Graham Percy
Graham Percy (7 June 1938 – 4 January 2008)[1] was a New Zealand-born artist, designer and illustrator.[2] His work was the subject of The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy, a major posthumous exhibition of his work which was shown at galleries throughout New Zealand including City Gallery Wellington,[3] Gus Fisher Gallery Auckland,[4] Sarjeant Gallery Whanganui,[5] the Rotorua Museum[6] and the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill.[2]
Life[]
Graham Percy was an artist, designer and illustrator.[2] He was born in Stratford, New Zealand and studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. After graduating in the early 1960s, Percy worked as an illustrator for the New Zealand School Journal and collaborated with other Auckland-based writers and artists. He designed the typography for a number of Colin McCahon's exhibition invitations and set up one of New Zealand's first design consultancies with Hamish Keith.[3] During this period he designed covers for The End of the Golden Weather and The Pohutukawa Tree by Bruce Mason.[7] In 1964, Percy received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in London. From late 1964 until the end of his life, he lived and worked in London as an illustrator and artist.[3] He was the production designer on the 1973 animated film Hugo the Hippo.[8] While working on the film he met his second wife, the photographer Mari Mahr.[1]
For much of his career, Percy specialised in children's books, illustrating more than 100 works for children.[2] In later years, he produced a body of his own independent art for adults.[5] In 1994, Chronicle Books (San Francisco) published a book of his drawings for adults, Arthouse. In 2007, a further series of his drawings for adults, 'Imagined Histories' was published, supported by the Scottish Arts Council.[9][7] Graham Percy died on 4 January 2008.[1]
Notable works published during his lifetime[]
Books illustrated by Percy for children include the following:
- Illustrations for La Belle au bois dormant[10] (1977) written by Charles Perrault
- Illustrations for When Dad cuts down the chestnut tree[11] (1988) by Pam Ayres
- Illustrations for the Fantastic Flying Journey[12] (1987) and Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure[13] (1989) by the noted author and naturalist Gerald Durrell
- Illustrations for The Woodland Gospels According to Captain Beaky and His Band,[14] by Jeremy Lloyd, Faber and Faber (1990)
- Illustrations for A cup of starshine (1991)[15] selected by Jill Bennett
- Illustrations and text for The Cock, the mouse, and the little red hen[16] (1992)
- Illustrations and text for Lullabies: Poems and Rhymes to Dream on,[17] Running Press (1995) – part of the Library of Congress Miniature Book Collection[18]
- Design and illustration for the series Graham Percy's Animal Tails,[19] Random House (1995)
- Illustrations for the illustrated Mother Goose,[20] Running Press (1997)
- Illustrations for the Wind in the Willows,[21] HarperCollins (1997)
- Illustrations for The mailbox mice mystery[22] (1999) by Juli Mahr
- Illustrations for Mama tiger, Baba Tiger[23] (2001) by Juli Mahr
Animated film for children:
- Production designer[24] of the full-length animated film Hugo the Hippo in Hungary (1970–1972)
Books for adults:
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/%27Crime_and_the_Law%27_by_Bernard_Brown%2C_1969_%2818137928705%29.jpg/220px-%27Crime_and_the_Law%27_by_Bernard_Brown%2C_1969_%2818137928705%29.jpg)
- Illustrations for Crime and the law[25] (1969) by Bernard Brown
- Concept and illustrations for Arthouse[26] (1996), published by Chronicle Books, reviewed in the New York Times,[27] artwork exhibited at Storyopolis gallery[28] in Los Angeles.
