Like Snow and John Meredith, William Kurelek was among the star artists represented by Avrom Isaacs in the 1960s and 1970s. The relationship began with Kurelek working as a framer for the Isaacs Gallery. As an artist, he developed a tidy illustrative style to depict an innocent past or to chronicle cultural groups of Canada. He also used this approach in his darker apocalyptic paintings reflecting his beliefs and psyche. These two works are solid examples of how Kurelek organized space, form and line. The drawing of the kitchen interior, in particular, reveals the precision and discipline with which he approached his work. The “peech,” or clay bake oven, was a common feature of early Ukrainian homes in Manitoba and alludes to Kurelek’s heritage. With the suitcase, he perhaps inserts his own presence. In 1976, Kurelek co-authored an illustrated book entitled Jewish Life in Canada, for which he spent some time in Winnipeg during a blizzard, researching and preparing work. Though not reproduced in the book, “A Jewish Storekeeper’s Children on the Prairies” was undoubtedly painted with this series in mind. It is framed simply with one of Kurelek’s own barnboard frames.