Charles Turzak was born August 20, 1899, in Streator, Illinois, the third child and only son of Czechoslovakian immigrant parents. His father was a coal miner who worked long days, so many rural chores occupied Turzak’s boyhood years. He escaped his duties to do what he enjoyed most: carefully carve miniature animals from peach seeds, which he would sell for pennies.

Turzak is also well known for his woodcuts biographies of notable Americans. His first edition on Abraham Lincoln sold so well at the Century of Progress that it supported Turzak through the fair and the Depression. He followed it with Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in Woodcuts, which was accompanied by text written by his wife, Florence Turzak. His series of ten prints,History of Illinois in Woodcuts, 1934, in the Friedman collection, was made at the height of the Depression, and is considered to be a turning point in his career. Turzak clearly learned from his previous success: three woodcuts from the Illinois series feature images of Lincoln—one shows him as a muscled lumberjack wielding an axe; another captures him reclining and barefoot, while reading his law books; and the third memorializes his Springfield home. The interest and notoriety of this series helped to establish Turzak’s commercial career in advertising.

Turzak exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1940, and worked for the Works Progress Administration, completing a mural for the Chicago Post Office. From 1942, he was art director of Today's Health Magazine. He lived in Chicago until 1958, and then moved to Orlando, Florida. During the 1950s to 1970s, he painted in several abstract styles and in the 1970s and 1980s, was painting floral still lifes and marine scenes.

This linocut entitled "Three Wise Men" is a beautiful example of Turzak's work executed on handmade paper he crafted personally. Composed in triangular shapes three wise men are depicted kneeling with gifts in each of their hands, the star they followed to Bethlehem sitting over a mountain in the top left, two rams top right and two doves in the lower right. The composition and color scheme of blue and green is eye catching and appealing. The condition of this print is good but shows handling wear with some of the pencil writing smudged, sporadic spots of foxing and some minor loss to the back corners where blue used to hold this down.

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