Born: 1920 Antwerp, Belgium
Died: 2020 Beaumaris, Isle of Anglesey, Wales
Year of Migration to the UK: 1940
Other name/s: Charles Lek, Karyl Lek
Biography
Painter Karel Lek was born into a Jewish family in Antwerp, Belgium in 1929 and fled to Britain with his family as a child, settling in Bangor in north Wales in 1940. He developed a love of art an early age, when his father took him to visit museums in Antwerp; he particularly admired Belgian artists including Constant Permeke and James Ensor. In 1940, at the age of 11, he was forced to flee to Britain with his family, following the Nazi occupation of his native Belgium. He was educated at Friars Grammar School in Bangor, then studied at Liverpool College of Art. He joined the North Wales Group of Artists which included Sir Kyffin Williams, Elis Gwyn, Tom Gerrard, Roy Ostle, Jonah Jones, Arthur Pritchard, Claudia Williams, Donald McIntyre, Helen Steinthal and Peter Chadwick. In the 1950s he moved to the East End of London, teaching in East Ham, while a resident of Toynbee Hall. Later he became part of a wide circle of refugee artists of Jewish origin that included Josef Herman and Heinz Koppel.
After returning to Wales, Lek lived on the isle of Anglesey, where he felt that he had found 'freedom', particularly in the local scenery which provided the inspiration for his many landscapes. Jasmine Donahaye, writer and researcher in Welsh Jewish culture, has observed of his prints, that they 'capture moments of human interaction and character that are acutely but affectionately observed', while Lek himself explained, 'I paint continuously and mostly my subjects are my fellow men and women in whatever situations I find them, whether in urban or rural surroundings. I am certainly not insensitive to the beauty of the landscape which surrounds me, but it’s the changing moods of the seasons of autumn and winter which appeal to me most'. He exhibited widely across Wales, and also showed in London, Amsterdam and Chicago. In 1955 he became a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy, which hosted a solo exhibition of his work upon his 90th birthday in 2010, which included a painting of immigrants, made in 1955 while he was teaching in London. He was awarded an MBE for charitable services to the NHS in north Wales in 2003. He died in Beaumaris, Wales in 2020. His work can be found in the Contemporary Art Society for Wales; Kansas City Art Gallery USA; Lincoln Earl Kennedy Bank USA; National Football Museum in Manchester; the National Library of Wales; Oriel Ynys Mon, Wales; and the University of Bangor in Wales.
Public collections
- Bangor University Art Collection
- Contemporary Art Society for Wales
- Kansas City Art Gallery USA
- National Football Museum, Manchester
- National Library of Wales
- Oriel Ynys Mon Gallery, Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales
Related organisations
- Royal Cambrian Society (member)
- East Ham, London (teacher)
Related web links
- 'Karel Lek: Jewish Painter Who Found 'Freedom' in Wales Dies' by Huw Thomas, BBC news
- Karel Lek obituary, The Jewish Chronicle
- Planet Video: Celebrating Wales' refugee artists - Paul Joyner in conversation with Karel Lek
Selected exhibitions
- Karel Lek, Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy (2019)
- Drawn From the Collection, Oriel Ynys Môn Museum, Llangefni, Wales (2019)Karel Lek, Selected Works, Oriel Tegfryn Gallery (2019)
- Football Is Art, National Football Museum (2019)
- Gorstella Gallery, Chester (2018)
- EuroVisions: Wales Through the Eyes of European Visitors, 1750–2015, Bangor University (2016)
- Karel Lek, Selected Paintings and Drawings, Oriel Tegfryn Gallery (2012)
- Oriel Ynys Môn Museum, Llangefni, Wales (2010)
- group exhibition, Cowbridge Gallery, Wlaes (2010)
- Royal Cambrian Academy’s 73rd annual exhibition (1955)
- Football and the Fine Arts, Football Association (FA) in conjunction with the Arts Council of Great Britain, touring exhibition (1953)
