Recreation on Ontario Northland Job, 1973
Inscriptions
titled and inscribed, 'RECREATION ON ONTARIO NORTHLAND JOB/ 8 3'8 X 18 5/8' (verso, centre)Provenance
Downstairs Gallery, Calgary, 1981Private collection, Fairview, AB
By descent to the present private collection, Edmonton
Exhibitions
Edmonton, The Edmonton Art Gallery, 1991.William Kurelek’s work is profoundly influenced by his personal battles with mental health issues and depression. Recurring themes such as labour and rural life portray his personal experiences and offer a window into his internal conflicts and struggles.
In 1951 Kurelek worked at a lumber camp in Fraserdale, a small community located north of Timmins, Ontario. Northland Ontario operates the railway service from Cochrane to Moosenee on James Bay, with a stop in Fraserdale. The railway is vital for supporting the region’s forestry, mining, and agricultural industries.
Kurelek’s own reflections on his experience provide a poignant perspective. He wrote:
Men have gone into the bush for many reasons. The first time was in the summer of 1946. I did it to prove to my father (and myself) that I could make it on my own. […]
In the past two decades, work in the bush has changed more than it had in the preceding two centuries. It is surprising how little has been written about that remarkable life, and it seems to have been illustrated even less. To re-create it, I have had to depend on my memory — fortunately vivid — and on the few sketches I made then, as well as old photos I sent home. As a painter, I feel very lucky to have experienced traditional lumbercamp living before it disappeared forever. [1]
Recreation on Northland Ontario Job is part of an important series of works painted in 1973, the same year Kurelek published “Someone with Me: An Autobiography” and the iconic “Prairie Boy’s Winter”.
The central figure, with the face painted in intricate detail, is almost Kurelek himself. The vibrant colours evoke the atmosphere of a brisk winter day.
The frame is accentuated with vivid orange and neon green hues matching clothing worn by the primary and secondary figures leading us to suspect the frame may also be one crafted by Kurelek himself.
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Footnote:
[1] William Kurelek, Lumberjack: Paintings and Story by William Kurelek (Montreal: Tundra Books of Montreal, 1974), n.p.