Visiting Neighbours

About Visiting Neighbours

This moody realistic landscape set on the prairies is by the renowned Alberta-born artist William Kurelek. Known for his masterful quintessentially Canadian themes, this oil on canvas depicts an early rural scene. The austere, flat and vast prairie land and sky dominate the canvas. On the edge of the composition, next to a hedgerow, a farmer, his wife and two children are sitting in a horse-drawn wooden cart. The colour palette of dark grey, blue and black under a night sky flecked with white and heavy clothing suggests it is winter. The enigmatic Kurelek, a devout Christian was often referred to as Canada’s ‘Norman Rockwell,’ a beloved American artist whose own work chronicled his impressions of rural life.

“Paintings may not have nearly the power to convert people that the printed or spoken word has but each man has his part to play in the human and divine drama–some persons just a few lines, others whole pages. To refuse to play one’s role at all is not the answer. It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” William Kurelek

“Only a great artist could ever paint the prairie, the vacancy and stillness of it, the bare essentials of a landscape, of earth and sky.” Sinclair Ross, Canadian author

William Kurelek was born on a farm in Alberta in 1927, the oldest of 7 children to a Ukrainian immigrant family. He attended the University of Manitoba and obtained a general arts degree. He began drawing as a young child but his interest in art was not encouraged by his parents. Kurelek was primarily self-taught although he did attend the Ontario College of Art for a time and also studied briefly at the Instituto Allende in Mexico. Kurelek suffered from mental illness and spent time at an asylum in England where he engaged in art therapy. When he returned to Canada in 1959 he continued his art practice. The famed Toronto art dealer and gallery owner, Avrom Isaacs noticed Kurelek’s innate talent and championed his work. Kurelek’s first exhibition of many was at the famed Isaac’s Gallery in Toronto. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and a Member of the Order of Canada. Kurelek illustrated several highly successful books and wrote two of his own. He died of cancer at age 50 in Toronto in 1977. His work can be found in many private collections and publicly at the National Gallery of Canada and the Ontario Gallery of Art.