Artist William Perehudoff was born in the Doukhobor community in Langham, Saskatchewan in 1919. He studied art in Colorado Springs, New York and Pittsburgh and travelled and studied in Europe. He returned to Saskatchewan in the early 1950s and worked as a commercial artist for the Western Producer for 25 years. During that time, he was active in the Emma Lake artists’ workshops and developed his personal style of painting. He was encouraged by Fred Mendel, founder of the Mendel Gallery in Saskatoon. After initial work in landscape painting and murals, he turned to the international abstract style of art that established his reputation across Canada.William Perehudoff is considered one of Canada’s leading abstract painters, combining international modernism with regional subjects in a unique form. He received a University of Alberta national award in painting (1978) and the Canada 125 Commemorative Medal (1993) and was named a Member of the Order of Canada (1998).On February 26, 2013, William Perehudoff passed away in Saskatoon at the age of 94.