Cath Gartref

Miss Marion Louisa (Loulie) Graham was born in Yankalilla, South Australia, on 11 November 1897, moving to England with her mother and siblings in 1911. Loulie Graham greatly enjoyed and supported the arts, and was one of the financial contributors to H.S. (Jim) Ede's maintenance fund for David Jones. Following a visit to see Jones in the spring of 1944, and seeing how impoverished he was, Ede set up the fund to support the artist who he was convinced was ‘one of the really important people in our country’ (see T. Dilworth, David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poet, London, 2017, p. 218). Loulie Graham and her sister Anne Benthall both contributed, alongside Helen Sutherland, Kenneth Clark and Ede himself.

Ede's friendship with Loulie continued, and in 1955 he gifted an Alfred Wallis painting to her on the occasion of her birthday (please see lot 102 in the Modern British Art Day Sale, 2 March 2021).