{{Short description|English landscape and topographical artist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL | dateformat = dmy }} '''Rigby Graham''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (2 February 1931 – 7 May 2015) was an [[English people|English]] landscape and topographical artist who worked within the English [[Romanticism]] tradition but in his choice of colours owed a debt to German [[Expressionism]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Rigby Graham, artist - obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11615976/Rigby-Graham-artist-obituary.html|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=19 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="FP">{{cite news|title=First Person: A salute to Rigby Graham, who made an extraordinary contribution to British art|url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Person-salute-Rigby-Graham-extraordinary/story-28142573-detail/story.html|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=Leicester Mercury|date=7 November 2015}}</ref> He also worked in further and higher education.
==Life and career== Graham was born in Manchester<ref name="BBC-34798025">{{cite news |title=Rigby Graham celebration: 'No compromise' artist remembered |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-34798025 |access-date=5 February 2024 |work=BBC News |date=14 November 2015}}</ref> and trained as a [[mural]] painter at the [[Leicester College of Art]]. After teaching at a number of local schools, Graham returned to lecture at the College of Art, firstly in [[graphic design]] and printing, then in [[education]] and latterly in [[bookbinding]]. Graham illustrated more than 250 books and pamphlets and wrote extensively on [[art]] and artists. Graham retired from teaching in 1983.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thompson|first1=Alan|title=Renowned Leicester artist Rigby Graham dies, aged 84|url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Renowned-Leicester-artist-Rigby-Graham-dies-aged/story-26465006-detail/story.html|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=Leicester Mercury|date=10 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Masters|first1=Christopher|title=Rigby Graham obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jun/01/rigby-graham|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=The Guardian|date=1 June 2015}}</ref>
He was instrumental in the establishment of Leicester Polytechnic (now [[De Montfort University]]) and worked there as a lecturer and as a course administrator.<ref name="BBC-68181618">{{cite news |title=Rigby Graham: Artist's rare work goes on display at Leicester museum |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-68181618 |access-date=5 February 2024 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC News |date=5 February 2024}}</ref>
He was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[2010 Birthday Honours]], "For services to the Arts".<ref>{{London Gazette |date=12 June 2010 |issue=59446 |supp=1 |page=17}}</ref>
He died on 7 May 2015.<ref name="BBC-34798025" />
Many of Graham's murals are lost through overpainting or building demolition.<ref name="BBC-68181618" /> His 1959 work in oil, 'Newborn', was acquired in 2021 by [[Leicester City Council]] and is now in the collection of [[Leicester Museum & Art Gallery]],<ref name="BBC-68181618" /> which also holds several of his other works.<ref>{{cite web |title=Graham, Rigby, 1931–2015 |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/graham-rigby-19312015 |website=Art UK |access-date=5 February 2024 }}</ref>
His archives are at [[Manchester Metropolitan University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rigby Graham Archive - Archives Hub |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/ca6db023-b754-3a34-a3d8-fbe78bcf40e5 |website=JISC |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref>
==Writings and works== * ''Graham's Leicestershire'', 1980<ref>{{cite web |title=Rigby Graham Graham's Leicestershire |url=https://www.goldmarkart.com/products/rigby-graham-grahams-leicestershire-bk-rg-leics |website=Goldmark |access-date=5 February 2024 }}</ref> *''Holt Mill Papers'' Peter and Donna Thomas, Santa Cruz, 1994 *''Kippers and Sawdust'' The Old Style Press, Landogo, 1992 B00157WQ7M *''Romantic Book Illustration in England 1943-55'' Private Libraries Assn 1965 B0000CH197 *''John Minton 1917-57, A Selective Retrospective'' Oriel 31, 1993 {{ISBN|9781870797139}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Further reading === * {{cite book |last1=Yorke |first1=Malcolm |title=Against the Grain: The Life and Art of Rigby Graham |date=2015 |publisher=Goldmark |isbn=978-1909167193}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} *[http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/britain-is-country-and-leicester-city.html A digital biography of Rigby Graham] *[http://www.le.ac.uk/ebulletin-archive/ebulletin/news/2000-2009/2008/06/npfolder.2008-07-07.7204208003/nparticle.2008-07-10.2689500119/index.html Doctor of Letters Degree Award -Oration] *[http://www.goldmarkart.com/all-art/all-artists/rigby-graham.html Examples of Rigby Graham paintings and art]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Rigby}} [[Category:1931 births]] [[Category:2015 deaths]] [[Category:Academics of De Montfort University]] [[Category:Alumni of De Montfort University]] [[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:English artists]]
{{UK-artist-stub}}