William Kurelek
Encyclopedia
William Kurelek, CM
(March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977) was a Canadian art
ist and writer
. His work was influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian-Canadian roots and his Roman Catholicism.
in 1927, the oldest of seven children in an Ukrainian immigrant
family: Bill, John, Winn, Nancy, Sandy, Paul, Iris. His family lost their grain farm during the Great Depression
and moved to a dairy farm near Stonewall, Manitoba
. He developed an early interest in art which was not encouraged by his hard-working parents. He studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto
and at the Instituto Allende in Mexico
, but was primarily self-taught from books.
By his mid-twenties he was living in England
. In 1952, suffering from clinical depression
and emotional problems he was admitted to the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital
in London
. There he was treated for schizophrenia
. In hospital he painted
, producing "The Maze", a dark depiction of his tortured youth
. (This 1953 work was used as the cover of the 1981 Van Halen
rock album Fair Warning
.) His experience in the hospital was documented in the LIFE Science Library
book The Mind, published in 1965. He was transferred from the Maudsley to be at Netherne Hospital from November 1953 to January 1955, to work with Edward Adamson
(1911-1996), a pioneer of art therapy
. At Netherne he produced two masterpieces - Where Am I? Who Am I? Why Am I? (donated to the American Visionary Arts Museum by Adamson) and I Spit On Life (still in the Adamson Collection) .
Originally Ukrainian Orthodox, Kurelek converted to the Roman Catholic Church
in 1957. He painted a series of 160 works on the Passion of Christ
, and a series of 20 depicting the Nativity
as if Christ had been born in Canadian settings: an igloo, a trapper's cabin, a boxcar, a motel. He maintained a cottage near Wilno
, Ontario
, where he got his inspiration for a book of paintings entitled The Polish Canadians, and was a friend of the nearby Madonna House Apostolate
.
He returned to Toronto, writing and illustrating a series of children's books, several of which have become modern classics. In 1974 he illustrated a new edition of W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen The Wind. He won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award
for A Prairie Boy's Winter in 1974 and A Prairie Boy's Summer in 1976. In 1976, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
. He visited Ukraine
in 1970 and again in 1977, publishing To My Father's Village. He died in Toronto in 1977. His archives, and a substantial body of his work, including the Passion mentioned above, are held at Niagara Falls
Art Gallery.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977) was a Canadian art
Canadian art
Canadian art refers to the visual as well as plastic arts originating from the geographical area of contemporary Canada...
ist and writer
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
. His work was influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian-Canadian roots and his Roman Catholicism.
Life
William Kurelek was born near Whitford, AlbertaWhitford, Alberta
Whitford is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within Lamont County. It is located west of Highway 45, approximately northeast of Fort Saskatchewan.- References :...
in 1927, the oldest of seven children in an Ukrainian immigrant
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
family: Bill, John, Winn, Nancy, Sandy, Paul, Iris. His family lost their grain farm during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and moved to a dairy farm near Stonewall, Manitoba
Stonewall, Manitoba
Stonewall is a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba with a population of 4,376 as of the 2006 census. The town is situated approximately north of Winnipeg on PTH 67. It is known for its limestone quarries. The local festival is the Quarry Days which is usually held over three days in August...
. He developed an early interest in art which was not encouraged by his hard-working parents. He studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and at the Instituto Allende in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, but was primarily self-taught from books.
By his mid-twenties he was living in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 1952, suffering from clinical depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and emotional problems he was admitted to the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital
Maudsley Hospital
The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in South London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the country...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. There he was treated for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. In hospital he painted
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
, producing "The Maze", a dark depiction of his tortured youth
Tortured artist
The tortured artist is a stock character and real-life stereotype who is in constant torment due to frustrations with art and other people. Tortured artists feel alienated and misunderstood due to the perceived ignorance or neglect of others who do not understand them and the things they feel are...
. (This 1953 work was used as the cover of the 1981 Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
rock album Fair Warning
Fair Warning (Van Halen album)
Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. Released in 1981, it sold more than two million copies, but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era...
.) His experience in the hospital was documented in the LIFE Science Library
Life Science Library
The Life Science Library was a popular series of hardbound books published by Time-Life between 1963 and 1967. Each of the 26 volumes explored a major topic of the natural sciences. They were intended for, and written at a level appropriate to, an educated lay readership...
book The Mind, published in 1965. He was transferred from the Maudsley to be at Netherne Hospital from November 1953 to January 1955, to work with Edward Adamson
Edward Adamson
Edward Adamson was a British artist and pioneer of Art Therapy, who has been called “the father of art therapy in Britain”.- Life and work :...
(1911-1996), a pioneer of art therapy
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
. At Netherne he produced two masterpieces - Where Am I? Who Am I? Why Am I? (donated to the American Visionary Arts Museum by Adamson) and I Spit On Life (still in the Adamson Collection) .
