The Roaring Lion
| The Roaring Lion | |
|---|---|
| Winston Churchill | |
 | |
| Artist | Yousuf Karsh |
| Year | 30 December 1941 |
| Medium | Photograph |
| Dimensions | 30.8 cm (12.1 in) × 24.0 cm (9.4 in) |
| Location | Ottawa, Canada  |
| Collection | Library and Archives Canada, National Portrait Gallery |
| Accession No. | MIKAN 3915740 |
The Roaring Lion is a famous photographic portrait of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The portrait was taken in 1941 by Turkish-born Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[2]
The photograph was shot on December 30, 1941, in the chamber of the Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons at the Parliament in Ottawa after Churchill delivered a speech on World War II to the Canadian members of parliament. It was arranged by the Canadian prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Churchill is particularly noted for his posture and facial expression, which have been compared to the wartime feelings that prevailed in the UK – persistence in the face of an all-conquering enemy. The photo session was short and, just before exposure, Karsh readied the equipment but, just before taking the picture, he placed an ashtray in front of Churchill, asking that the prime minister remove the cigar from his mouth.
Churchill obstinately refused, and Karsh was perplexed: the smoke from the cigar would certainly obscure the image. He returned to the camera, ready to take the picture—but then with lightning speed, Karsh leaned over the camera and plucked the cigar from Churchill's lips.
“He looked so belligerent, he could have devoured me,” Karsh would remember later, and it's a belligerence that comes across in the famous photograph—a scowl over the pilfered cigar that came to represent, seemingly, a fierce glare as if confronting the enemy.
USC Fisher Museum of Art described it as a "defiant and scowling portrait [which] became an instant icon of Britain's stand against fascism."[3]
It appeared on the cover of the May 21, 1945, issue of Life,[4] which bought it for $100. It now hangs on the wall of the chambers of the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, where it was first taken.
References[]
- ^ "The Roaring Lion – Yousuf Karsh's Portrait of Winston Churchill". filmsnotdead.com. May 27, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- ^ "From Colonel Sanders to Grace Kelly: Iconic American Portraits by Yousuf Karsh". Smithsonian. November 19, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ Travis, David (2010). "Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes". Fisher.USC.edu. University of Southern California. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ "Winston Churchill". Life. May 21, 1945 – via Google Books.
External links[]
Media related to The Roaring Lion at Wikimedia Commons
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- Winston Churchill
- 1941 in art
- Black-and-white photographs
- 1940s photographs
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