The Mystery of the Missing Karsh Portrait Solved

The Roaring Lion has been found... in Italy

My father is a photo enthusiast and loves taking pictures. When I was young he told me about the famous Armenian-Canadian portrait photographer and showed me his famous pictures in two books he had.

There was then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, actress Sophia Loren, scientist Albert Einstein, and actress Audrey Hepburn. They are striking photographs because they are usually minimalist backgrounds and focus on the subject's face and their expressions. It was an honour to "be Karshed".

Karsh is best known for the Churchill portrait

But perhaps the most famous portrait is that of then British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, which was taken after he addressed the Canadian Parliament during World War II on December 30, 1941. 

Right after his speech, Karsh took the portrait of Churchill in the Speaker's Chamber during a very quick photo session.

As the story goes, Karsh asked Churchill to take the cigar out of his mouth, but he refused. So just before Karsh took the picture, he plucked the cigar out of the prime minister's mouth and got that grumpy, stern expression.

After the photo shoot, Churchill said: "You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed," which led to the name of this portrait.

Karsh and his wife lived in the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa for many years where he also had a studio, and when they moved out, they gifted a signed copy of the Roaring Lion to the hotel along with other portraits that were hung in public areas for visitors to admire.

Estrellita Karsh in front of the portrait

But sometime between December 25, 2021 to January 6, 2022 the Roaring Lion was brazenly stolen from the hotel and replaced with a slightly smaller replica.

In May 2022, Italian lawyer Nicolas Cassinelli unknowingly bought the portrait from a Sotheby's online auction for around 5,000 euros, or over C$9,000.

The portrait hung it in his house in Genoa, Italy, and Cassinelli today told the media it was like having the Mona Lisa in his living room.

It wasn't until August 2022 when a hotel maintenance worker who worked there for decades, noticed there was something different about the portrait and reported it stolen. Ironically the police told him he was considered a suspect, as the authorities thought it was an inside job.

Last October Cassinelli was contacted by Sotheby's warning the Canadian police were investigating the theft and would need to look at the photograph, as it may have been stolen.

The apartment in the hotel the Karshes lived in

However it wasn't until February 2024 that police verified he had the stolen picture.

Yesterday it was announced Jeffrey Iain James Wood, a 43 year-old from Powassan, Ontario, was arrested in April on multiple charges, including theft, forgery and trafficking stolen property.

In the meantime Cassinelli will travel from Genoa, Italy to Rome to formally return the portrait to the Canadian consulate this weekend and then it will be brought back to the Chateau Laurier where it will be rehung.

Cassinelli was only reimbursed about half of what he paid for the photograph, but he is taking it in stride and says he has an interesting story to tell about his brief time with Karsh's portrait.

Grazie mille Cassinelli and we are looking forward to Churchill coming back to Ottawa! 

Shelling Out for Vanity Plates

The Transport Department holds auctions for vanity plates

How much is the letter "D" worth?

In Hong Kong it's HK$20.2 million (US$2.6 million) at a recent auction held by the Transport Department.

Apparently plates with a single letter or digit are highly sought after, and the final price proves it.

Single-digit or letter plates are highly sought after

Before the auction there was speculation the plate "D" would fetch HK$10 million, as it stood for "dragon" and "dollar".

On the auction date, the department set the reserve price at HK$5,000, but the first bidder's opening salvo was already HK$5 million.

That quickly escalated in increments of HK$50,000 when two parties duelled for the plate. In 74 rounds the winner finally emerged at HK$20.2 million in about half an hour.

Ringo Lee Yiu-pui, honorary life president of the recently renamed Hong Kong, China Automobile Association, said the single-digit number plates were particularly sought-after because of their rarity.

"There are only 23 English alphabet letters that can be used and Arabic numerals one to nine," he explained. "There cannot be repetitions. But there are a lot more combinations in two-digit or even three-digit number plates."

Some plates are fun to spot in Hong Kong

But the price for the "D" plate isn't the highest one -- that honour goes to "W" for HK$26 million in 2021, while "V" sold for HK$13 million in 2017. "R" was not red hot -- it only went for HK$5.3 million.

So if you see a car with the plate "D", you'll either think the person is "distinguished" or a "dork", depending on your view...

Fact of the Day: US$108M for Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt's last completed painting before he died in 1918

Some Hongkongers still have deep, deep pockets to splurge in the hundreds of millions at an art auction.

One of the last paintings by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was sold to a Hong Kong collector for £85.3 million (US$108.4 million), making it the most expensive artwork ever sold in Europe.

Entitled Dame mit Facher (Lady with a Fan) sold to a Hong Kong client after a 10-minute bidding war between four people at Sotheby's in London.

The sale price far exceeded the presale estimate of £65 million (US$80 million).

The painting was the last portrait Klimt completed before he died in 1918. It shows an unidentified woman against a resplendent China-influenced backdrop of a phoenix, peacock and lotus blossoms.

It was last sold in 1994 for US$11.6 million at auction in New York.

Talk about a beautiful investment after 29 years...

For the rest of us plebeians how long before we get to see this painting again?

Tycoon Offloads Handbags in Auction

Highlight of sale is this Birkin bag, worth up to HK$2M

People collect wine, sneakers, T-shirts, jeans, books, vinyl records, and Christmas ornaments.

Tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung collects Hermes bags and is going to offload 77 of them in a Sotheby's online auction next week. It's billed as the biggest sale from a single collector.

How you amass such a collection -- and not be a woman -- is intriguing to start. Hermes bags must be ordered in advance -- they are each made by hand -- and can cost from HK$70,000 to HK$4 million with long waiting lists.

Lau with his wife Kimbie Chan Hoi-wan

He has Birkin and Kelly bags as well as other Hermes designs collected over a 20-year period, and the most expensive one up for grabs is an emerald green Birkin bag made of crocodile with a diamond-encrusted clasp set in white gold. It is estimated to go for between HK$1 million to HK$2 million.

A quick glance through the online catalogue reveals bags in every colour, design and material that must have been stored carefully for years. 

Sotheby's says part of the sale proceeds from the auction will go to charity, but it's believed the 71-year-old Lau needs the money after making some bad stock investments. 

Last year he sold off part of his extensive wine collection too, making a cool five-fold profit of HK$64 million in a Christie's auction. He also sold some Chinese imperial porcelain valued at HK$151 million.

The billionaire who made his money in property development is also an avid art collector and has made headlines buying several massive diamonds at auction for his two daughters, Zoe and Josephine. The gem stones are named after them too.

The 12.03-carat blue diamond for Josephine

Will Lau put up his art collection for auction too? Maybe this is his way of settling his accounts, as in 2017 he cited having health issues...

But really you have to wonder -- a man buying numerous expensive handbags with the goal of selling them later for a profit. Definitely a quirky investment that's going to pay off.