This New England

On Feb. 27 through Aug. 23, the RISD Museum of Art presents Yousuf Karsh: Portraits of Artists and Facing Artists: Twentieth Century Portraits from the Collection, two complementary exhibitions that, the museum says, highlight portraits of artists by the legendary photographer Yousuf Karsh and such other artists as Andy Warhol, Lucien Freud and Pablo Picasso. The two exhibitions are presented in adjoining galleries. .

The Karsh exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Canadian (but Armenian-born) Karsh, who died in 2002. Mr. Karsh was one of the most celebrated portrait photographers of the 20th Century. More than 15,000 people sat in front of his camera--from ordinary citizens to the likes of Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein.

The picture here, made in 1949, is of Henry Moore, the famed British sculptor. @Estate of Yousuf Karsh and the Estrellita Karsh Revocable Trust.

Mr. Karsh made impressive efforts to record the century's most accomplished individuals, especially those in the arts. A selection of 27 photographs of visual artists and designers comprise this exhibition; all are promised gifts to the RISD Museum from the artist's widow. Estrellita Karsh. That's quite a coup.

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U.S. Senate Banking Commitee Chairman Christopher Dodd knows where to get money -- from those his committee helps "oversee.'' Consider his sweetheart mortgages from the sleazy Countrywide Financial and his copious contributions from the famous influence buyers at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And now, it's revealed that he got thousands of dollars from the very dubious Stanford Financial Group, a network of financial-services companies under a federal fraud investigation.

Why oh why does the Democratic caucus let this profoundly compromised man continue as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, of all jobs? Just because he speaks so smoothly and glibly, and has such an impressive head of white hair?

 Tags  Christopher Dodd Estrellita Karsh Henry Moore RISD Museum Senate Banking Commitee Stanford Financial Group Yousuf Karsh

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