Fidel Castro
Artist
Yousuf Karsh
(Canadian, born in Armenia, 1908–2002)
Date1971
Mediumgelatin silver print mounted on cardboard
Dimensionssheet: 49.9 × 40.2 cm (19 5/8 × 15 13/16 in.)
mount: 56.7 × 46.8 cm (22 5/16 × 18 7/16 in.)
mount: 56.7 × 46.8 cm (22 5/16 × 18 7/16 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineGift of Howard G. Davis III, A.K.A. David Davis
Object number2016.9
Label TextThe Cuban revolutionary leader was a constant presence in the news of the 1960s. After leading the overthrow of President Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Castro transformed Cuba into a one-party Socialist Republic. The United States was alarmed by his relationship with the Soviet Union, and imposed an economic blockade of Cuba. In 1961 John F. Kennedy ordered a failed invasion attempt at the Bay of Pigs. Afterwards Castro strengthened economic and military ties to the USSR, allowing Russian nuclear weapons on the island, and provoking the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.On View
Not on view
