William Kurelek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Kurelek (March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977) was a Canadian artist and writer.
He was born near Whitford, Alberta in 1927, the oldest of seven children in an Ukrainian immigrant family: Will, John, Winn, Nancy, Sandy, Paul, Iris. His family lost the farm during the Great Depression and moved to Stonewall, Manitoba. He developed an early interest in art which was not encouraged by his hard-working parents. He later studied at the Ontario College of Art and at the Instituto Allende in Mexico.
In 1952, he was hospitalized in England for depression and emotional problems. Originally Ukrainian Orthodox, Kurelek converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1957 and later painted a series of 160 paintings on the Passion of Christ. He maintained a cottage near Wilno (from where he got his inspiration for a book of paintings entitled The Polish Canadians), and was a close friend of the nearby Madonna House Apostolate.
He returned to Toronto and produced a series of classic children's books including his own artwork:
- A Prairie Boy's Winter (1973) ISBN 0-88776-102-X
- Lumberjack (1974) ISBN 0-88776-378-2
- A Prairie Boy's Summer (1975) ISBN 0-88776-116-X
- A Northern Nativity (1976) ISBN 0-88776-099-6
In 1976, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He died in Toronto in 1977.
Parts of his painting The Maze (1953) were used by rock band Van Halen on the cover of their 1981 album, Fair Warning.
Kurelek's art and writing were influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian roots and his religion.
[edit] Film and Video
- Kurelek. Directed by William Pettigrew. 1967, 10 minutes, 7 seconds, color. National Film Board of Canada.
