Early Abstract and Modernist Painting

The Green Chair, 1928
Object-John Graham, The Green Chair
Born Ivan Dombrowski in Kiev, Russia, the artist and intellectual John Graham espoused the expression of art through pure form. Admired for his wide range of interests—from theosophy to religion and mathematics—and for his remarkable knowledge of art theory, he became influential in the development of post–World War II abstract expressionism. Painted and exhibited for the first time in Paris in 1928 at the Zborowski Gallery, The Green Chair is part of a series of Graham’s monumental nudes of the 1920s. Here, a stylized female figure, seated on a chair, is seen in classic profile; the viewer is prompted to interpret the painting formally. The woman’s masklike face recalls African sculpture, which enjoyed wide appeal at that time. Graham abstracted and compressed the human figure to encourage archetypal associations that tie together artistic traditions from the past with forward-looking modernist trends.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
The Green Chair, 1928
Early Abstract and Modernist Painting

Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917

Construction, 1915

Peinture, 1917–18

Painting No. 50, 1914–15

Nature Symbolized #3: Steeple and Trees, 1911–12

Sails, 1911–12

Welcome to Our City, 1921

Boy with Cow, 1921

Super Table, 1925

Purple and Green Leaves, 1927

Boat Going through Inlet, c. 1929

The Green Chair, 1928

Politics, 1931

Brooklyn Bridge, on the Bridge, 1930

Sailboat, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Skyline, 1934

Red Amaryllis, 1937

Room Space, 1937–38

Adolescence, 1947

Highway, 1953

Topcat Boy, 1970

Untitled (Village Street Scene), 1948

Passing Show, 1951

Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986