** JOHN GRAHAM ** SURREALIST GOUACHE STUDY OF FISH

This is a remarkably modernist gouache study signed "Graham" and dated XXXI - presumably for 1931. John D Graham was born Ivan Gratianovitch Dombrowsky in Kiev, Ukraine. He attended law school and served in the Circassian Regiment of the Russian army, earned the Saint George's Cross during World War I, and was imprisoned as a counter-revolutionary by the Bolsheviks after the assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his family in 1918. He fled for a time to his mother's native Poland. In 1920, he emigrated with his second wife Vera and their son Nicholas to the United States. He began calling himself John in the US, and had his name officially changed to John Graham upon becoming a United States citizen in 1927.

He trained at the Art Students League of New York, where he briefly assisted Ashcan School painter John F. Sloan. In 1925 he relocated to Baltimore with his third wife artist Elinor Gibson. While in Baltimore, Graham joined a group called The Modernists and served as their secretary in addition to exhibiting in their gallery. In addition to painting, Graham established himself as an art connoisseur and collector. He is associated with the New York School as an arist and impressario. In 1942 he curated a group show at the McMillan Gallery that exhibited work by Jackson Pollock (it was his first New York exhibition), Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner and Stuart Davis, alongside work by Pablo Picasso Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Pierre Bonnard and Amedeo Modigliani.

John D. Graham along with Stuart Davis and Hans Hofmann is considered as a mentor figure for the Abstract expressionist generation of American painters and sculptors. In particular Graham was a notable influence on Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, David Smith, Dorothy Dehner, and Mark Rothko. Graham claimed to have befriended Pablo Picasso and many other important European modernists in Paris and in Russia. He often entertained and lectured the younger Americans in New York City about modernist ideas, often being the bearer of radical new insights into art and creativity. He was the author of System and Dialectics of Art, (1937), an enormously influential text during the 1940s, on art, modernism and the avant-garde.

I bought this painting recently on ebay with the intention of researching it further, but have not really got very far. I think it probably needs to go to Sotheby's in New York. The only provenance I have is that it came from the collection of "J Whitenburg". Does anyone know anything about him? I can't find anything on google about him. It is only fair to point out that I am no expert and although I have therefore attributed this to John D Graham, this is my "best guess" on the evidence and not a guarantee. It is a common name and there is therefore a chance that it might be by another artist entirely. It is a decent size - the drawing itself measuring 21 x 21cm and is offered unframed. One interesting thing when I took it apart is a ghostly painting on the reverse of the backing paper of a girl's head. This is very reminiscent of Graham's portraits - which provides interesting circumstantial evidence that it is by him. A wonderfully "muscular abstract impressionist study, offered without reserve, and postage to the US is FREE.

 Terms and conditions - please read. I am an art enthusiast but it is not my profession. For reasons of clarity therefore, I follow standard auction descriptions as used by auction houses all over the world as follows:

"The artist name" In my opinion a work by the artist.

"Attributed to..." In my opinion probably a work by the artist.

"Studio of..." In my opinion, a work executed in the artists studio, under his supervision.

"Circle of..." In my opinion a work of the period of the artist and showing his influence.

"Follower of..." In my opinion a work executed in the artists style but not necessarily a pupil.

"Manner of..." In my opinion a work executed in the artist's style but of a later date.

"After..." In my opinion a copy of a work by the artist from a later date.

"Signed" In my opinion the work has been signed / dated / inscribed by the artist.

"Bears Signature / date /inscription" In my opinion the signature / date / inscription is by a hand other than the artist.