Breaking Free: The Story of William Kurelek

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Many believe that William Kurelek (1927–1977) was, and remains, the
finest painter of Prairie landscapes. The oldest of seven children in a
family of Ukrainian immigrants who settled in Alberta, Kurelek had a
hard childhood. But he showed artistic ability early in life. According
to the author, “The story of his life is how he broke free of it to
become one of Canada’s great artists.”

It is good to see again, after so many years, reproductions of
Kurelek’s delightful paintings of childhood activities, summer and
winter sports, the tough work of early Ukrainian settlers and
lumberjacks, and all the multifaceted aspects of Canadian life that
fascinated Kurelek’s eyes and mind.

May Ebbitt Cutler, founder of Tundra Books, was Kurelek’s main
publisher for many years, and knew the painter as a friend. Her
relatively brief text draws on Kurelek’s autobiographical writings for
children published by Tundra Books under the titles A Prairie Boy’s
Winter (1973), A Prairie Boy’s Summer (1978), and Lumberjack (1974).
Cutler also draws on the painter’s autobiography, Someone with Me
(1973), and many other sources.

This very attractive biography will appeal to a wide age-span of
readers and lovers of art. It should also serve to introduce a younger
generation to this important Canadian painter. Highly recommended.