John D. Graham
| John D. Graham | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Ivan Gratianovitch Dombrowsky 1886 Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Died | 1961 London, England |
| Nationality | Ukrainian American |
| Education | Art Students League |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Modern art, Abstract art |
| Patron(s) | Katherine S. Dreier |
John D. Graham (1886–1961) was a Ukrainian-born American Modernist / figurative painter. He was born Ivan Gratianovitch Dombrowsky in Kiev, Ukraine.
John D. Graham 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 counterrevolutionary by the Bolsheviks after the execution 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.
John D. Graham 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. Elinor gave birth to David Graham who died in Windermere, Florida after he married Patrica Thompson. She later gave numerous works of Graham to MOMA in New York. His remaining work are in her sisters Kathryn and Jean's portfolios. 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 artist and impresario. He was also a close friend with the artist Wilhelmina Weber Furlong and her husband Thomas Furlong of the Art Students League.
Graham and Elinor Gibson were divorced in 1934. Graham met American Constance Wellman in Paris in 1934; they married in New York City in 1936 and lived in Brooklyn Heights near Adolph Gottlieb, David Smith, and Dorothy Dehner. Graham worked for Hilla Rebay, helping her found the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, which was to become the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Constance and Graham suffered financially in the Depression, and moved to Mexico, where they lived on and off. Graham and Constance Wellman divorced on July 16, 1945.
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