotel’s reading lounge on the ground floor, was swapped, meaning, the replica that exists there today was secretly inserted, and the original, stolen. 

 

The reason that this has become such a fascination, and is being treated with such importance, is because this wasn't just any old picture of Winston Churchill, this was they portrait of the statesman. When Churchill visited Ottawa in December of 1941, he gave a speech to our parliament on topics concerned with the war. Karsh, having been previously noticed by then Prime Minister Mackenzie King, was invited to Parliament to take photographs on the day of Churchill’s speech. What followed was a famous story, that many Canadians are aware of, and at this point, has been repeated far too often by news outlets over the past few days for my liking. But alas, I will tell it my way:

 

After addressing his Canadian peers in Parliament, Churchill entered the Speakers Chamber. There, he proceeded to light a cigar. Apparently, he had not an idea that his photo was to be taken at this time, so when he entered the room to find young Yousef Karsh with his large camera set, it caught him off guard, and maybe even annoyed him a little. Begrudgingly, he allowed Karsh to take the photo. However, it is clear that Karsh wanted a portrait that was clear, devoid of any external objects, such as a cigar. So, Karsh proceeded to snatch the cigar out of the mouth of the leading allied statesman, only to run back to his camera to take the photo. This could explain why in the portrait Churchill has such an expression, a face that has come to be known as ‘Scowling’. Evidently however, he didn't hold a grudge for long, for there was a second photo taken of Churchill:

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{Seconds after the 'scowling' photograph, taken by Karsh}

 

Karsh’s photo, as well as the background story that surrounded it, became famous and internationally recognized, uplifting his career tremendously, so much so that it is even used on the English £5 Bill. 

{The official British £5 note}


57 years after the photograph was taken, an original, signed edition of the portrait was donated to the Chateau Laurier, along with 14 other works by Karsh. The man had special ties to the grand hotel - he spent nearly 20 years of his life living and working in a private suite, where he had his own photography studio. Therefore, the ‘roaring lion’ that formerly rested in the Chateau Laurier was an especially important edition. That could be why it was stolen.

 

Whoever, or whatever(2), the thief was, and however impressive the actual successful theft of the portrait was, they were imperfect when it came to replacing it, no doubt in some kind of rush. On the 19th, the portrait was discovered by a Chateau Laurier staffer to be a replica, when the keen-eyed employee noticed that the frame wasn't hung right. She also noticed that the frame on this one did not match that of the other 4 in the reading lounge, which the true original did. The hotel was informed and the police quickly got involved. If one was to look at the portrait that is up in place today, they would see a note that reads:

 

“Fairmont Chateau Laurier has discovered that the famous portrait of sir winston churchill’s frame did not match the other karsh frames that are located in the reading lounge, after removing the photograph that was not hung properly” 

 

One of the first people contacted to begin the investigation was Jerry Fielder, who worked as Karsh’s ‘right hand man’ you could say, helping him with the ‘curatorial aspects of photography’ for a number of years, until Karsh's death in 2002, at which time he became the director of the Karsh estate. Contacting him proved to be a good decision, as he immediately caught that Karsh’s supposed signature on the portrait was a forgery. With that, the verdict was in: the original ‘Roaring Lion’ donated in 1998, was stolen, and the one that was there now came from the thief. The question remaining was - by who? And when? And where is it now? I suppose there are several questions. 

 

The answer to the first question, we don’t know - it remains a mystery. The answer to the third question, just as the first, we can speculate on(3), but can say nothing for certain. The good news coming from Ottawa is that part of the mystery, and the answer to the second question, has apparently been solved. In a moment of national pride and unity, it seems that a collection of Canadians, banded together, have helped solve when exactly the portrait was snatched. Upon discovery that the fake version was noticeably different in frame and signature than the original, the hotel appealed to the public, asking for any photographs taken of the portrait itself.

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{An example of a picture, from CTV news}

 

 

This was a tremendously smart and successful decision, because by process of elimination, it was deduced that the theft must have taken place between Christmas day, 2021, and January 6th, 2022(4). Therefore, it was during the peak of the Covid-omicron wave, when bookings at the hotel were low. Following the revelation, Chateau Laurier has gone further by reaching out to guests who stayed at the establishment during this time span, to see if they took photos, or saw anything suspicious. Either way, much progress has already been made in getting to the bottom of the mystery, and we have probably hundreds of fellow citizens to thank for that. 

