Karsh photographed the great wartime leader on a 1941 visit to the Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa. Karsh had only a few minutes to get his portrait while Churchill prepared to address the MPs and Senators (the speech is in his left pocket) and was struggling to get him to cooperate. In a moment of boldness, Karsh snatched the cigar from Churchill's mouth, which certainly got his attention. 'By the time I got back to my camera,' he later recalled, 'he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me.' It became one of the best-known photographs of Churchill and Karsh acknowledged that its success 'changed my life.' Dubbed the 'Roaring lion', this became one of the most enduring of Churchill's portraits and is among the most widely recognised photographs of all time.

This is a genuine vintage photogravure, printed in 1959. Archivally mounted on 100% acid-free board, label printed with artist name and signature verso, matted to 16" x 20" in a vintage black carved wooden frame.