John D. Graham was a figure of immense influence in the early years of American modernism, both as an artist and as a connoisseur.  He is credited as a major influence in the formation of Abstract Expressionism and in his work alternated between Abstraction and Realism, with one of his subjects being portrait busts of cross-eyed women. Graham was born in Kiev on January 8, 1881 (or 1886 or 1887) with the name of Ivan Gratianovich Dombrovski.  He fought in the Russian Revolution on the side of the Czar, was imprisoned, but escaped to Poland.  He is thought to have arrived in New York City in about 1920.  Once in New York, he hid himself behind a curtain of fact and myth. In 1923 Graham was enrolled at the Art Students League,Sources include: Matthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art...