- Concept and illustrations for Imagined Histories[29] (2007), published by Crear, space to create, supported by the Scottish Arts Council.[30]
Posthumous exhibition and book[]
The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy was a major posthumous exhibition of Percy's work. It was developed in partnership between City Gallery Wellington and Gus Fisher Gallery, The University of Auckland; it was curated by Gregory O'Brien, leading New Zealand poet, art critic and curator and winner of the 2012 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement.[3][31]
A Micronaut in the Wide World: The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy is an account of Graham Percy's life and art by O'Brien.[32][33] It was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2012[34] and was highly commended in the Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book 2012.[35] A copy of the book was donated by the Chartwell Trust to every high school in New Zealand.[36]
As of October 2013, the itinerary of the exhibition was as follows:
- 4 February – 25 April 2011: City Gallery Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand[3]
- 6 May 2011 – 25 June 2011: Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand[4]
- 22 July – 28 August 2011: Millennium Art Gallery, Blenheim, New Zealand[37]
- 10 September – 13 November 2011: Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand[38]
- 19 November 2011 – 29 January 2012: Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, New Zealand[5]
- 17 February – 22 March 2012: Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, New Zealand[39]
- 5 May – 16 July 2012: Rotorua Museum, Rotorua, New Zealand[6]
- 28 July – 23 September 2012: Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings, New Zealand[7]
- 23 November 2012 – 3 February 2013: Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill, New Zealand[2]
- 17 April – 9 June 2013: Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore, New Zealand[40]
- 15 June – 10 August 2013: Hocken Collections (Uare Taoka o Hākena), Dunedin, New Zealand[41]
- 17 August – 13 October 2013: The Forrester Gallery, Oamaru[42][43]
- 19 October 2013 – 26 January 2014: Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson, New Zealand[44]
- 24 February – 20 April 2014: Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei[45]
- 26 April – 15 June 2014: Puke Ariki, New Plymouth[45]
- 21 June – 10 August 2014: Aratoi, Masterton[45]
- 16 August – 23 November 2014: Waikato Museum, Hamilton[45]
External links[]
- Obituary in The Independent
- Graham Percy's website
- Film showing the House of Graham Percy and Mari Mahr on YouTube
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Graham Percy: Children's illustrator who took a cerebral approach to". 10 January 2008.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Thousands of years and millions of miles". NZ Herald. 19 February 2011 – via New Zealand Herald.
- ^ http://crear.co.uk/ http://crear.co.uk/
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ Durrell, Gerald (1 June 1989). The Fantastic Flying Journey. Simon & Schuster. ASIN 0671649825.
- ^ Durrell, Gerald (27 September 1990). The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure. Conran. ASIN 1850292892.
- ^ Lloyd, Jeremy (30 April 1990). Woodland Gospels. Faber and Faber. ASIN 0571142850.
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ Lullabies: Poems and Rhymes to Dream on. Running Press Miniature Editions. 3 January 1998. ASIN 1561386251.
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ Percy, Graham (1 January 1995). The Tiger's Tale/Book With Tail. Random House Children's Books. ASIN 067986220X.
- ^ Mother Goose The Children's Classic Edition. 1 January 1998. ASIN 1858338220.
- ^ Grahame, Kenneth (17 April 1997). The Wind in the Willows. Thorsons. ASIN 185793914X.
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ "Graham Percy".
- ^ "Library of Congress Online Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired".
- ^ Percy, Graham (23 June 1994). Arthouse. Chronicle Books. ASIN 0811804976.
- ^ Hartley, Christine Schwartz (19 February 1995). "IN SHORT: NONFICTION; Rooms of Their Own" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Storyopolis".
- ^ Percy, Graham (1 May 2007). Graham Percy - Imagined Histories. Crear, Space to Create. ASIN 0955583004.
- ^ "Crear Space to Create :: Home".
- ^ "2012 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement: Winners Announced".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ O'Brien, Gregory (2011). A micronaut in the wide world : the imaginative life and times of Graham Percy / Gregory O'Brien. - Version details. ISBN 9781869404703.
- ^ "New Zealand Post Book Awards 2012 Finalists Announced".
- ^ "2012 Best Illustrated A Micronaut". 28 May 2012.
- ^ art, Chartwell Collection of contemporary. "Chartwell Books - Chartwell Collection of contemporary art".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "High Quality Exhibitions - Tauranga Art Gallery Toi Tauranga".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "A Micronaut in the Wide World: The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy, Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library, University of Otago, New Zealand". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "web-file.info".
- ^ "The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy - Facebook".
- ^ "Redirect".
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "A Micronaut in the Wide World".
- British illustrators
- New Zealand artists
- New Zealand illustrators
- New Zealand children's book illustrators
- Alumni of the Royal College of Art
- Elam Art School alumni
- 1938 births
- 2008 deaths