James Graham was born in 1952, raised outside Philadelphia, and moved to
New York in 1977. Inspired by the work of Velázquez, Goya, Pierre Chardin,
and Rembrandt, he started painting and drawing in 1996 at the Art Students
League of New York, and studied at the School of Visual Arts, the New York
Academy and with Carlos Castaño.
Graham has focused solely on his artwork since 2001 after ending a
twenty-year career on Wall Street as a trading system programmer.
Previously, he worked in boat yards, sail lofts, fishing boats, had driven
a bulldozer, and repossessed cars.