754. John D. Graham (American, 1886-1961), "Model in the Studio", c. 1935; oil/canvas, 26" x 22", signed and dated. Graham, born in Kiev with the name Ivan Dombrovski, was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks after the Revolution. In 1920, he escaped to Poland and eventually went to New York City. He studied at the Art Students League in the 1920s, and traveled back and forth to Europe. Graham's early work reflected the influence of the European masters, especially Picasso. He condemned the work of the Social Realists in the U.S., and advanced the development of abstract expressionism (Graham organized the first exhibition of Jackson Pollock's paintings in New York in 1942). His philosophy as well as his style became more internalized, almost mystical in the later 1940s. He exhibited extensively in the late 1920s through the early 1940s, in the U.S. as well as in Europe ( his shows met with greater success abroad), and his work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. This is an excellent example of Graham's best period of work.
10,000-15,000