By the time William Kurelek died of cancer in November 1977, he had established a reputation as one of the most brilliant and unique artists Canada has produced. He was born in Whitford, Alberta to a strict and impoverished immigrant Ukrainian farming family. His life is a portrait of a man who triumphed over loneliness and mental anguish. He married the woman he loved and adopted the Roman Catholic faith ending his life long spiritual quest for peace, love, and acceptance. He found closure with his family and visited his mother country of the Ukraine before his untimely death at 50 years of age.

Many people believe no one has been able to paint the Prairies better than Kurelek. He captured the majesty and expanse of the Canadian landscape with his brush and would often go back to add details with a ball point pen.

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