I am grateful to the many people who have encouraged, nurtured, and supported my interest in William Kurelek. My closest childhood friends and their families—particularly the Smiths and Willms—were the first to introduce me to the artist back in the 1980s. My parents and sister, who have always shown a tireless interest in my work, remain my bedrock. I am indebted to Mary Jo Hughes and Tobi Bruce who, while I was still a young and untested curator, invited me to help organize and stage a major Kurelek exhibition in 2011. I would also like to acknowledge my employer, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and director Stephen Borys, for providing the support that has allowed me to pursue my interest in the artist. Thanks to Stephen Kurelek and the Kurelek estate for the enthusiasm and support they have shown toward me and this publication. I would also like to commend Sarah Brohman for her erudite and tactful editorial stickhandling, and I sincerely thank the anonymous peer reviewer for the helpful, candid remarks and recommendations.
I appreciate all the assistance I received from my fellow cultural workers at ACI and across the country toward preparing this publication: Stephanie Burdzy, Cliodna Cussen, Nicole Fletcher, Emily Lawrence, Lela Radisevic, Corin De Sousa, Georgiana Uhlyarik, Kendra Ward, and Erin Yunes. I would like to extend particular gratitude to Anna Hudson and Sara Angel for inviting me to contribute to ACI’s important growing catalogue of Canadian artist monographs.
Lastly, I would like to thank and dedicate this book to Bree Bergen (who grew up, like Kurelek, in Stonewall, Manitoba) for the love and support she has always given me.
From the Art Canada Institute
This online art book was made possible thanks to its Lead Sponsor: The Scott Griffin Foundation. Much gratitude goes to the Founding Sponsor for the Canadian Online Art Book Project: BMO Financial Group.
The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the other sponsors for the 2016–17 Season: Aimia, Kiki and Ian Delaney, Esker Foundation, The McLean Foundation, Rosamond Ivey, The Richard and Beryl Ivey Fund within the London Community Foundation, Karen Schreiber and Marnie Schreiber, and TD Bank.
Thanks also to the Art Canada Institute Founding Patrons: Jalynn H. Bennett, the Butterfield Family Foundation, David and Vivian Campbell, Albert E. Cummings, Kiki and Ian Delaney, Jon and Lyne Dellandrea, the Fleck Family, Roger and Kevin Garland, the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, The Scott Griffin Foundation, Michelle Koerner and Kevin Doyle, Jane Huh, Phil Lind, Sarah and Tom Milroy, Nancy McCain and Bill Morneau, Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan, Sandra L. Simpson, Pam and Mike Stein, Nalini and Tim Stewart, Robin and David Young, Sara and Michael Angel; as well as its Founding Partner Patrons: the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Partners in Art.
The ACI gratefully acknowledges the support and assistance of the Adamson Collection, Wellcome Library (William Schupbach); Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Alicia Boutilier, Jennifer Nicholl); American Visionary Art Museum (Matt Craft); Art Gallery of Alberta (Rochelle Ball); Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Stephen Topfer, Lesley Golding); Art Gallery of Hamilton (Christine Braun, Lela Radisevic); Art Gallery of Ontario (Tracy Mallon-Jensen, Jill Offenbeck, Amy Furness, Marilyn Nazar); Art Gallery of Windsor (Nicole McCabe); Art Resource (John Benicewicz); Brechin Imaging Services (Danyel); Bridgeman Images (Mai Pham); Brooklyn Museum (Monica Park, Ruth Janson); Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, Concordia University (Bill Kirby); City of Toronto Archives (Andrea de Shield); Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University (Suzanne Dubeau); Cornell University Press (Stephanie Munson); Estate of Jack Chambers (John Chambers); Estate of William Kurelek (Stephen Kurelek); Estate of Gordon Rayner (Katharyn Rayner); Estate of Tess Taconis (Lucy Medland); Globe and Mail Inc. (Douglas Tripp, Chip Schafer); Heffel Fine Art Auction House (Lauren Kratzer); Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (Sonja Gandert, Lucy Whiteley); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Julia Murphy); Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing (Michelle de la Cruz); James Richardson & Sons, Limited (Kelly Harris); Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University (Melissa Holland); Library and Archives Canada (Marie Julie Hyppolite, Lise Schroeder); Loch Gallery (Ian Loch, Nancy Smith); London Transport Museum (Valia Lamprou); Manulife Financial Art Collection (Donna Murphy, Adrienne Wai); Mayberry Fine Art (Shaun Mayberry, Stefanie Galvanek); McMaster University Museum of Art (Julie Bronson); Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Marie-Claude Saia); National Gallery of Canada (Raven Amiro); Niagara Falls Art Gallery and Museum (Debra Attenborough, Dave Gilbert); Ontario Jewish Archives (Faye Blum); State Russian Museum (Evgenia Petrova, Vera Kessenich); The Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery (Alessandra Cirelli); Taylor & Francis Group; Toronto Public Library; Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (Alti Rodal); Ukrainian Museum of Canada (Janet Prebushewsky Danyliuk); Waddington’s Auctioneers and Appraisers (Linda Rodeck); Winnipeg Art Gallery (Andrew Kear, Nicole Fletcher, Ellen Plouffe); Wynick/Tuck Gallery (David Tuck); and David Franklin, Lee Henderson, Rork Hilford, Renann Isaacs, David Kaufman, David Kemp, Ann Kitz, Irina Smirmova, Donnalu Wigmore, and Nick and Zack Young.
