Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > GRAHAM, K. M. (Kathleen Margaret)
Artist Database
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