"I have never in my life seen a display of pohotographs that gave so strong a feeling of the artist who made them, and which even succeeded in transcending the limitations of the medium and creating something wonderful and lasting" Colin MacInnes.
Russian born, of Armenian heritage, Ida Kar (8 April 1908 – 24 December 1974) was famed for her portraits. Active mainly in London after 1945, she took many portraits of artists and writers. Her solo show of photographs at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1960 was the first of its kind to be held in a major public gallery in London. Kar made a significant contribution to the recognition of photography as a form of fine art.