Graff came from a family of stucco decorators from Bavaria who were members of the so-called Wessobrunner School.
He seems to have moved to Brandenburg at some point, where he was influenced by the decorative style predominant in and around Berlin.
[3] He very probably made decorations for Schönhausen Palace before being hired by the Duke of Courland, Peter von Biron, to decorate his residences in present-day Latvia.
[4] He is known to have decorated Jelgava Palace[3] (decorations destroyed during World War II) and Rundāle Palace[5] for the Duke.
In present-day Estonia, he also made lavish stucco decorations for Põltsamaa Castle (destroyed during World War II), and possibly at Kabala Manor.