William Kurelek
(1927–)
(–1977)
William Kurelek
1927–1977
William Kurelek (1927–1977) was a Canadian artist and writer known for nostalgic, illustrative, and didactic paintings. He provided stories and illustrations for the books A Prairie Boys Winter, 1973, and A Prairie Boys Summer, 1975. He created numerous paintings that explored his life growing up in western Canada, his Ukrainian Canadian roots, his struggles with mental illness, and his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Kurelek’s art navigated the unsentimental reality of Depression-era farm life and explored the sources of debilitating mental suffering. He was one of Canada’s most commercially successful artists at his death.
In 1934, the Kurelek family moved to Stonewall, north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Kurelek attended Victoria School and, later, Isaac Newton High School in Winnipeg from 1942 to 1946. He received a BA from the University of Manitoba. After the move to Vinemount, near Hamilton, Ontario, he enrolled in the Ontario College of Art but withdrew after the first term. In the early to late 1950s, Kurelek traveled and studied in several countries, including Mexico, England, Turkey, Israel/Palestine, Greece, and Italy.
Kurelek explored Canadian life beyond nostalgia, depicting various ethnic and regional groups in books such as Kurelek’s Canada, 1975, Jewish Life In Canada, 1976, and The Polish Canadians, 1981. Though famous for these books, he mostly focused on creating religious paintings illustrating the Bible, including the renowned 160-panel The Passion of Christ series. Throughout his career, he produced visual commentaries exploring social issues, incorporating them into Canadian life scenes or religious artworks for more significant impact.