Auctioneer for Sale!

Trading in his usual role as Auctioneer, Swann's own Nicholas Lowry will be featured as Lot Number Four tonight at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America's Charity Bachelor and Bachelorette raffle! The charity raffle, for which tickets may be purchased online, will be held at 2 West 35th Street beginning at 7:00. Please come out and show your support for a good cause!

Swann Specialists tour with Antiques Roadshow

Swann Specialists Nicho Lowry, Daile Kaplan, and Todd Weyman have taken their treasure-hunting skills on the road this summer, touring with the Antiques Roadshow. They have made their way through Eugene, Oregon, El Paso, Minneapolis, and Tulsa -with Atlanta and Pittsburgh yet to come. 

While in Oklahoma, the Roadshow made a pit-stop in the city of Pawnee to visit the town's historic Bill Ranch Museum, the highlight of which is the Ranch's colossal one-of-a-kind poster featuring Pawnee Bill's Wild West show.  

This extraordinary 70-foot find, originally designed to be viewed by a passing rail-car, was uncovered in 1982 after being hidden for over a century. After twenty years studying and working with vintage posters, Swann President and Specialist Nicholas Lowry was pleasantly surprised by the rarity of this unique exhibit.

Google Goes Calder

Alexander Calder, Loops on Gray and Red, gouache, 1968. Sold for $40,800 on June 9, 2011.

What have you Googled today? Whatever you were searching, you undoubtedly noticed today's movable logo, an homage to Alexander Calder on his 113th birthday. The logo's letters have been abstracted, replaced by a whimsical mobile in a combination of Calder's and Google's shared primary colors and the addition of the traditional Google green. The American sculptor, painter and printmaker is a steady presence in Swann's biannual Contemporary Art auctions. 

Toulouse-Lautrec and His Muse

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, 1893. Sold on December 19, 2007 for $36,000.

When it comes to vintage poster design, one of the first images people conjure is that of Jane Avril, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's famous cancan dancer, her stockinged leg exposed from under a ruffled skirt. Avril was Toulouse-Lautrec's friend and muse, and their partnership advanced both of their careers. That relationship is explored in the current exhibition, Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge at London's The Courtauld Institute of Art. 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Vache Enragee, 1896. Estimate: $10,000 to $15,000. 

Rare posters by Toulouse-Lautrec from the estate of Mitch Miller are also included in Swann's August 3rd Vintage Posters auction. La Vache Enragee [The Mad Cow], was an illustrated magazine published only twice—once in 1896 and again in 1897. Each publication coincided with the major Montmartre event, the Fête de la Vache Enragée. His poster of May Belfort, depicts the Irish performer who amused him by singing, "I've got a little cat, I'm very fond of that." 

L: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, May Belfort, 1895. Estimate: $20,000 to $30,000. R: Toulouse-Lautrec, Deuxième Volume de Bruant, 1893. Estimate: $7,000 to $10,000.

Another mutually beneficial relationship for subject and artist was that between Lautrec and cabaret performer Aristide Bruant. Their collaborations were so legendary that in this example, Deuxième Volume de Bruant, the performer needn't show his face, his back is immediately recognizable. 

Duncanson, Past and Present

Robert S. Duncanson, Untitled (Landscape), oil on canvas, late 1850s. 

Estimate: $60,000 to $90,000. At auction October 6, 2011. 

Robert S. Duncanson, whose work is currently on view at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY, is the subject of Eve Kahn's article "Condemning Slavery with a Paintbrush" in today's New York Times. Kahn interviewed noted Duncanson expert Joseph D. Ketner II, who sets the record straight about much of the misinformation written about Duncanson over the years. Ketner has gathered 17 Duncanson works, including an Untitled (Landscape) that was sold in Swann's February 17, 2011 African-American Fine Art auction. Another untitled landscape from the late 1850s will come to auction in Swann's October 6 African-American Fine Art auction. 

American Posters: What's Cooking?

U.S. Needs Us Strong/Eat Nutritious Food, c 1942.
At auction August 3. Estimate: $400 to $600.

A new exhibition at the National Archives in Washington, DC entitled "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" examines the government's effect on the American diet. 

Charles Livingston Bull's Save the Products of the Land/Eat More Fish, c 1918.
Estimate: $800 to $1,200.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the show goes deeper than the food pyramid and food-safety concerns of recent decades, and explores how the government campaigned against malnutrition, encouraged citizens to conserve during wartime, and the dubious history of ketchup.

Eat More/Eat Less, from a group of five WWI posters, c 1917.
Estimate: $700 to $1,000 for the lot.

Swann has offered many government-issued food-related posters over the years, and there are many fine examples--most issued during WWI and II-- in our August 3 Vintage Posters auction. 

Make Every 'Second' Count..., 1943, from a group of five posters.
Estimate: $1,000 to $1,500 for the lot.