K.M. Graham

Kathleen Margaret Graham
Born1913 (1913)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died(2008-08-26)August 26, 2008
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materTrinity College, Toronto
StyleAbstract impressionism
SpouseDr. Wallace Graham

Kathleen Margaret Graham RCA (1913–2008) was a Canadian abstract impressionist artist known for depicting colors and patterns she found in nature.[1] She is known for becoming a painter at the age of 50, after her husband, Dr. Wallace Graham, died in 1962.[2]

Early life and education

Graham was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1913.[1] She graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto with a degree in home economics in 1936.[2] She never received a formal education or training in art.[2]

Art career

Graham was a museum docent at the Art Gallery of Toronto, where she became familiar with works by Piet Mondrian and American color field painters.[1] During travels with her husband, she visited art galleries and museums, developing her love of art.[2]

Encouraged by Jack Bush to paint, Graham had her first solo art exhibition in Toronto in 1967, at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery.[3][2] In 1971, after visiting Cape Dorset in the Canadian Arctic, she shifted her focus to depicting the region's landscape.[1] In 1976, she became an artist in residence in Cape Dorset, going on to introduce acrylic paints to Inuit artists.[2] One critic described her paintings as "playful, expansive, and unpretentious".[4]

Recognition

Graham's paintings are part of the permanent collections at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the British Museum.[2] Graham's bequest of books has been turned into an art reference browsing collection within the John W. Graham library at Trinity College.

Graham was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and exhibited alongside her peers.[1] She showed her work across North America and Europe.[2] In 1998, Graham was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College.

Personal life

After her marriage to Dr. Wallace Graham, in 1938, Graham spent the next several years raising their two children.[2] Having always been inspired by nature, Graham continued canoeing, swimming, writing, and painting until she was 92.[2] Graham died on August 26, 2008, in Toronto, at the age of 94 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : GRAHAM, K. M. (Kathleen Margaret)". cwahi.concordia.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shanahan, Noreen (September 16, 2008). "Celebrated painter of landscapes took up her brush and palette at 50". Globe and Mail. ProQuest 382689510.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Ken (1981). The Heritage of Jack Bush. Oshawa: Robert McLaughlin Gallery. p. 41. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  4. ^ Murray, Joan (1999). Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: Dundurn. p. 128. OCLC 260193722. Retrieved 2021-10-31.