Frederick John Graham (1 September 1928 – 9 May 2025) was a New Zealand artist and educator recognised as a pioneer in the contemporary Māori art movement. In 2018, Graham was the recipient of an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, limited to 20 living art-makers. In December 2024, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori art.
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Biography
Graham was born on 1 September 1928 in Arapuni in South Waikato. He was affiliated with the Māori iwi Ngāti Korokī Kahukura and Tainui. He trained as a teacher at Dunedin Teacher's Training College and Ardmore Teachers' Training College and specialised in art in his third year. He taught art at schools and in the 1950s he worked as an arts advisor to Māori primary schools in Rotorua and Te Tai Tokerau. One of his students was Nigel Brown, who went on to become a well known New Zealand artist. Graham was also a keen rugby player when he was younger and was briefly in the Māori All Blacks rugby team (he played three games with them).
Graham taught art at Palmerston North Teachers' Training College from 1957 until 1962. He had a studio in Waiuku where he lived with his wife Norma. Graham died on 9 May 2025, at the age of 96.
His son Brett Graham is also a sculptor, known for works such as Manu Tāwhiowhio: Bird Satellite (1996).