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Artists›John D. Graham

John D. Graham

John D. Graham

Artist

WA-00027354

PaintingSurrealismCubismRealism

Representation

None documented

16

Institutional Exhibitions

66

Works in Collection

120

Assets Indexed

1

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ2089948 ULAN500033062

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Drawing since 1940

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987

No image

The Modern Drawing: 100 Works on Paper from The Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1983–1984

No image

Words and Pictures

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981

No image

Recent Acquisition: Painting and Sculpture

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1974

No image

Portraits

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1973–1974

No image

Works on Paper

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1973

No image

Drawn in America

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1972

No image

Ways of Looking

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1971

No image

A Selection of Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1971

No image

John Graham

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1968

No image

Drawings: Recent Acquisitions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Drawings from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1966–1967

Field Verification (1 fields)

0 cross-verified · 1 single-source

LocationArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2284
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Artsy (bulk)https://www.artsy.net/artist/john-d-graham
Tier 1 · Institutional85%

About

Why this artist matters now

John D. Graham was an American painter and theorist whose work bridged European modernism and American abstraction in the mid-twentieth century. Born in 1886, he developed a practice rooted in Cubism and Surrealism, producing paintings that combined geometric abstraction with figural and symbolic content. Graham's writings on art theory, particularly his 1937 treatise System and Dialectics of Art, established him as an influential voice in advancing avant-garde practice among American artists during the interwar and postwar periods.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Surrealism

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (66)

September 14, 1960 letter

1960 · Ballpoint pen on paper

Sheet (each, sight): 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (26.7 × 21 cm) Image (each, sight): 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (26.7 × 21 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Letter dated Sept 29, 1960 (from Paris)

1960 · Ballpoint pen on paper

Sheet (sight): 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (26.7 × 21 cm) Image (sight): 10 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (26.7 × 21 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

1957 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil and ballpoint pen

sheet (each, orientations vary): 11 3/4 × 8 7/8" (29.8 × 22.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1955 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with ballpoint pen, pencil, and colored pencil

sketchbook, closed: 9 13/16 × 14 3/16 × 3/8" (25 × 36 × 1 cm); sheet (each): 9 13/16 × 14" (25 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1954 · Spiral bound sketchbook with ballpoint pen, pencil, pen, ink, and pencil

sheet (each, orientations vary): 8 3/4 × 11 3/4" (22.2 × 29.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Leda #1

1954 · Oil, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on transparentized paper

15 7/8 × 13 1/2" (40.3 × 34.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1953 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with ballpoint pen, ink, pencil, and colored pencil

sheet (each): 12 1/2 × 9 3/8" (31.8 × 23.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Horse

1953 · Ink, ballpoint pen, pencil, gouache, and colored pencil on transparentized paper

23 3/8 × 18 7/8" (59.4 × 47.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1952 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil and ballpoint pen

sketchbook, closed: 5 5/16 × 8 7/16 × 1/2" (13.5 × 21.5 × 1.2 cm); sheet (each, orientations vary): 5 3/8 × 8 3/8" (13.7 × 21.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1949 · Bound sketchbook with pencil, ballpoint pen, and colored pencil. Gold metallic paint on cardboard cover.

sketchbook, closed: 12 3/16 × 9 5/8 × 3/8" (31 × 24.5 × 1 cm); sheet (each, orientations vary): 12 1/4 × 9 5/8" (31.1 × 24.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1949 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with carbon paper transfer, pencil, ballpoint pen, ink, and red pencil

.1-2, 4, 8, 11, 13, 15: 13 3/4 x 9 7/8" (34.9 x 25 cm) 3, 5, 9-10, 12, 14: 9 7/8 x 13 3/4" (25 x 34.9 cm) .6-7: 9 7/8 x 7 1/4" (25.0 x 18.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Harlequin (Self-Portrait)

Harlequin (Self-Portrait)

1944 · Oil and pencil on canvas

24 x 20 1/8" (61.2 x 51.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Two Sisters

1944 · Oil, enamel, pencil, charcoal, and casein on board

47 7/8 x 48" (121.4 x 121.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1944 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil, carbon paper transfer, and ballpoint pen

sheet (each, orientations vary): 14 × 9 7/8" (35.6 × 25.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1944 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil and ink

sketchbook, closed: 10 × 8 1/8 × 13/16" (25.4 × 20.6 × 2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Portrait of Adolfo Romagniolo

Portrait of Adolfo Romagniolo

1944 · Pencil and ballpoint pen on paper

22 13/16 × 15" (57.9 × 38.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Celia

1944 · Pencil on transparentized paper

22 7/8 × 18 3/4" (58.1 × 47.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Self-Portrait

1943 · Oil on canvas

20 x 16" (50.7 x 40.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1943 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil, colored pencil, ballpoint pen, and crayon

sheet (each): 10 × 8 1/8" (25.4 × 20.6 cm); sketchbook, closed: 10 × 8 1/4 × 5/8" (25.4 × 21 × 1.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1942 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with drawings in pencil, pen and ink, and colored pencil

sheet (orientations vary): 14 × 10" (35.6 × 25.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1942 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil, ballpoint pen, and colored pencil

sheet (each, orientations vary): 13 7/8 × 10" (35.2 × 25.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1942 · Ink and crayon on paper

8 7/8 × 6 5/8" (22.5 × 16.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Erotic Drawing)

1941 · Ink on paper

Sheet (sight): 8 7/8 × 12 in. (22.5 × 30.5 cm) Image (sight): 8 7/8 × 12 in. (22.5 × 30.5 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

1941 · Spiral-bound sketchbook with drawings in pencil, colored pencil, crayon, pen and ink

sheet (orientations vary): 14 × 9 7/8" (35.6 × 25.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 66 artworks →

Artwork sources (2)

66 published of 117 catalogued · 16 with image

MoMA
63 publishedof 114 catalogued16 img
Whitney
3 published

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

John D. Graham (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia

John D. Graham (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia

Relationships

6

Movements4

Surrealism Cubism Realism Geometric Abstraction

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Whitney Museum of American Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art