Sold for: $31,250

PROVENANCE
The Isaacs Gallery Ltd., Toronto
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Sold sale of Important Canadian Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours, Books and Prints, Sotheby's Canada, October 21, 1974, lot 85
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
William Kurelek, Someone With Me, 1980, page 152

In order “to make sure the wool wasn’t being pulled over [his] eyes”, William Kurelek undertook an in-depth four-year study of Catholicism prior to converting. Kurelek studied the Bible intensively in the months prior to his baptism, and developed a thorough knowledge of scripture, particularly as it related to the life of Christ.

Kurelek often depicted scenes from the life of Christ when focusing on religious subject matter. He chose stories he believed to be modern parables – cautionary tales about the pitfalls of modern society. Matthew 8:20 (KJV) reads: “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." In this work by Kurelek, the lone, Christ-like figure represents the son of man with no faith, and so finds himself without a spiritual home. The birds have their nests in the leafless tree and the fox cautiously approaches its den. In the distance we see a small, verdant tree – the representation of eternal life for the son of man, and Kurelek’s subtle metaphor for salvation.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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