Graham Coughtry (1931-1999) was an accomplished Canadian artist known for his lush paintings of abstracted figures in rich colors with thick impasto.

Coughtry debuted in 1955 alongside Michael Snow, his friend and peer from OCAD, in a two-man show at the Hart House in Toronto. Snow and Coughtry would buy art supplies from Avrom Isaacs and eventually encouraged Isaacs to open his own gallery.

Isaacs' legendary career as an art dealer began with his first exhibition featuring works by post-war Canadian artists, including Coughtry, Michael Snow, and William Ronald. These artists (as well as Joyce Wieland amongst others) would become known as members of the prestigious "Isaacs Group".

In the late 50s and early 60s, Coughtry was influenced by his trips to Europe and seeing the heavily-abstracted figures created by Francis Bacon, Willem de Kooning and Alberto Giacometti.

During this period, Coughtry solidified his signature aesthetic and subject matter, exemplified in his most famous body of paintings titled "Two Figures Series". His paintings rich and sensuous are thickly layered showing two figures interwoven with each other. The abstract forms of the figures overlap, converge, and separate in a dreamy haze of color and movement.

This study drawing showcases Coughtry's characteristic composition consisting of two intertwined abstract figures.