The papers of DeLoss McGraw, artist, children's book illustrator, fine arts lecturer, and educator, document McGraw's artistic career from the mid-1980s to 2003, especially his use of literary texts in his compositions and his collaborations with poets, most notably W.D. Snodgrass. The collection contains correspondence with literary figures, friends and members of the fine arts community; brochures, catalogs and reviews for McGraw's solo and group exhibitions; and documentation of his public art commissions, including the Carlsbad City Library Sculpture Project. Also included are numerous artworks by McGraw, particularly monoprints for edition books and projects such as his series "In Response to Poems by Snodgrass," printed at Magnolia Press. The collection includes materials related to the production of the trade books W.D.'S MIDNIGHT CARNIVAL (1988) and THE DEATH OF COCK ROBIN (1989) and for the illustrated children's book ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (2001), which earned him the Illustrator's Society Book of the Year Award for 2002.
DeLoss McGraw Papers, 1970 - 2013 (MSS 631)
Extent: 12 Linear feet (9 archives boxes, 1 card file box, 69 oversize folders and 2 art bin items)
DeLoss McGraw was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, in 1945. He attended East Central State College, Oklahoma; the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles; and the Art Institute of San Miguel del Allende, Mexico. McGraw obtained his bachelor of arts from California State University, Long Beach in 1969 and his master of fine arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan in 1971.
Before pursuing a full-time career as an artist, McGraw taught fine art at Northern Kentucky University from 1972-1975 and at the University of San Diego from 1978-1983. He also served as a guest artist at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1982, at the Tamarind Institute, University of New Mexico in 1985, and at the Oklahoma Arts Institute.
Much of McGraw's inspiration comes from poetry and literature, as well as the disciplines of theater and music. McGraw has been a pioneer in art and poetry collaborative works since the 1980s. Besides his creative responses to writings by Emily Dickinson, Mary Shelley, Franz Kafka, W.B. Yeats, William Blake, and others, McGraw also incorporates the poet's text in the compositions of his paintings, especially in the collaborative works with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.D. Snodgrass, with whom he has worked since 1976. He has worked with a number of contemporary poets, including Robert Phillips, Robert Hass, Daniel Halpern, William Heyen, Thom Ward, Janet Lewis, and Barton Thurber, among others.
The papers of DeLoss McGraw contain artworks and book development materials for edition, trade and artist's books by McGraw, often collaborations with contemporary poets, including W.D. Snodgrass, William Heyen, Susan M. Wyler, Thom Ward, and Al Poulin, Jr. Also included are proofs of lithographs and monoprints, often in series, printed at the Tamarind Institute, Magnolia Press, Brighton Press, and the Ernest de Soto Workshop. The correspondence documents McGraw's collaborations with writers and poets, as well as business with gallery owners and the art community. The files also document McGraw's numerous exhibitions and public art projects. A small addition to the collection was processed in 2015, and Series 8 and 9 were added to the original finding aid.
Arranged in ten series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS/ABOUT MCGRAW, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) EDITION BOOKS AND MONOPRINTS, 4) TRADE BOOKS, 5) CHILDREN'S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS, 6) WORKS ON COMMISSION AND PUBLIC ART, 7) EXHIBITION MATERIALS, 8) PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS, 9) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 10) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
Container List
- Special Collections & Archives
- UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla CA 92093
- ©2016 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
- Contact Us
