Memorable Manitobans: William Kurelek (1927-1977)

Artist.

Born in Edmonton, he moved with his parents to Stonewall, Manitoba, at an early age and grew up there. He attended the University of Manitoba, graduating in arts in 1949. He then attended the Ontario College of Art. He travelled the world and then began serious painting after admitting himself to a London mental institution. Having converted to Catholicism, he returned to Toronto in 1959. His autobiography, Someone with Me, appeared in 1980. His paintings illustrated many books, in some cases his own texts. He often painted scenes of his Manitoba childhood, such as those in A Prairie Boy’s Winter.

More information:

Kurelek: A Biography by Patricia Morley (1986).

William Kurelek, the Suffering Genius by Michael Ewanchuk (1995).

Source:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Profile revised: 21 March 2008

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