K.M. 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]

Kathleen Margaret Graham
Born	1913 (1913) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died	(2008-08-26)August 26, 2008 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	Trinity College, Toronto
Style	Abstract impressionism
Spouse	Dr. Wallace Graham

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, University of Toronto.

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]