Velen Fanderlik, 1907 - 1985

Velen Fanderlik was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He displayed a talent for art as a child, however he followed the family tradition and went into Law. Fanderlik is most remembered, however, for his passion and commitment to establishing the Boy Scouts in Czechoslovakia, (modern day Czech Republic). He later served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1947 until 1951.

World War II and the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia forced Fanderlik to escape to Western Europe. He practiced law in England and acted as an evacuation officer for Czech refugees in France. One of those refugees was Velenka, a fellow Czech national. Fanderlik and Velenka were married in England in 1941.

After the War, Fanderlik became a military judge and then a member of the prosecuting team at the Nuremberg war crime trials. In 1947, Fanderlik was visiting Czechoslovakia when he learned his name was on a list of persons considered dangerous to state security. He and Velenka again fled to the West, this time to Germany where they joined the International Relief Organization. About a year later, they made the decision to relocate in Canada. The couple settled in Vancouver, where Fanderlik worked at the YMCA and studied Education at the University of British Columbia. Velenka entered business school.

In 1955, Fanderlik accepted a teaching position at J.L. Crowe Secondary School in the small interior town of Trail. He became a successful teacher, teaching Latin, History, Social Studies, Law and Art until his retirement. He also taught History of Art at night school classes in Trail and Castlegar and at summer schools at U.B.C. and Notre Dame University in Nelson. 

Vanderlik produced series of lino cuts depicting Doukhobor villages, small towns and village life in Central British Columbia. 

Fanderlik created artworks throughout his life. He studied at the University of Brno in the Czech Republic, St. Martin School of Art in London, Cambridge University, the Academy of Art in San Francisco, the University of British Columbia and the Banff School of Fine Arts.

Fanderlik died in 1985.

Selected Collections
Visac Gallery and Creative Art Centre, Trail, BC
Grand Forks Art Gallery, Grand Forks, BC
The Feckless Collection, Vancouver, BC

See more of his work here: 
Velen Fanderlik, My Journey Ends Here, Visac Art Gallery