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Catalog Data

Creator:
Graham, John D. (John Dabrowsky), ca. 1887-1961  Search this
Subject:
Picasso, Pablo  Search this
Ultra Violet  Search this
Burliuk, David  Search this
Davis, Stuart  Search this
Gilot, Francoise  Search this
Gorchov, Ron  Search this
Gorky, Arshile  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Kitaj, R. B.  Search this
Mayer, Jack  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
11.2 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series: Series 1: Biographical Materials and Artifacts, 1799, 1822, 1891-1961 (Boxes 1, 11-12, 17; 0.9 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1932-1988 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet) Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1931-1962 (Boxes 1-3; 1.4 linear feet) Series 4: Writings, 1839, circa 1923-1986 (Boxes 3-5, OV 13; 2.9 linear feet) Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1885-1961 (Boxes 6-9, OV 14; 3.7 linear feet) Series 6: Photographs, circa 1860-1985 (Box 9-10, 17, OV 15; 0.9 linear feet) Series 7: Artwork, circa 1852-1961 (Box 10, OV 16; 1 linear foot)
Access Note / Rights:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
The papers of painter, collector, and writer John Graham measure 11.2 linear feet and date from 1799 to 1988, with the bulk of materials dating from 1890 to 1961. Papers document the life of John Graham, born Ivan Dombrowsky, through personal documents related to military service and family history, passports, artifacts, correspondence, appointment books, financial records, inventories, wills, extensive writings and notes, books, clippings, exhibition catalogs, photographs of Graham and his family and friends, and artwork created and collected by Graham.
Citation:
John D. Graham papers, 1799-1988, bulk 1890-1961. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
The papers of John Graham in the Archives of American Art were digitized in 2008. The bulk of Graham's papers have been scanned and total 13475 images.
Materials that generally have not been scanned include photographs of works of art (except installation views), card files of handwritten essays for which there are typed versions, bank statements, and stocks and tax files.
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel 5049 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Funding:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Use Note:
Reel 5049: Museum of Modern Art, NY: John Graham Notebooks: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the Museum of Modern Art. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel 5049) including six volumes of notebooks and several loose sketches. Loaned materials were returned to MoMA and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Biography Note:
The Russian émigré painter and writer John Graham, born Ivan Dombrowsky, was born in Kiev in 1886, 1887, or 1888. All three conflicting dates are found on various legal papers, licences, and passports. His parents were of minor nobility but with little means. 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 counterrevolutionary 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, and finally 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. The name Graham may have been a transliteration of his father's name, Gratian. Graham is often described as a quixotic figure who cultivated a larger-than-life persona in the artistic circles of New York in the first half of the twentieth century through his authoritative philosophical and aesthetic arguments on the one hand, and his often fabulous tales of his early life on the other, including a story he wrote of his origins in which he was dropped as an infant onto a rock in the Caspian Sea by an enormous eagle.
Language Note:
Collection is in English. Some records are in Russian, Polish, and French.
Provenance:
The papers of John Graham were given to the Archives of American Art in five separate accessions between 1985 and 1988. The bulk of papers were donated by Graham's son, John David Graham, in 1985, with later additions from Patricia Graham, the widow of John David Graham, in 1986, 1987, and 1988, via the Andre Emmerich Gallery, Inc. The Department of Prints and Drawings of the Museum of Modern Art donated more papers and loaned additional materials for microfilming in 1986.
Digitization Note:
The papers of John Graham in the Archives of American Art were digitized in 2008. The bulk of Graham's papers have been scanned and total 13,432 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Artists as authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Antiques  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7215
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209352
AAA_collcode_grahjohn
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209352