The artist

John Graham, c.1933

Max Granick, New York ⁽¹⁾

The Estate of Max Granick, New York

[Sotheby’s Arcade, 14 February 1989, sale #1272, no. 154]

To current owner, 1989

⁽¹⁾ This drawing was either purchased or given to New York art collector Max Granick, who was a friend of John Graham’s from the 1930s through the 1950s.

During the 1930s, Gorky executed a number of linear drawings depicting his friends and patrons.  This work was initially acquired by John Graham (born Ivan Dabrowky), who became a part of Gorky’s artistic circle by 1929, and would later write in 1931 that “Stuart Davis, Gorky and myself have formed a group and something original, purely american [sic] is coming out from under our brushes.⁽¹⁾  The subject of the portrait is Graham’s wife, Elinor (née Gibson).