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GRAHAM, K. M. (Kathleen Margaret)

Born
Hamilton, Ontario, 1913
Died
Toronto, Ontario, 2008
Biography synopsis
Inspired by the colours and patterns found in nature, K.M. Graham took up painting later in life, after the death of her husband (Wallace Graham, a medical doctor) in 1962. Educated at Trinity College, University of Toronto, Graham was well-travelled and frequently visited local galleries. As a docent at the Art Gallery of Toronto, Graham had the opportunity to observe art on a regular basis, and became especially interested in the works of Piet Mondrian and the American colour field painters, whom she felt were able to distill the essence of their subject. Encouraged by her friend Jack Bush, a Canadian abstract expressionist painter, Graham mounted her first exhibition at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, in 1967. In 1971, she visited Cape Dorset, the first of many trips to the north. Struck by the colour and light of the landscape of the Arctic and Newfoundland, Graham's art evolved from close-up, highly abstract views of flowers and lily pads, to a wider focus on the topography of this region. A member of the Royal Canadian Academy, Graham participated in several notable group exhibitions, such as "The Heritage of Jack Bush" at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa (1981-82), and "Fourteen Canadians: A Critic's Choice," a series of works selected by critic Andrew Hudson to be shown at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (1977).
Media used
Drawing
Painting
Printmaking
Education
Trinity College, University of Toronto
Memberships
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
File & Archive locations
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
Artexte Information Centre, QC - Documentation Centre
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Library, FL
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
London Public Library, ON
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, QC - Media Centre
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
University of Calgary Library, AB
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
Edmonton Art Gallery, AB - Library
University of Guelph, ON - Archival & Special Collections
Museum of Modern Art, NY
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit - Arts Branch
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
Canadian Artists in Exhibition. Toronto: Roundstone Council for the Arts, 1973
K.M. Graham: A Great Adventure in Art. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1997
"AGO board elected." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 29 Jun. 1985: E12
"Centre culturel canadien, Paris: Exposition." Art International 25 (Sept-Oct. 1982): 77-78
"K. M. Graham." Arts West 9 (Jul-Aug. 1984): 20
"K.M. Graham: Profile." Trinity 18.4 (Spring 1981): 4
"Noises Off: This one's a keeper..." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 15 Oct. 1993: C5
"Portrait." Business Quarterly 49 (Winter 1984-1985): 1
"Portrait." Canadian Collector 19 (Mar-Apr. 1984): 57
American Federation of Arts. Who's Who in American Art, 1993. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1993
Arseneau, Laura. "Treasures of a Lakeview Gallery." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 14 Jul. 1999: C6
Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador. First Look: Works Selected from the Permanent Collections of Memorial University and the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's: Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1999
Association of American Artists. The Contemporary Landscape. New York: Association of American Artists, 1988
Baele, Nancy. "The Big Names in Art in Company Collection." Ottawa Citizen 19 Oct. 1989: C15
Brown, Laura. "Look Again: K.M. Graham....Smoke Lake II (October)." Art Gallery of Ontario Members' Journal 11.4 (2003)
Burnett, D. and M. Schiff. Contemporary Canadian Art. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1983
Cameron, Janice, et al. Eclectic Eve. Toronto: Ontario College of Art and Design, 1974
Carney, Lora. "The Art of K.M. Graham." Brick 39 (Summer 1990): 34-39
Carney, Lora and Patricia Grattan. K.M. Graham: Eternities of Space: Paintings of the Arctic and Newfoundland. St. John's: Memorial University Art Gallery, 1994
Carpenter, Ken. The Heritage of Jack Bush: A Tribute. Oshawa: Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 1981
Cowan, D. "K.M. Graham." Artscanada 36 (May-Jun. 1979): 62
Crandall, Richard C. Inuit Art: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2000
