The difference between looking at fine black-and-white photo prints in person—not online, not in a book, but on the wall in front of you— is something like the difference between hearing live music and listening to a CD. A good example is The World of Yousuf Karsh exhibit now at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Karsh’s portraits of the famous, and a few not-so-famous, are completely traditional in lighting, poses and composition, literally from another century. But they also remain as powerful and eloquent as the day they first swam to the surface of his darkroom developing tray. The eloquence comes from the artistry Karsh used to control the lighting and the composition, but also from the connection he clearly made with the people he was photographing, from Albert Einstein to Winston Churchill, Fidel Castro, Paul Robeson, Nelson Mandela, Brigitte Bardot, Helen Keller, Marian Anderson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Almost equally eloquent are the statements he made about each image, reproduced as captions next to the photos. Karsh, born Armenian in the Ottoman empire in 1908, spent most of his life in Canada. He died in Boston in 2002. At the museum until January 30. Or click here for a quick look. And here for a longer look.
Category: Montreal
-
The World of Yousuf Karsh
-
Montreal Again
Montreal is always interesting, and especially when you haven’t been able to go for more than a year. It took us three COVID tests to get there back in mid-October (one before arriving at the border, one after crossing into Canada, and one when we got back).
-
Chagall in Montreal
Chagall: Color and Music — the Russian-French artist’s swirling paintings, costumes, puppets, stained glass and ceramics, complete with a dash of klezmer music — at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art until June 11. Above, a giant tapestry with scenes and symbols from France, the circus and Chagall’s upbringing in the Jewish residence zone of czarist Russia. Below, the painting King David (Le Roi David) gets the once-over and klezmer music in the gallery. Click here for information on the exhibit.
-
Two Things About Montreal
(Aside from the fact that with more 1.5 million people it is considered the second-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris):1. There are about 300 miles of bicycle trails in Montreal, meaning you can go almost anywhere on a bike. Above, riding along the La Chine Canal. Bottom, crossing the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
2. There are surfers in Montreal, surfing the standing waves of the mighty St. Lawrence River.
