by The famous black-and-white photograph from 1941 of a flamboyant Sir Winston Churchill was the perfect finish to Nicola Cassinelli’s modest living room.
A prominent lawyer and passionate small-scale art collector who had just bought an apartment in Genoa, Italy, Mr Cassinelli, 34, was searching for the right piece to hang on a small corner wall next to his bookcase when he came across Stray signed copy of Roaring Lion for sale in Sotheby’s online catalog in May 2022.
“It immediately caught my attention, not just because of its beauty but because I am interested in the real Winston Churchill,” Mr Cassinelli told The Telegraph in an interview on Sunday. “This was the iconic photograph that captured his anger, the strength of the free world – good overpowering evil. It is historic.”
He bid £4,200 and to his surprise, won it. Two weeks and £2,000 in customs, shipping and tax fees later, it was proudly hanging in his flat.
“I showed it to all the guests and I was very happy with it.”
What he – and Sotheby’s – did not know, however, was that the photograph was not a signed copy. Instead it was the original, taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh and possibly worth millions, that was stolen from the lobby of Ottawa’s Fairmont Château Laurier hotel in January 2022 and trafficked to Europe.
Mr. Cassinelli has now returned the photo, which will once again be on public display in an Ottawa hotel, behind a protective glass panel and newly monitored by security sensors and cameras.
“After more than two years, I stand before you to celebrate the return of our iconic portrait,” said Geneviève Dumas, the hotel’s general manager, on Friday. “We express our gratitude to the Ottawa police services, international law enforcement, Mr. Nicola Cassinelli, and everyone who is assisting in his return.”
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the return of the “Roaring Lion” photo “a great day for Ottawa”.
It ends an art heist mystery that required the persistence of Ottawa detectives, and the good will of Mr. Cassinelli, to solve.
Three months after the purchase, Mr Cassinelli received a call from Sotheby’s asking him not to sell or transfer the work to any third parties as an investigation was underway. A few Google searches later, he realized he was caught up in the Canadian art heist mystery of the day.
“And so I just waited, and with all my friends and guests who came to my house, we would joke about having such an important piece of art in front of our eyes,” said Mr. Cassinelli. with the Telegraph. “Like having a Mona Lisa… because I paid a few thousand pounds but online I read it was worth millions. It was like I was in a movie.”
Then, a year ago, an email arrived from Sotheby’s law office asking him to share his contact details with Canadian police, who told him the whole story in a video call and asked him to consider returning it, even though his buy in good faith. and therefore he did not owe him.
“I trusted one of the most important auction houses in the world, and at the time it wasn’t even reported stolen, so mine was a legitimate purchase.”
For years, the print from the original negative, signed by photographer Yousuf Karsh, hung on the wood-paneled walls of the hotel’s reading lounge in Ottawa, Canada. It was a tourist attraction and visitors often took photos of themselves in front of it.
In the summer of 2022, a hotel employee noticed the unusual hanging of the picture and estate managers realized it was a fake – Karsh’s signature had been forged. Appeals were made to the public to send in photographs, which enabled detectives to reduce the window where the exchange took place.
To dispel any doubt that the photograph was his, Mr Cassinelli contacted the Italian Carabinieri art fraud unit, who agreed to take it in for analysis.
“The day after I handed it over, I went online and bought a cheap $100 poster of the same photo and put it in the same place,” Mr. Cassinelli said.
Ottawa detectives teamed up with the Metropolitan Police and the Italian Carabinieri to search for the photo, with the help of public tips, forensic analysis and international cooperation using open source research to identify a suspect.
Jeffrey Iain James Wood, of Powassan, Ontario, was arrested and faces several charges, including forgery, theft and trafficking.
The story behind the photo is legend. Karsh, originally from Armenia, made Ottawa his home from 1924 until the 1990s and lived in the hotel for many years. He took pictures of 14,312 people in his career, including Queen Elizabeth II and her father King George VI, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Charles de Gaulle, Karl Jung and King Faisal, among others .
But it was the black and white portrait of Churchill, taken in 1941 as the 67-year-old leader waited to finish his speech to the Canadian parliament, that brought Karsh international fame.
In his book, Karsh describes how Churchill did not want his picture taken and began to puff on a cigar, but said Karsh could only take one photograph.
“I put out an ashtray, but he wouldn’t put it away. I went back to my camera and made sure everything was technically OK. I stayed; He continued to puff vigorously on his cigar. I stayed. Then I went towards him and, without premeditation, but ever so respectfully, said, “Leave me, sir,” and plucked the cigar from his mouth. By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so desperate he could throw me out. It was then that I took the photograph.”
A concerned Churchill was said to have claimed, “You can even make a lion roar without taking his photograph” – hence Karsh’s title for the photograph.
Since 2013, it has been the image on the Bank of England £5 note.
‘It was right to bring him back’
Although he was invited as a special guest, Mr. Cassinelli regretted not being able to attend this week’s unveiling in Canada.
“I promised myself to go to Ottawa one day to see my photo where I know it should stay, because Yousuf Karsh gave it to the hotel, it’s only right that it stays there.”
Sotheby’s reimbursed the purchase and some legal costs, but Mr. Cassinelli still lost several thousand euros. That doesn’t matter, he said.
“I like art and I like to collect. I can’t be speculative. If I had decided not to return it there might have been a large compensation worth its actual value, but a whole nation was searching for it. I felt it was right to bring it back. Being Italian, many pieces of art have been stolen from us, in fact France has never returned the Mona Lisa and I know how painful this can be for a people.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Cassinelli’s fascination with Churchill continues. He recently went to visit Churchill’s residence in London where an exhibition also displayed a cheap copy, not even as nice as the one hanging in his home.
“I am happy with my poster. It’s not signed of course, but I’ve told the story many times and it intrigues and entertains my guests.”
