'Abstract Landscape' by Ellwood Graham, Corcoran, Whitney, Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Art Association, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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Signed upper right, 'Graham' for Ellwood Graham (American, 1911-2007) and painted circa 1985; additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'View Study'.

… Read more Signed upper right, 'Graham' for Ellwood Graham (American, 1911-2007) and painted circa 1985; additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'View Study'.

This early California Modernist was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended the School of Fine Arts at Washington University. By the 1930's, Graham was living in California and working in the Federal Art Project as assistant to Gordon Grant. In this capacity, he designed and painted numerous murals in Federal and state buildings including the U.S. Post Office in Ventura. In 1937, he moved to Monterey and the home studio he built there was where he carried out various commissions, including for Senatorial offices in Washington DC and for John Steinbeck, a close personal friend, whose portrait he painted while the author was writing 'Sea of Cortez' (1940).

Graham served in the Navy during World War II and, afterwards, traveled between Monterey, the Caribbean (1952-1953), New Mexico, and Mexico (1954-1955) before becoming a resident of Pebble Beach in 1956. In 2000, he moved and spent his final years in Oregon. Graham exhibited widely and with success including at the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939), Art Institute of Chicago (1947), Corcoran Gallery (1947), Whitney Museum of Art (1951), San Francisco Art Association, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art and the Carmel Art Association. Honored with 68 awards, Graham has received national and international acclaim as an abstract painter and colorist. His work can be found in numerous public collections including the Whitney Museum in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Art Museum, the Oakland Museum, and the Brazilian Embassy in Washington.

Concerning his work, Graham said:
"I am a creative painter, the grist for the mill can come from anything at all - a love affair, a book, a poem, a conversation, anything. I like profound painting, although I'm not always capable of doing it, I want a painting to breathe; I like to orchestrate color, playing with the various tones to create an amalgam of color."

Reference:
Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 1341; Artists in California 1786-1940, Third Edition, Edan Milton Hughes: Crocker Art Museum, Sheridan Books 2002, Vol. 1, page 448; Art & Artists: Carmel – Monterey – Pacific Grove – Big Sur – Carmel Valley, Third Edition, Lee Harbick, et al., Art & Artists of the Monterey Peninsula 1985, page 77; et al. See less