Burlesque Archive: "Strip Teasing is the Most Mysterious and Glamorous of Professions"

Ann Corio was one of the leading burlesque striptease dancers of the 1930s. She then transitioned into straight acting roles on film and the stage in the 1940s and 50s, and launched a popular touring production called This Was Burlesque in 1961. A fascinating archive of Corio's letters is a highlights of the March 31st Printed & Manuscript Americana auction. The letters were written to her friend and publicist Edward Jaffe, a celebrity in his own right, who was said to be the inspiration for Tony Curtis's character in The Sweet Smell of Success. The letters are filled with Corio's insightful commentary on the entertainment industry and constant brainstorming for publicity ideas—gags, gossip, rumors, or anything else that might get her name in the papers. 


Corio's philosophy was summed up in one early 1940s letter, "My book agent advised me not to write any more columns—but of course, I'm out for all I can get." She also asked Jaffe to contact columnists with this risqué pitch: "I have an idea for a story. ...99% of American women would jump at the opportunity to do a strip. They are all strip teasers at heart. ...Strip teasing is the most mysterious and glamorous of professions." 
Corio, Ann. Fascinating archive of a burlesque star's letters to her publicist, 1940-61. Estimate: $1,000 to $1,500.

Yesterday's Top Lots: Fine Photographs

Adam Clark Vroman, Arizona and New Mexico, Volume II, album with more than 165 platinum prints, 1897. Sold for $62,400 on March 24, 2011.

 Two rare photographic albums were the top lots in yesterday's Fine Photographs auction at Swann. Adam Clark Vroman's Arizona and New Mexico, Volume II, 1897, which featured more than 165 platinum prints of Native Americans, their dwellings, the famous Snake Dance and more, brought $62,400, a record price for both Vroman and the album. Linnaeus Tripe's album, Photographs of the Elliot Marbles, which can be read about here, brought $57,600. 

Alfred Eisenstaedt, Children at Puppet Theatre, Paris, silver print, 1963, printed 1991. Copyright Time Inc. Sold for $48,000.

The day's top selling photograph was Alfred Eisenstaedt's Children at Puppet Theater, 1963, which sold for $48,000.

Unique Photographs from Marilyn's Last Sitting

Bert Stern, Marilyn Monroe (From "The Last Sitting"), unique and enlarged Fuji Crystal Archive print contact sheet, 1962; printed 1979. Estimate: $14,000 to $18,000.

A unique contact sheet from Marilyn Monroe's famous "The Last Sitting," photographed by Bert Stern, comes to auction on Thursday in Swann's Fine Photographs sale. The shoot consisted of over 2,500 photographs, many of which are now iconic shots depicting the troubled beauty weeks before her death. Yet there was only one printed copy of this contact sheet, which includes nine different photographs taken during the sitting. Additionally, one was marked, likely by Marilyn, with an "x" to show her dissatisfaction with that particular image. Daile Kaplan, interviewed by The Daily Mail, describes Marilyn in these photographs: "There is a delicacy about the images and Marilyn Monroe is often referred to as vulnerable. The scarf is similar because it is beautiful but also has a vulnerable quality. And the cross she put on one of the photos has a quasi-religious quality." 

Lawrence Schiller, Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Something's Got to Give" (from the series "Marilyn 12"), mural size silver print, 1962. Estimate: $6,000 to $9,000.

Monroe was also fired from the movie set of Something's Got to Give due to her erratic behavior—despite being photographed looking healthy and playful.

Discovering an African-American Master

Two upcoming museum exhibitions about James McMillan in Greensboro, NC showcase an impressive body of artwork by an overlooked and accomplished African-American artist. Curated by Dr. Alma Adams, Professor of Art and Gallery Director at Bennett College, and Charlotte Sherman, co-founder of Heritage Gallery in Los Angeles, The Art of James C. McMillan: Discovering an African American Master, which opens March 20th, presents two separate retrospectives, and brings his work to national prominence. 


The 85-year-old artist, who attended Howard University and received an art fellowship in 1947 to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, chaired the art department at Bennett College in Greensboro three different times—from 1947 to 1950; 1952 to 1953; and 1956 to 1969. While studying in Paris at the Académie Julian, outside the confines of the racially segregated South, he truly developed as an artist. McMillan described this time in an interview with Sherman, "After my experiences in the U.S. Navy, I knew that portraiture was the direction in which I wanted to go. I wanted to combine that form with my experience and others in America. That was a part of my drive in Paris. What I began to understand most clearly about my life, especially after returning from the service, was the impact of racism. My two years in Paris...where I was accepted as an individual and as a black artist, marked the first time I was able to meet many others from different parts of the world. I learned about their living conditions and hardships. And my views about injustice and the place it occupied in a large scope of universal humanism was born."


