Telesforas Valius was born in Riga, Latvia on July 10, 1914. Valius graduated from the graphic arts studio of the Kaunas Art School in 1937 and after graduating was represented in all the exhibitions held by the Society of Lithuanian Artists. From 1942 to 1944 he acted as head of the graphic arts department at the Vilnius Art Academy, and from 1946 to 1949 he was employed at the Institute of Applied Arts in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
In 1949 Valius moved to Canada and worked as a commercial designer in Drummondville, Montreal and Toronto. After settling in Toronto, Valius was elected a member of the Canadian Society of Graphic Arts in 1951, and the following year became one of the founders and first Chairman of the Colour and Form Society. In 1953 Valius was elected an associate member of the Society of Canadian Painters, Etchers and Engravers.
During this period, Valius often travelled to Paris to paint, while also beginning to teach in 1960 as a print-making instructor at Toronto’s Central Technical School. Valius later taught at the Western Technical Commercial School, Winston Churchill Collegiate, and the Univeristy of Toronto’s Faculty of Education.
