 | William KURELEK 1927 — 1977Віл’ям КУРЕЛЕК • Виллиам КУРЕЛЕКWilliam (Vasyl) Kurelek was born near Whitford, Alberta in 1927. Canadian artist and writer. The oldest of seven children in a Ukrainian immigrant family. 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, and was a close friend of the nearby Madonna House Apostolate. Later he returned to Toronto and produced a series of classic children`s books illustrated by his own artwork: A Prairie Boy`s Winter (1973), Lumberjack (1974), A Prairie Boy`s Summer (1975), A Northern Nativity (1976). Kurelek was an outstanding artist with a unique idealistic and pragmatic vision. A modern Jeremiah, he painted a coming apocalypse - divine justice on a materialistic, secular society. He died in Toronto in 1977. |
