During a career that spanned over 60 years, portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh captured the greatest figures of his generation: Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, Hellen Keller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Robeson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Schweitzer, John Kennedy, and so many more. Karsh, born in Turkish Armenia, was sent by his family to live with a relative in Nova Scotia at the age of 16. He ultimately made Ottawa his home (for which he later earned the respectful moniker, "Karsh of Ottawa"), and it was during a visit to the area in 1941 that Winston Churchill agreed to a sitting. With his shadow-laden depiction of a stodgy, grizzled Churchill, Karsh was catapulted to fame. Karsh passed away in July 2002. He was 93 years old. This dramatic original portrait print illuminates Yousuf Karsh's artistic mastery. Rather than have the President and First Lady pose side by side, Karsh seated them at a right angle. John, positioned in the spotlight of the foreground, appears wistful and hale. But, truth be told, the focus here is on Jackie. Partially obscured by John's shadow, she gazes unwaveringly into the camera's eye. Her determined countenance bespeaks the gritty poise for which she is so world-renowned. Her expression pierces. The couple's positioning in the portrait takes the expression that behind every good man is a good woman and transcends it. Jackie Kennedy, ever in the background of John's larger-than-life public presence, was grace and strength personified. Besides the geometry of the portrait, Karsh also worked his wizardry with color. It's no mere coincidence that the President and First Lady wore blue for the sitting, to match the azure backdrop. Nor that the blues combine with Kennedy's starch-white shirt and Jackie's strawberry-red lips to produce our country's patriotic colors. Every detail in Karsh's work is intentional. Monumental for its type, this magnetic portrait measures 16-3/4" x 22". It is captioned in the bottom white margin, "THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY," below which dances Kennedy's incredible blue-ink "10" inscription and signature: "For Arthur Diernick - with best wishes - John Kennedy." Fine print at the bottom right corner of the image area reads, "Karsh of Ottawa." Preservation-wise, the image is vibrant, the evenly toned borders are clean, and only a handful of outlying creases keep the piece from Near Mint status. It is housed within an ornate gold-leaf frame to overall dimensions of 31" x 36". This is the ultimate visual testament to John and Jackie's storied and tender, if complex, relationship, and one of the true jewels among all John Kennedy-signed photographs.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.