James Graham & Sons: A Century And A Half In The Art Business

New York City

:On Madison Avenue, between 78th and 79th Streets, the sidewalk erupts in a panoply of black and white terrazzo. A field of horizontal rectangles gives way to undulating crescents that in turn make way for a sunburst. The Alexander Calder-designed sidewalk outside the building occupied by James Graham & Sons is as much a billboard for the gallery it fronts as it is pure art.

It could also be interpreted as allegory for the ever-changing relationships that exist between artists and dealers, and between dealers and their clients. Or, as Robert C. "Robin" Graham Jr, chairman of James Graham & Sons, surmised recently when recalling his introduction to the family business in 1963, there are few rules in this business that are set in stone.

"There was no such thing as a standard deal," he said. "Every time you started something, you were starting something new. Each thing or person, each sale or consignment, or each arrangement you made to represent an artist, was reinventing the wheel." Nothing that Graham had learned in school had prepared him for the business side of the art business. It was, however, a paradigm that four generations of Graham men before him had confronted and conquered, and it is something the current chairman has mastered as well.

What began in 1857 as Samuel Graham's modest furniture shop on lower Third Avenue quickly evolved into a thriving decorative arts business. With each subsequent generation adding its own personal flair and expertise to the eclectic mix of offerings, the phrase "I found it at Graham's" became the buzz among affluent New Yorkers and serious collectors from across the country.

It is a buzz still heard today, although somewhat more amplified this spring season, as the gallery prepares to present the inimitable exhibition "James Graham & Sons: A Century and a Half in the Art Business."

The 150-year anniversary celebration, opening May 9, is as much about the gallery's hallowed history and the artists that the owners have befriended as it is about their relationships with clients past and present. American master painters such as Thomas Hart Benton, Everett Shinn and N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth rank high on their short list. Names such as Garvan, du Pont, Norton, Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge and Henry Ford were but a few that filled out their client list. Major institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, have also benefited from relationships with the gallery.