 

Now, of course, the question of why - what were the motives? It’s simple: Money. In an interview with CTV, Christopher Marinello said that this was almost certainly not stolen by an ‘art-lover’, but by a professional for the purpose of reselling it; a less valuable version of the portrait had previously sold for $100,000(5). Marinello is the founder and CEO of Art Recovery International, who is working on this case to recover the prized portrait. According to him, Château Laurier, and the police, this was the work of a professional, and almost certainly was premeditated. To even take the frame off the wall, special tools are required, tools that no laymen would just so happen to have on any given visit to a hotel - no, these were brought in with a purpose. 

 

So, Canada has a mystery on its hands, one that is as interesting as it is hard to solve. Countless suspects there are, I'm sure, but, we will return to the question of WHO at the end(6). Let us instead step back and analyze something only tangentially related. Why do we love the unknown? Why does excitement fade with concrete information, while arousement grows the more that is left hidden? A beautiful woman clothed, I'm sure many men would agree, is far more alluring then even the most desirable of naked figures(7). We long most for things we don't have! And for people who've said goodbye! It all comes back to the chase, to the saying ‘it’s about the journey and not the destination’. “You only know your lover when you let her go” as Passenger once sang(8). The act of doing, discovering and achieving gives us a sense of self satisfaction, of improvement, but unfortunately that feeling seldom sustains - it takes constant gratification. This is why, sadly, the naked women(9), the unknown path, the long lost friend, and, the mystery, are only as exciting as the information is hidden. The desire to expand westward into the North American desert, the ‘go west young man’ phenomena, or to crusade down into the Near East, no doubt was impacted by this sort of psychology(10). 

 

This is a mystery that, if we are being honest and genuine, is quiet interesting, and is more intellectually exciting to think about than it is sad. In other words, in many ways this was a positive occurrence, except for possibly Jerry Feilder, the Chateau Laurier, and others who were personally involved. But even they should be optimistic! Our country will find the perpetrators, and when we do, the portrait will be gracefully returned, only now, Canada will have behind it a national mystery, solved, and no doubt better art security. But moreover, it is hard not to see that the public is absolutely loving this story, this mystery. It has reintroduced, or introduced in my case, the work of Yousef Karsh to thousands of Canadians and international onlookers. It has got everyone and their mother putting their detective cap on, involved in the case. It is quiet easy to build a narrative around this, to picture how it could have been done. Who doesn't love a good heist? 

 

And the media! They are seething to the jaw! In almost every article on the heist thus far, the author will mention how ‘it is out of a movie’. 

 

“It sounds like a caper from a movie” says the Canadian press.

 

“It’s something you would expect to see in a heist film” says CityNews

 

I can’t blame the media for its fixation on creating a narrative out of this - because they are right - it is something you would expect to see in a movie. I suppose the only thing that I would object to is the implication that everyday life stole these ideas of crazy, interesting scenarios from movies. In reality, movies have taken real life narratives from all of human history(11). But the media is obsessed with Hollywood, them being extremely intertwined, so this is the sort of commentary we will get, which, again, I can understand. And hey, I’m sure depending on how this saga concludes, that one day they will get their wish(12).

 

Certainly, the story will develop in the coming weeks, and maybe, the culprit(s) will be caught, and brought to the justice they deserve for stealing such a nationally sentimental treasure. But until then, we have the pleasure of enjoying a good mystery. 

 

 

 

My speculations

 

For starters, it should be noted that January 6th 2022 proceeds the arrival of the truckers on Wellington street by more than 2 weeks, meaning there could have been no correlation.

 

The most obvious suspects are the employees of the hotel, potentially acting in some sort of conspiracy with each other and alongside an international art syndicate/cartel. The latter on their own are another suspect, knowing that there are many buyers around the world for such a storied photograph. Again, the thief must have been a professional, so this rules out the vast majority of the population, including the citizens of Ottawa, or those staying at the Hotel, save a few, who could be trained in this sort of thing - who these people are will need to be looked into. Could the English crown be involved? Probably not, but should at least be considered, given the somewhat close relationship between Karsh and the Queen. Or maybe a Saudi Prince, who collects high valued art? You can tell I am purely speculating. This is a job for our intelligence agencies, not a journalist, although if I had their resources, I would love to take a detective's role. $10 bucks says it was a handy bus boy.