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Karel Lek was born in Antwerp in 1929, but the misfortunes of World War II brought him to North Wales in 1940. He was educated at Friars Grammar School, Bangor and Liverpool College of Art.

Karel says of his work: “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".

Karel has exhibited widely across Wales, and has also shown in London, Amsterdam and Chicago. He became a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1955, and was awarded the MBE in 2003.

Collections

National Library of Wales

Contemporary Art Society for Wales

University of Bangor

Lincoln Earl Kennedy Bank USA

Trustees, Kansas City Art Gallery USA

Oriel Ynys Mon