Ida Kar

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Ida Kar, born Ida Karamian or Ida Caramjan Ида Карамян (8 April 1908 - 24 December 1974), was a photographer known for her portraits of artists and writers.^[1]

Biography

Ida Karamian was born on 8 April 1908 in Tambov, near Moscow, in Russia, to Armenian parents.

In 1928 she went to study in Paris, and was influenced by the avant-garde currents she encountered there.

She went on to establish her photographic practice 'Idabel' in Cairo with her first husband in 1933.

In 1945 she moved to London with her second husband, the artist and critic Victor Musgrave who opened Gallery One in London's Soho. Kar specialised in portraits of the famous artists and writers of the time and photographed and exhibited Forty Artists from Paris and London in 1954.

The height of Kar's success was her Whitechapel Gallery solo exhibition in 1960.^[2]

In 2011 the National Portrait Gallery in London dedicated an exhibition to Ida Kar's work, entitled Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer. The family of her closest assistant, John Couzins, contributed to the exhibition.^[3] Ida Kar recruited Leslie Smithers, Lawrence Ellar & John Couzins to form her group KarSEC in 1968. Leslie Smithers' portrait of Joseph Cyril Bamford, CBE and the rockband Badfinger were acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.

References

 4  Ida Kar and KarSEC in biography of Leslie Smithers website http://lessmithersphotography.com

Bibliography

Williams, Val, Ida Kar: Photographer (1989) Virago Press ISBN 978-1-85381-104-3
Rosemont, Penelope 'Ida Kar', in Surrealist women: an international anthology (1998) (p. 189) University of Texas Press ISBN 978-0-292-77088-1
Freestone, Clare and Wright, Karen Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer (2011) National Portrait Gallery ISBN 978 1 85514 4224

External links

Authority control	VIAF: 30337562 ISNI: 0000 0000 8110 1065

Persondata
Name	Kar, Ida
Alternative names	Ida Karamian; Ida Caramjan
Short description	Portrait photographer
Date of birth	8 April 1908
Place of birth	Tambov, Russia
Date of death	24 December 1974
Place of death

Ida kar, Leslie Smithers,Lawrence Ellar & John Couzins (KarSEC)/ Face to face interview with Leslie Smithers / National Portrait Gallery

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