According to Shawnya L. Harris, Director of University Galleries at North Carolina A&T State University, the extensive survey of his paintings, sculpture and drawings, "reveals a humanist. His life portrays artistic intelligence, grace under fire and perseverance against the odds. His artistic achievements are a tribute to the many mentors who gave him a lifetime of encouragement." Since his "discovery" in 2004 by prominent African-American art collectors, McMillan’s artistic accomplishments are now being championed—culminating in these exhibitions and the accompanying catalogue.
James McMillan, Four Dream Builders, oil on masonite, 2001. Courtesy of www.jamesmcmillan.com. 

Photographs of the Elliot Marbles

 Linnaeus Tripe, Photographs of the Elliot Marbles; and Other Subjects; In the Central Museum Madras, album with 75 photographs, 1858 to 1859. Estimate: $35,000 to $45,000.

The photographs contained in Linnaeus Tripe's album, Photographs of the Elliot Marbles, in the March 24th Fine Photographs auction, were produced by Captain Tripe at the request of the Madras (currently Chennai, India) Government after a four-and-a-half month tour through the Trichinopoly, Madura and Tanjore Districts. The photographs were made from May to June 1858; printed from August 1858 to March 1859; and the album was assembled in the autumn of 1859.


Because of their weight, the majority of the sculptures were not moved into the open air, but photographed as they were lying in the various rooms of the Central Museum, Madras. The printing of the images began at Bangalore under the supervision of Tripe's chief assistant, C. Iyahsawmy Pillay. Once started, Tripe opted to white out the backgrounds of some of the negatives, which he found to be distracting. 

The Amaravati Stupa, which dates between the third century B.C. and the third century A.D., is located in the Guntur District of the Eastern Ghats. In 1845, the antiquarian Walter Elliot continued further excavations on the site, which had been neglected for centuries. The sculptures he recovered were sent to Madras, and in 1856, they were placed in the south wing of the museum. The sculptures were numbered by surgeon Edward Balfour, the officer in charge of the museum, and interpreted by the Reverend William Taylor. After being photographed by Tripe, the collection was sent to the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London, and when the museum dissolved in 1879, the sculptures were acquired by the British Museum, where they remain to this day. 

One Family's Mather Work Incentive Posters Collection

Gainesville Magazine's article "The Art of Motivation" features Ron and Liz DeFilippo's collection of 78 Mather Work Incentive posters, the most recent of which was purchased on August 4, 2010 at Swann Galleries. Bridget Higginbotham says that the family considers the posters "'true pieces of Americana,' representing life, culture and art from the past."

Care of Ward 81: Bill Diodato at Swann

Bill Diodato is a fine art and commercial photographer who has recently published his first monograph, Care of Ward 81. In 2005, Diodato visited the soon to be closed Oregon State Insane Asylum, and its Ward 81, which had treated women with mental illness since the 19th century. The hospital was also the setting for the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Diodato was the last person to document Ward 81 before its closing. 

Swann will be hosting a talk and book signing with Bill Diodato on Tuesday, March 22nd. Space is limited and RSVP is required. For more information about Care of Ward 81, click here. 

Yesterday's Top Lots: African Americana

Father Divine, “God, Righteousness, Justice, Peace, Truth…,” large handmade banner. Sold for $36,000 (including premium).

Swann's 16th annual Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction was the most successful to date. The top lot, which sold for $43,200, was Charles Harris Wesley's published and unpublished writings, correspondence, photographs, albums, pamphlets and ephemera, in an archive of 35 cartons of material. Wesley was a noted historian, scholar, educator, minister, and writer, a graduate of Fisk University who earned his Masters degree from Yale, his PhD from Harvard, and went on to teach at Howard University among other esteemed institutions. 

A large, handmade banner by Father Divine, one of the first 20th-century cult religious leaders, brought $36,000, which is a record price for any item related to Divine. 

The Black Panthers section of the sale drew much interest, particularly the posters offered. A poster of Huey Newton reading "The racist dog policemen must withdraw immediately from our communities," and depicting the Panther Minister of Defense holding a rifle, sold for a record $19,200.

Clockwise from top left: Huey Newton, "The racist dog policemen...," 1968. Sold for $19,200. Emory Douglas, "Free Bobby, Free Ericka...," circa 1970. Sold for $8,400. Fred Hampton, "When One of us Falls...," circa 1969. Sold for $9,600. "DOWN with the WHITE-NESS," late 1960s. Sold for $18,000. 

Frederick Douglass's Narrative, Bound at the North Star Offices

One of only five known copies of Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, and bound by Douglass at the North Star offices in 1848, comes to auction on Thursday in the Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction. 


When Douglass's Narrative first appeared in 1845, he had already been lecturing for over four years as the shining star of the New England abolitionists, which included William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. His Narrative became an instant best-seller, going through 5,000 copies of the first printing in four months. Between 1845 and 1849, there were an additional six printings. 