Crossley, M. "Six from Toronto." Arts Magazine 52.3 (Nov. 1977): 15
Dault, Gary Michael. "K.M. Graham at the Moore Gallery." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 8 Mar. 2003: R11
Dellamora, Richard. "K.M. Graham's Recent Paintings: Landscape, Line and Colour." Arts Magazine 11.47 (Feb-Mar. 1980): 12-16
Edmonton Art Gallery. Certain Traditions: Recent British and Canadian Art. Edmonton: Edmonton Art Gallery, 1978
Edmonton Art Gallery. Changing Visions: The Canadian Landscape. Edmonton and Toronto: Edmonton Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ontario, 1976
Heinrich, T. A. "K. M. Graham." Artscanada 32 (Jun. 1975): 86-87
Heinrich, T. A. "K. M. Graham." Artscanada 33 (Dec. 1976 - Jan. 1977): 64-65
Hudson, A. "Notes on Eight Toronto Painters." Art International 19.8 (Oct. 1975): 23-25
Hudson, Andrew. Fourteen Canadians: A Critic's Choice: Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1977
Jenkner, Ingrid. K.M. Graham: Paintings and Drawings, 1971-1984. Guelph: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 1984
Kritzwiser, Kay. "Artist's curved lines link landscapes." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 21 Oct. 1989: C10
Kritzwiser, Kay. "Love among the barrens: K.M. Graham's paintings sing a colourful song of the north." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 19 Jun. 1984: M7
Lalonde, Christine. "Artists in the Arctic." Inuit Art Quarterly 18.3 (Fall 2003): 40-42
Lepage, Jocelyne. "Art inuit et Kate Graham." La Presse (Montreal) 1 Dec. 1984: F1
Lipman, Marci and Louise. Horizons: Contemporary Canadian Landscapes. Toronto: Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1985
Livingstone, David. "Life as lived in a 1920s Matisse." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 22 Jan. 1993: C5
Marshall, W. Neil. "Style, Toronto and Younger Art." Studio International 188.968 (Jul-Aug. 1974): 38-40
Mays, John Bentley. "Mixed bag of paintings the sum of one man's passion for art." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 22 Apr. 1995: C20
McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880-1979 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery. Making Marks: An Exhibition of Current Canadian Drawing. Regina: University of Regina Press, 1977
Oille, Jennifer. "At the Galleries: K.M. Graham, Edward Tabachnik, Chairs, OCA Open House." Only Paper Today 2.7,8,9 (Summer 1975)
Pendergast, Sara and Tom, eds. Contemporary Artists, A-K. Detroit: St. James Press, 2002
Reid, Dennis. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1973
Ross, Val. "Art Under the Hammer." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 30 Nov. 1996: C1
Routledge, Marie and Marion E. Jackson. Pudlo: Thirty Years of Drawing. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1990
Rozon, R. "K.M. Graham: The Unclassifiable." Vie des arts 30.120 (Sept. 1985): 54-55
Shanahan, Noreen. "Celebrated painter of landscapes took up her brush and palette at 50." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 16 Sept. 2008: S8
Shell Canada Ltd. Shell Canada Collection: A Selection of Canadian Art Assembled by the Employees of Shell Canada Ltd. Calgary: Shell Canada Ltd, 1977
Simpson, Kieran, ed. Canadian Who's Who, 1993. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993
Sisler, Rebecca. Passionate Spirits: A History of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880-1980. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1980
Time Canada Ltd. The Canadian Canvas: A Traveling Exhibition of 85 Recent Paintings. Toronto?: Time Canada Ltd, 1974
Tippett, Maria. By a Lady. Toronto: Viking, 1992
Toronto Dominion Bank. The Toronto Dominion Bank Collection of Canadian Art. Toronto: Toronto Dominion Bank, 1977
Vane, Harriet. "K.M. Graham's Other Line." Chimo! (Nov. 1979): 23-26
Webster, Judith, ed. Voices of Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Culture. Burlington, Vermont: Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, 1977
Wilkin, Karen. Canada x Ten : David Bolduc, D. T. Chester, Robert Christie, Ann Clarke Darrah, Harold Feist, K. M. Graham, Paul Hutner, Graham Peacock, Milly Ristvedt, Daniel Solomon : An Exhibition. Edmonton: Edmonton Art Gallery, 1973
Wilkin, Karen. Recent Paintings by David Bolduc, Paul Fournier, K.M. Graham. London: Canadian High Commission, 1982
Wilkin, Karen, ed. Jack Bush. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1984
Wolff, Hennie. Index of Ontario Artists. Toronto: Visual Arts of Ontario, Ontario Association of Art Galleries, 1978
Zemans, J., and D. Burnett. "Klonaridis, Inc., Toronto: Exhibit: K. M. Graham." Artscanada 38 (Jul-Aug. 1981): 40-41

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