Image Sources
Every effort has been made to secure permissions for all copyrighted material. The Art Canada Institute will gladly correct any errors or omissions.
Credits for Banner Images
Biography: Artist William Kurelek, c. 1965. (See below for details.)
Key Works: In the Autumn of Life, 1964. (See below for details.)
Significance & Critical Issues: The Painter, 1974. (See below for details.)
Style & Technique: Reminiscences of Youth, 1968. (See below for details.)
Sources & Resources: The Airman’s Prayer, c. 1959. (See below for details.)
Lest We Repent…, 1964. Collection of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, purchase, George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund, 1966 (09-006). Photo credit: Bernard Clark.
The artist at the Isaacs Gallery frame shop, c. 1959. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and the Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
Father Peter Mayevsky, c. 1937. Courtesy of Oseredok—Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre and Archives, Winnipeg.
Frontispiece, Psychotic Art (1950), by Francis Reitman. Courtesy of Routledge / Taylor and Francis Group, U.K. Photo credit: Lee Henderson.
The Garden of Earthly Delights (details), 1490–1500, by Hieronymus Bosch. Collection of the Museo del Prado, Madrid, on permanent loan from Patrimonio Nacional since 1943 (P02823).
The Harvesters, 1565, by Pieter Bruegel. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.164). Photo credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Occupational therapist Margaret Smith, c. 1953–59. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and the Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
Magnetawan No. 2, 1965, by Gordon Rayner. Collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, purchase, 1967 (15315). Courtesy of the Estate of Gordon Rayner. Photo credit: National Gallery of Canada.
Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, 1880–91, by Ilya Repin. Collection of the State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg (zh-4005).
Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of St. Mary the Protectress, Winnipeg, 2011. Photo credit: Andrew Kear.
Video still from The Picture of Dorian Gray, directed by Albert Lewin, 1945.
William Kurelek and Avrom Isaacs in the Isaacs Gallery framing workshop, where Kurelek worked from 1960 to 1970, c. 1960s. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek and his extended family, c. early 1960s. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek and his paintings at Maudsley Hospital, London, c. 1953. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek and his Volkswagen Beetle, c. 1963. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek in the studio he built in the basement of his Toronto home on Balsam Avenue, c. late 1960s / early 1970s. Courtesy of Bill Kirby, Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, Concordia University, Montreal.
William Kurelek in Toronto during his days as a student at the Ontario College of Art, c. 1949. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek posing before the paintings Lest We Repent… (top left) and This Is the Nemesis (bottom left). Courtesy of Bill Kirby, Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, Concordia University, Montreal.
William Kurelek taking photographs at his parents’ farm in Vinemount, Ontario, c. 1956. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek with a painting in the Isaacs Gallery framing workshop, date unknown. Private collection. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek with the sign he created for his exhibition The Burning Barn: 16 Paintings by William Kurelek, held at Hart House Art Gallery, University of Toronto, March 11–29, 1969. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek’s father and mother, Dmytro and Mary Kurelek (née Huculak), c. 1925. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
William Kurelek’s father, Dmytro (Metro) Kurelek (far right), as a young man, c. 1923. Private collection, Toronto. Courtesy of the Estate of William Kurelek and Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto.
Art Canada Institute
Massey College, University of Toronto
4 Devonshire Place
Toronto, ON M5S 2E1
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Kear, Andrew, 1977-, author
William Kurelek : life & work / Andrew Kear.
Includes bibliographical references.
Contents: Biography — Key works — Significance & critical issues — Style &
technique — Sources & resources — Where to see.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4871-0124-4 (hardcover).–ISBN 978-1-4871-0125-1 (HTML).
–ISBN 978-1-4871-0126-8 (PDF).–ISBN 978-1-4871-0127-5 (mobile)
1. Kurelek, William, 1927-1977. 2. Kurelek, William, 1927-1977– Criticism and
interpretation. I. Kurelek, William, 1927-1977. Paintings. Selections.
II. Art Canada Institute, issuing body III. Title.
Andrew Kear is chief curator and curator of Canadian art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and a sessional lecturer at the University of Winnipeg. Learn More
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