It was actually the success of the Narrative that alerted Douglass's owner, Hugh Auld, as to where his slave could be found. As a result, Douglass was forced to leave the country; in the fall of 1845, he set sail for Cork, Ireland and began a two-year lecture tour of Great Britain. Upon his return, Douglass continued to lecture and contribute articles to various anti-slavery journals, including Garrison's Liberator. In the fall of 1847, Douglass moved to upstate New York to publish his own newspaper, the North Star. 
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, 1848. Estimate: $25,000 to $35,000.

Edward Gorey's Posthumous Resurgence

Edward Gorey's career was fittingly designed for a posthumous resurgence. The writer, illustrator, costume and set designer who passed away 10 years ago had an attraction to the dark, mysterious, Edwardian and undead. As the Maine Antique Digest's Antioch Jensen (which, in a playfully Gorey style, is actually an anagram for the name of a regular contributor) describes it: "Usually a bit dotty, Gorey people often meet quick and terrible fates, like mystery-novel victims. No one mourns. And no one escapes." 


An article in this past Sunday's New York Times finds his influences in everything from director Tim Burton's movies to fashion designs by Anna Sui. The paper also cites increased traffic at the Edward Gorey House in Massachusetts, while interest in the traveling exhibition, Elegant Enigmas, currently at the Boston Athenaeum, is described as "mania" by a curator.  


Swann witnessed Gorey fanatics firsthand when the October 14, 2010 Art, Press & Illustrated Books auction offered a collection of nearly 50 works by Edward Gorey—nearly all of them set auction records. Christine von der Linn described to the Maine Antiques Digest the fascination with Gorey: "It goes beyond the Victoriana, the macabre, and the absurd. He was very much involved in such things as Japanese literature and philosophy. ... It's nice to see Gorey is still so popular and still collected by people of all ages. That's not common. In this business, I see a lot of artists and illustrators who have their peak and then fade. I like that Gorey bridges generations."
Edward Gorey, Amphigorey, 1972. Sold for $9,600 on October 14, 2010. 

Yesterday's Top Lots: 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings

Swann's two-part auction of Industry & Innovation: A Century of American Prints, and 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings, saw a great amount of interest across the board, and achieved a sell-through rate of 84 percent by lot. The day's top lot was Pablo Picasso's rare color linoleum cut, Homme à la fraise, 1962, which sold for a record $144,000. Amedeo Modigliani's drawing of Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, circa 1910, brought $72,000.

Carved Ballast Stone Recovered from a 16th Century Slaveship

The March 10th Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction includes a very unusual carved ballast stone, which was recovered from the wreck of a 16th-century slave ship in 1992. This piece was from one of two wrecks found on the Little Bahama Banks. Carved with the face of an elephant that bears a strong resemblance to the elephant masks of the Guro people of West Africa (now the Ivory Coast), it is probable that the mask-like image was scratched on the stone by a slave during the long middle passage.


Veteran diver Herbert "Herbo" Humphreys and his team had been searching for the stern portion of a known Spanish wreck, the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, that went down in 1656. Instead, they discovered two entirely different wrecks. One, later dubbed the "tumbaga" wreck (for a type of Spanish gold bar that was found), and the other, an early English slave ship. Both of these vessels can be dated with some precision because of the objects that were recovered from them—coinage dated 1525 on the Spanish ship, and a cannon, dated 1543 and bearing the coat-of-arms of King Henry VIII, on the English ship. In addition to the cannon and the ballast stone, the remnants of shackles and two ivory tusks were recovered from the wreck. 
Carved "Ballast Stone," recovered from the wreck of a 16th century slave ship, 1570-1575. Estimate: $8,000 to $12,000.

Happy Birthday from Picasso

A crayon drawing created by Pablo Picasso on a guest register comes to auction tomorrow in the 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings sale at Swann. Drawn at Jacqueline Picasso's 40th birthday celebration on February 24, 1966, which took place at Chez Roger, it comes with a sheet of signatures and birthday wishes written by dinner guests. 


The drawing was originally offered in the January 22, 2000 auction of Picasso's personal belongings, Maître Claude Boisgirard Paris, Art Modern et Contemporain. 




Pablo Picasso, Bouquet pour Jacqueline Picasso, color crayons, 1966. Estimate: $40,000 to $60,000.

Spare a Dime for the Atlantic Theater Company

Swann's President, Nicholas Lowry, will be the auctioneer at the Atlantic Theater Company's annual gala, Can You Spare a Dime?, featuring songs from the 1930s. The March 7th event at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers includes special appearances by Tony Award winner and nominees Brian D'Arcy James, Mary Beth Peil and David Pittu, as well as Mad Men's John Slattery. Nicholas will be auctioning off such items as a private pre-release screening of the new Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson movie Water for Elephants, trips to England, France and Thailand, as well as the opportunity to sponsor a student matinee performance at the Atlantic Theater for 3,000 New York City public school children.