Charles S. Graham

Born in Rock Island, Illinois, Charles Graham received no formal schooling as an artist. In 1873, he became a topographer for Northern Pacific Railroad for the survey of Montana and Idaho, a position which trained him in careful draftsmanship. He went on to paint theatrical scenery in New York and Chicago from 1874 to 1877, after which he gained an appointment as a staff artist at Harper's Weekly. A prolific illustrator, he remained at the journal until 1892. Graham was an inveterate traveler, visiting and painting various places. He was active in San Francisco between 1883 and 1896, where he was a member of the Bohemian Club and San Francisco Art Association. During this period, he also produced many scenes of Colorado, the Dakotas, and New Mexico for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Graham visited New Orleans in 1884 and two years later made an extensive tour of the South with fellow artist Horace Bradley, a trip that resulted in illustrations for Harper's. Although he still remained a contributor, he eventually left the publication's employ to become a freelance artist, producing work for the New York Herald, Chicago Tribune, Collier's, and American Lithograph Company. Between 1879 and 1891, he exhibited watercolors with the American Watercolor Society, and two years later was named an official artist of the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. After 1900, Graham dedicated himself to working in oil. Reflecting Graham's strength as an illustrator, The Encounter presents a unique Southern genre scene with sentiment and precision. An African-American man appears to have climbed a tree at the request of two ladies, to obtain boughs for them. One woman casually sits on the ground at the base of the large tree trunk, while the other stands, reaching for a branch from the young man. The image is rendered with careful attention and much refined detail, evident in the representation of the women and the lush foliage, Spanish moss, and surroundings that represent a Southern landscape. Executed in a nearly monochromatic palette of watercolor and ink, only the foreground and lower tree trunks in the distance are highlighted with a burnt sienna tone that enlivens the composition. VAL Biography courtesy of The Charleston Renaissance Gallery