Robert Henry Graham was born in 1944 and raised in Chicago, Illinois. According to his mother, Ms. Mary Belle Graham, the nun in charge of his first grade class at Holy Angels Grammar School on Chicago’s South-side, would let him draw by himself in a corner of the classroom, in order that he wouldn’t disrupt the rest of the class with what she called his “antics”.
Robert credits Robin Leigh, one-time co-owner of “The Black Man’s” Art Gallery in San Francisco, California, who – in the late 60’s – for the first-time awakened his interest in expressing himself through art in painting. In 1980 he received his B.A. in Studio Art at California State University, Hayward and his M.F.A. in Painting (1983) from University of Wisconsin, Madison. Robert Henry produced 45 paintings in his first year as a full-time artist, and he remains prolific to this day. Robert Henry’s work today is painted compositions of multiple layers (anywhere from 40 to 70 layers) of color with each layer a different hue on mostly heavyweight gesso paper. The paintings on paper can be multiple layered color-field paintings, cityscape silhouettes, symbols and forms, or figural/anatomical in content.
Robert Henry Graham’s work has been shown in 78 solo, two-person, and or 4-person exhibits; in addition his work has appeared in over 160 group exhibitions throughout the United States since 1968. He is listed in Thomas Albright’s Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945-1980: An Illustrated History (1985) as Robert Henry.
Education
1980 – 83 M.F.A., Painting, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
1978 – 80 B.A., Studio Art, California State University, Hayward, California.
Selected Exhibitions
2009 CAUS Faculty Show, XYZ Gallery, Blacksburg, VA
2009 Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Thelma Harris Fine Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
2008 SOVA Art Faculty Exhibit, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
2008 New Media/Mixed Media: A Virginia Tech Art Department Exhibition, Terrace Gallery, Capital One, Richmond, VA
2008 CAUS Faculty Show, XYZ Gallery, Blacksburg, VA
2008 Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Thelma Harris Fine Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
2007 War: The Beginning, Works By Robert Henry Graham, Harrison Museum Of African American Culture, 523 Harrison Avenue, NW, Roanoke, VA
2007 Robert Henry Graham – A New Series: WAR, Squires Student Center, Perspective Gallery, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA
1992 Chicago: Memories and Fantasies, Moseley Gallery, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD
1992 Chicago: Memories and Fantasies, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Chicago, IL
1992 Robert Henry Graham, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA
1989 Robert Henry Graham, Gallery 69, Bronx, NY
1987 Robert Henry Graham, Museum of the Afro-American Artist, Boston, MA
1987 Robert Henry Graham, Staunton Art Center, Staunton, VA