Sold for: $55,250

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist
By descent to the present Private Collection, Saskatoon

LITERATURE
Patricia Morley, Kurelek: A Biography, 1986, page 2

This charming and nostalgic painting of a school playground is a complex tableau of the games children play, drawn from William Kurelek’s childhood experiences on the Prairies. He spent his early life on farms at Whitford, Alberta, and Stonewall, Manitoba. Kurelek was a sensitive child, and his memories of his early life were highly detailed and insightful. He painted a series of works based on childhood games that were included in the book A Prairie Boy’s Summer, paired with his recollections. Patricia Morley wrote that Kurelek’s “scenes of people in groups, at work and at play, are in the tradition of the medieval Flemish masters…Nothing escaped his notice or his brush. His narrative skill turned paintings into stories.” In every corner, something different is occurring, from the youngsters engaged in rough-and-tumble wrestling to the two children who merely observe the scene. Each personality and interaction adds to the group dynamic and a sense of the community they form in Kurelek’s empathetic portrayal of this innocent time.

This work is in the original frame made by Kurelek.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars