churchill portrait stolen from château laurier recovered in italy
ottawa police said wednesday that investigators will travel to rome to retrieve the portrait and return it to the hotel later this month.
sep 11 2024
3 minute read
the famed portrait of winston churchill taken in 1941 by yousuf karsh in parliament.
yousuf karsh
“roaring lion,” the famous portrait of sir winston churchill brazenly snatched from the walls of ottawa’s fairmont château laurier hotel and replaced with a fake, has been found in italy, ottawa police say.
the force said wednesday that investigators would travel to rome later this month to retrieve the original print and return it to the hotel.
the 1941 portrait of the then-british prime minister, photographed by famed canadian photographer yousuf karsh, was reported stolen from the lobby of the château laurier in august 2022. the theft was alleged to have happened between dec. 25, 2021, and jan. 6, 2022, the hotel determined. it was a relatively quiet period at the hotel due to public-health restrictions during the omicron wave of the covid-19 pandemic.
“it was stolen at the peak of covid when everything was closed. there was nobody in the hotel,” said geneviève dumas, general manager of the hotel. “then we discovered it eight months later.”
police determined the portrait was sold through an auction house in london to a buyer in italy, both of whom were unaware the piece was stolen.
ottawa detective akiva geller said wednesday the piece was sold before anyone realized it was missing.
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“the investigation revealed that the sale of the portrait occurred before the discovery,” det. geller said. “when it was sold, the fraudulent portrait was here so the auction house and the buyer did not know it was stolen.”
public tips, forensic analysis, and international co-operation with italian police led investigators to track down the person accused of stealing the portrait.
“additionally, open-source research and collaboration with other agencies were key in identifying the suspect,” police said.
a 43-year-old man named jeffrey iain james wood, believed to be from powassan, ont., was arrested april 25 and appeared in court in ottawa the next day charged with numerous offences, including theft, forgery and trafficking in stolen property. although ottawa police initially said his identity was shielded by a publication ban, court records showed that was not the case.
the accused will be represented in court by criminal defence lawyer lawrence greenspon.
“the ottawa police service has been working closely with the carabinieri and the portrait’s purchaser, a private citizen from genoa, italy, to ensure its safe return to canada,” police said in a statement. “with the assistance of the carabinieri, arrangements have been made with the citizen to ceremoniously hand over the portrait to the ottawa police service in rome later this month.
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“once in ottawa police custody, the portrait will be ready for the last step of its journey home to the fairmont château laurier, where it will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait.”
two ottawa police officers will travel to rome later this month to retrieve the portrait.
the château laurier said karsh’s portraits were “part of the hotel’s history” as karsh operated his studio at the hotel from 1972 to 1992 and he and his wife lived there for 18 years.
karsh, who died in 2002, photographed some of the most famous people of the 20th century. but it was his portrait of the scowling british prime minister, shot during a 1941 visit to ottawa at the height of the second world war, but it was his portrait of a scowling churchill that brought him the most fame .
churchill had come to ottawa in december 1941 to address parliament, with karsh hand-picked for the portrait photo by prime minister william lyon mackenzie king.
churchill was clutching the speech he had just delivered — the famous “some chicken. some neck” speech — and karsh asked that he tuck the pages away in his pocket. then, famously, karsh snatched the cigar from churchill’s mouth.
“by the time i got back to my camera,” karsh recalled years later, “he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me.”
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with files from postmedia archives
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