For Jack 20 of 90

About For Jack 20 of 90

This charming colourful modernist composition by Kathleen Margaret Graham was inspired by nature. A band of sunlit yellow borders a collection of organic shapes, sketched in black ink and filled with colour—red, green, pink, blue and yellow float across the page. K.M. Graham didn’t begin painting until she was 49 years old following the death of her husband. Encouraged to paint by friend and mentor Jack Bush, she quickly rose in stature as a superb artist whose “poetic interpretations of the Canadian landscape” are among “the most beautiful and evocative works of art ever produced in this country.” (Paul Fournier) This ink etching is number 20 of 90, dedicated to Jack Bush.

"I want my art to be an affirmation of life and to edify the spirit of the viewer."

Kathleen Margaret Graham (1913-2008)

Born in Hamilton in 1913, she received a B.A. in home economics from Trinity College at the University of Toronto. Graham was well-travelled and frequently visited local galleries where her love of art grew. As a docent at the Art Gallery of Toronto, she met artists, observed their work and became especially interested in the art of Piet Mondrian and the American colour field painters. She was never formally trained as an artist. Graham’s first exhibition was held at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, in 1967. She became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1973 and 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).

Graham's work is held in private, corporate and public collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the McMichael Canadian Collection.