I grew to love William Kurelek's work after the first time I first saw his paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario. On different occasions I brought a friend with me to see his work at the gallery. A few of them, who knew of him, were able to tell me little bits about his life, here and there. Another friend introduced me to children's books he had illustrated and other books about him, which brought me to read this autobiography. After this I decided I wanted to see more of his work and started
I grew to love William Kurelek's work after the first time I first saw his paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario. On different occasions I brought a friend with me to see his work at the gallery. A few of them, who knew of him, were able to tell me little bits about his life, here and there. Another friend introduced me to children's books he had illustrated and other books about him, which brought me to read this autobiography. After this I decided I wanted to see more of his work and started searching out galleries where they housed it and have found a few in nearby cities, that I will visit sometime in the near future.
Kurelek lived with a debilitating depression and in reading this book, it was good to hear that he was able to find freedom from it, after much struggle though, which gives some hope to others.
...more
Very (almost painfully) detailed autobiography of the Canadian painter W. Kurelek. Useful if one wants to better understand Kurelek's work, and to a certain degree to get an idea of how life was for a farm boy of Eastern European immigrants in Canada's middle of the 20th century.