Portrait's retrieval as shocking as its theft

Industry experts say investigators' discovery of famous photo on another continent is a remarkable, and rare, event

- OMAR MOSLEH

When Jerry Fielder first learned that Yousuf Karsh's iconic portrait of Winston Churchill had possibly been stolen from the Château Laurier in Ottawa, he thought it was a mistake.

Fielder, a longtime assistant to the renowned Canadian photographer, had never seen something like this happen before. He was there for the framing and installation of the portrait more than 20 years ago and thought it was "very secure."

"I never dreamed that anybody would be able to do this," he said.

But it took only a cursory glance at the piece's signature for him to determine it was a fraud- and a shoddy one at that. Within a few seconds, he confirmed that what was hanging on the walls of the Château Laurier was not the original print that cemented Karsh's reputation as one of the world's most esteemed photographers.

"It was awful," Fielder said of the quality of the fake, which was essentially a photocopy.

While the details of the theft a famous art piece of immense cultural and historical significance snatched from a near-empty hotel at the height of a pandemic-have a cinematic quality to them, some industry experts say what is even more remarkable is that police managed to track it down to another continent and are returning it to its rightful home.