George Bernard Shaw

Karsh, Yousuf, 1908-2002 · 1943

Every obstacle was in my way when I first met George Bernard Shaw in 1943. To begin with, his secretary laid down drastic and quite impossible terms. I was to have five minutes only with the great man. There were to be no lights. I could use nothing but a 'miniature camera.' While I was arguing vainly, Shaw himself came bursting into the room with the energy of a young man, though he was then almost ninety years old. His manner , his penetrating old eyes, his bristling beard and crisp speech were all designed to awe me, and in the beginning, they succeeded. ~ Shaw said he could see no reason why I should photograph him anyway. I explained that the Government of Canada wished to have a good portrait of him in the National Archives at Ottawa. 'Since when' he retorted, 'does the Canadian Government know a good picture when it sees one? And in any case why do they not commission Augustus John at a thousand guineas and make sure of the job? If John did it, the job would be good - or at any rate everybody would think so.' Plucking up my courage, I suggested that perhaps I had been assigned to take the portrait for that same reason. ~ In the end , I had all the time I wanted and I think Shaw enjoyed himself. For he was a better actor than many who appeared in his plays, and he obviously loved to act. His favorite role seemed to be that of a sort of harmless Mephistopheles or the grumpy wicked uncle with a heart of gold, After testing me with preliminary terror, we got along beautifully. He said I might make a good picture of him but none as good as the picture he had seen at a recent dinner party. There he had glimpses, over the shoulder of his hostess, what he took to be a perfect portrait of himself - cruel, you understand, a diabolical caricature but absolutely true. He pushed by the lady, approached that living image to find that he was looking into a mirror! The old man peered at me quizzically to see if I appreciated his little joke. It was then that I caught him in my portrait (Karsh, 1976).