Grahame King
| Grahame King | |
|---|---|
Grahame King
|
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| Born |
Grahame Edwin King 23 February 1915 Melbourne, Australia |
| Died | 11 October 2008 (aged 93) Melbourne, Australia |
| Nationality |
 Australian
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| Education | National Gallery School, Victoria (1934–39); Elton Fox Academy; George Bell School; Central School of Art, London (1947–49). |
| Known for | Printmaker, painter |
| Awards | Member of the Order of Australia 1991 for services to education. |
Grahame King (23 February 1915 – 11 October 2008) was a master Australian printmaker, who has been called the “patron saint of contemporary Australian printmaking”. He was responsible for the revival of print making in Australia in the 1960s. He helped set up the Print Council of Australia, of which he was the first Honorary Secretary and was later President. He taught printmaking at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) from 1966 to 1988. In 1991, he was awarded an Order of Australia for his services to education. As well as teaching, King produced his own art work, concentrating on lithographs and monotypes. He was also a skilled photographer and used his photography both in his teaching and in his practice.
Grahame Edwin King was born in Melbourne on 23 February 1915. He left school when he was about fifteen and went to work. In 1934, he started studying commercial art at night at the Working Men’s College of Melbourne (which became Melbourne Technical College and later the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)). Later he went to the Elton Fox Academy, which taught traditional painting. In the late 1930s, King helped pioneer the new art of which transformed colour advertising in the print industry. He was able to make use of this expertise for the rest of his career. In 1939, the year of the highly influential exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art in Melbourne sponsored by the Melbourne Herald, King started attending night classes at the art school of the National Gallery of Victoria, which he continued for three years.
King was in the army from 1942 until 1946. He was based in Melbourne, so he was also able to attend Saturday afternoon art classes with George Bell. Bell had recently returned from overseas and had brought back news of European Modernism and enthusiasm for artists such as Modigliani, Derain, Braque, Matisse and Picasso. King later said that Bell “opened our eyes to modern art and it was a tremendous experience”. King’s painting at this time shows the influence of George Bell's style of early modernism. While he was in the army, King met the artist John Brack, who remained a friend until the latter’s death in 1999. In 1945, King joined the Victorian Artists Society and soon became its secretary and exhibitions manager.
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