Haynes Galleries Uncovers Rarely Seen Photographs by Yousuf Karsh

THOMASTON - While Yousuf Karsh is best known for his celebrity portraits, what many fail to realize is that the artist also made portraits of everyday people who were not in the public eye. Many of these photos have remained unpublished and have been seen only by family and friends of the sitter. This is true or the 1950s photograph of R. Frederick Woolworth of Monmuth, Maine and a rare early photograph of Estelle Esdale that was taken in Karsh’s Ottawa studio in the 1930s. These rarely seen portraits are on loan to Haynes Galleries, 91 Main Street in Thomaston through October 23, 2010 as part of the ongoing KARSH Exhibition.

For more than 30 years, R. Frederick Woolworth was president of Coe Kerr Gallery in New York where he represented important American artists such Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth until he retired in 1985. During his tenure with Coe Kerr Gallery, he was responsible for sold out exhibitions around the world such as Tokyo, London, and Paris.

R. Frederick Woolworth is the grandson of Frederick M. Woolworth who was in charge of his cousin’s F. W. Woolworth stores in Europe. He was working on Wall Street in the mid-1950‘s when his father, Norman B. Woolworth hired Yousuf Karsh to make photographic portraits of his sons, Frederick and Norman S., in addition to one of himself. It was in the fall of 1955 that Yousuf Karsh went to the Woolworth home at 820 5th Avenue in New York and shot the three portraits of the father and his two sons.

Years later, R. Frederick still recalls that Yousuf Karsh was a very small and short man. He described the artist as being methodical in his craft. He remembers that he was impressive to be around and found Karsh to be very conversational. Frederick muses that Karsh thought he needed a prop because he worked on Wall Street. For more information about R. Frederick Woolworth, please call 207-933-2326 or 207-441-5854. For more information about Estelle Esdale, please contact her daughter, Gay Schueler at 207-236-6330.

The KARSH Exhibition has been extended through October 23 at Haynes Galleries, located at 91 Main Street in Thomaston, Maine. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm. This exhibition is open to the public free of charge. For more information about this exhibit or to schedule a private viewing, please call 207-354-0605.