Yousuf Karsh at the National Portrait Gallery

Select works from Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh are now on view at the National Portrait Gallery, following a gift of 109 photographs from Karsh's widow, Estrellita, to the museum. The Gallery will show the Karsh gift in two installations.  The first, Yousuf Karsh: American Portraits, includes photographs of notable Americans.

I wanted to share with you some of Karsh's work, including pieces that don't appear in the current Portrait Gallery exhibit. (Like the one immediately above. Disclaimer!)  Karsh's portraits focus on notable figures in society, including entertainers and policy-makers, so you may recognize some of these images.  See more after the jump.

Karsh is recognized as a sympathetic photographer who succeeded, unfailingly, to capture flattering images of his subjects.  Karsh's sympathy, however, does not neglect depth.  The photographer also seems to gain insight into a subject's sense of self.  The Washington Post writes that "Karsh’s subjects are never startled or discomfited, but they often manifest a private sense of pleasure in themselves that seems unrehearsed."

The first Karsh exhibit will run through April 27, 2014, so you have plenty of time to stop into the Portrait Gallery to check it out. 

(Images via the Calgary Board of Education.  From top to bottom, Jessye Norman, Betty Low, Pablo Picasso, Mother Theresa, Jim Henson, Martha Graham, Ernest Hemingway, Joan Baez, Andy Warhol, Nelson Mandela, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Elizabeth Taylor.)