John Graham

Acquired directly from the artist

Urbana, The Krannert Art Museum; The University of Illinois; Nashville, The Tennessee Fine Arts Center, A Selection from the Josephine and Phillip A. Bruno Collection, November 1961 - February 1962
New York, Finch College Museum of Art; St. Paul, The Saint Paul Art Center, The Josephine and Phillip A. Bruno Collection, November 1965 - May 1966
Purchase, Neuberger Museum, State University of New York; Newport Beach, Newport Harbor Art Museum; Berkeley, University Art Museum, University of California; Chicago, The David and Alfred Smart Gallery, The University of Chicago; Washington D.C., The Phillips Collection, John Graham: Artist and Avatar, June 1987 - September 1988, cat. no. 73, p. 127, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. There is a subtle rippling to the parchment sheet resulting from the mounting process. The sheet is hinged to the mat at the upper corners and framed under glass.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Like his friend Arshile Gorky, John Graham had a flair for self-invention and a penchant for crafting lyrical and fanciful narratives around his past. The present work is an exquisite example of Graham's singular aesthetic which remained resolutely figurative, even as other artists, and prevailing taste,  gravitated toward abstraction. His signature portraits of women, which he often rendered with physical peculiarities, evince the rich Western tradition of portrait painting as well as Graham's iconoclasm, idiosyncratic personality and his ecclectic connoisseurship of among other things, mysticism, alchemy and psychoanalysyis.