Kathleen Margaret Graham (1913–2008) was a Canadian

abstract impressionist Abstract Impressionism is an art movement that originated in New York City, in the 1940s.Eduoard Malingue Gallery. ''Impressionism to Modern Art.'' Hong Kong: Eduard Malingue Gallery, 2011. 10. It involves the painting of a subject such as real-li ...

artist known for depicting colors and patterns she found in nature. She is known for becoming a painter at the age of 50, after her husband, Dr. Wallace Graham, died in 1962.

Early life and education

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

Art career

Graham was a museum docent at the Art Gallery of Toronto, where she became familiar with works by

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

and American color field painters. During travels with her husband, she visited art galleries and museums, developing her love of art. Encouraged by Jack Bush to paint, Graham had her first solo art exhibition in Toronto in 1967, at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery. In 1971, after visiting Cape Dorset in the

Canadian Arctic Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and N ...

, she shifted her focus to depicting the region's landscape. In 1976, she became an artist in residence in Cape Dorset, going on to introduce acrylic paints to Inuit artists. One critic described her paintings as "playful, expansive, and unpretentious".

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. 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. She showed her work across North America and Europe. 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. Having always been inspired by nature, Graham continued canoeing, swimming, writing, and painting until she was 92. Graham died on August 26, 2008, in Toronto, at the age of 94 and suffering from

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, K.M. 1913 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian women artists Artists from Hamilton, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Trinity College (Canada) alumni Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Canadian women painters 20th-century women painters