John Graham. John D. Graham was a Ukrainian-born American modernist and figurative painter, art collector, and a mentor of modernist artists in New York City.
Born Ivan Gratianovitch Dombrowsky in Kyiv, he immigrated to New York in 1920. He studied painting for the first time in his 30s, becoming deeply interested in modernism.
In addition to gaining attention for his own work, he championed the new movement as a collector and curator. He was a mentor to a younger generation of American artists, who developed the style of Abstract Expressionism in the New York area.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Graham developed a new figurative style derived from classical masters, which he first showed in paintings and drawings of Russian soldiers. He died in London, England.
Dombrovsky was born into an aristocratic family of Szlachta descent to parents Gratian-Ignatius Dombrovsky and Youzefa Dombrovsky. He received a classical education and graduated from the St. Vladimir University in 1913 with a degree in law. At some point during or shortly after his studies he married his first wife, Ebrenia Ignatevnia Makavelia, and had two children, Cyril and Maria. He went on to serve as a cavalry officer under Czar Nicholas II during World War I in the Circassian Regiment of the Russian Imperial Army. For his efforts in the war, he earned the Saint George's Cross. After the execution of Czar Nicholas II and his family
Born Ivan Gratianovitch Dombrowsky in Kyiv, he immigrated to New York in 1920. He studied painting for the first time in his 30s, becoming deeply interested in modernism.
In addition to gaining attention for his own work, he championed the new movement as a collector and curator. He was a mentor to a younger generation of American artists, who developed the style of Abstract Expressionism in the New York area.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Graham developed a new figurative style derived from classical masters, which he first showed in paintings and drawings of Russian soldiers. He died in London, England.
Dombrovsky was born into an aristocratic family of Szlachta descent to parents Gratian-Ignatius Dombrovsky and Youzefa Dombrovsky. He received a classical education and graduated from the St. Vladimir University in 1913 with a degree in law. At some point during or shortly after his studies he married his first wife, Ebrenia Ignatevnia Makavelia, and had two children, Cyril and Maria. He went on to serve as a cavalry officer under Czar Nicholas II during World War I in the Circassian Regiment of the Russian Imperial Army. For his efforts in the war, he earned the Saint George's Cross. After the execution of Czar Nicholas II and his family
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