Originally Ukrainian Orthodox, Kurelek converted to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in 1957. He painted a series of 160 works on the Passion of Christ
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
, and a series of 20 depicting the Nativity
Nativity of Jesus in art
The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...
as if Christ had been born in Canadian settings: an igloo, a trapper's cabin, a boxcar, a motel. He maintained a cottage near Wilno
Wilno, Ontario
The community of Wilno, Ontario is situated on the border of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards and Madawaska Valley townships in Renfrew County, Ontario.-Geography:...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, where he got his inspiration for a book of paintings entitled The Polish Canadians, and was a friend of the nearby Madonna House Apostolate
Madonna House Apostolate
The Madonna House Apostolate is a Catholic Christian community of lay men, women, and priests dedicated to loving and serving Jesus Christ in all aspects of everyday life. It was founded in 1947 by Catherine Doherty in Combermere, Ontario and has established missionary field houses...
.
He returned to Toronto, writing and illustrating a series of children's books, several of which have become modern classics. In 1974 he illustrated a new edition of W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen The Wind. He won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award
Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award
The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award was created in 1971 to honour an outstanding work of illustration in current children's literature of Canada. The award is presented annually under the auspices of the Canadian Library Association...
for A Prairie Boy's Winter in 1974 and A Prairie Boy's Summer in 1976. In 1976, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He visited Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in 1970 and again in 1977, publishing To My Father's Village. He died in Toronto in 1977. His archives, and a substantial body of his work, including the Passion mentioned above, are held at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
Art Gallery.
Solo works
- O Toronto(1973) Toronto : New Press.
- Someone With Me: An Autobiography (1973) Ithaca, New York: Centre for Improvement of Undergraduate Education, Cornell University.
- 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
- The Passion of Christ(1975) Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls Art Gallery & Museum.
- Kurelek's Canada(1975) Toronto: Pagurian Press Limited.
- The Last of the Arctic (1976) Toronto: Pagurian Press Limited.
- A Northern Nativity (1976) ISBN 0-88776-099-6g
- Fields(1976) Montreal: Tundra Books.
- Someone With Me: An Autobiography(1980)(revised condensed reprint) Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
- The Ukrainian Pioneer(1980) Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls Art Gallery. Based on the 1971 mural of the same title.
- The Polish Canadians(1981) Montreal: Tundra Books.
- Someone With Me(reprint) (1988) Niagara Falls: Niagara Falls Art Gallery.
- To My Father's Village (1988) Montreal: Tundra Books. ISBN 978-0-88776-220-8
In collaboration
- They Sought A New World (1985) Montreal: Tundra Books. Text by Margaret Engelhart, with snippets of the artist's commentary and paintings illustrating Engelhart's text.
- With historian Abraham Arnold. Jewish Life In Canada (1976). Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers.
- Kurelek Country (1999) Toronto: Key Porter Books. Preface by his dealer, Av Isaacs; biographical essay by historian Ramsay Cook.
- With Joan Murray (1983). Kurelek's Vision of Canada. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers. Exhibition catalogue.
Works illustrated by him
- Kupchenko-Frolick, G. (1989). The Chicken Man. Stratford, Ontario: Williams-Wallace Publishers.
- Ivan FrankoIvan FrankoIvan Yakovych Franko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language....
. (1978). Fox MykytaMykyta the FoxMykyta the Fox is the first Ukrainian animated series made in the country since it declared independence. The series is based on the eponymous satirical fairy tale in verse by Ivan Franko . The budget of the series amounted to UAH 10 million...
. Montreal: Tundra Books. (72 illustrations.) - Mitchell, W.O. (1976). Who Has Seen The Wind. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.
- Demarco, D. (1974). Abortion In Perspective. Cincinnati: Hiltz & Hayes Publishing. (Section head illustrations.)
Film and video
- Kurelek. Directed by William Pettigrew. 1967, 10 minutes, 7 seconds, color. National Film Board of CanadaNational Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. - William Kurelek's The Maze Directed by David Grubin and Robert M. YoungRobert M. YoungRobert Malcolm Young, usually known as Robert M. Young , is an American multi-award winning screenwriter, director, cinematographer and producer.-Awards:...
.
Exhibitions
- Kurelek: The Messenger. Touring Winnipeg, Victoria, and Hamilton 2011-2012.
Further reading
- Michael EwanchukMichael EwanchukMichael Ewanchuk Canadian educator, historian of Ukrainian origin. Doctor of Laws from the University of Winnipeg and a Doctor of Canon Law from St. John's College of the University of Manitoba.- External links :...
, William Kurelek: The Suffering Genius Steinbach, Manitoba: Perksen Printers and Michael Ewanchuk Publishing, 1996 - P.Morley, Kurelek Toronto, Macmillan of Canada, 1986
- Friesen, I. (1997). Earth Hell & Heaven In the Art of William Kurelek. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press.
- Pomedli, M. (1991). William Kurelek's Huronia Mission Paintings, Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales: The Edwin Mellen Press.