Swann Galleries

The Most Famous Private Press Book

2012-01-26T11:32:00.001-05:00

The Kelmscott Chaucer is considered the finest Arts and Crafts era publication,
and the pinnacle of private press publishing

Perhaps the most famous of the private presses, theKelmscott Press at Hammersmith was the creation of master craftsman WilliamMorris. At a time when the printed page and book production in general wassuffering, he believed that the high standards of the past could be re-awakenedand re-created to achieve complete harmony of type and illustration; for eachbook to be seen as a complete object of beauty.

Text was printed in red and black Chaucer and Troy types. The large woodcut illustrations
by Sir Edward Burne-Jones were redrawn by Robert Catterson-Smith and cut by W.H. Hooper and W. Spielmeyer.

The press produced 53 booksbetween 1891 and 1898. Both the first and final titles of the press are beingsold in a small, select collection in Swann's February 23 auction of Private Press & Illustrated Books, as well as their crowning achievement,The Kelmscott Chaucer. Morris’s aims and aesthetic inspired the birth ofseveral other English presses such as the Ashendene, Doves, Eragny and Valepresses, each of which are also represented in the sale.

A dedication copy of Aragny Press's Songs by Ben Jonson,
one of only ten printed on vellum, is another sale highlight.

William T. Williams Painting Comes to Auction

2012-01-23T16:36:00.001-05:00

Swann's February 16 auction of African-American Fine Art will feature the first painting by celebrated artist William T. Williams to come to auction. The monumental 1971 acrylic on canvas, titled Eastern Star, was bought from the artist's first solo gallery exhibition in New York by the current owner.

This large and exciting work is an excellent example of Williams's unique abstract vision--an elegant, layered Minimalist abstraction, infused with the geometries of jazz and non-Western cultures.

Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina, attended Pratt Institute and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and earned an M.F.A. from Yale University. In 1969 he participated in The Black Artist in America: A Symposium, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Williams's abstract painting achieved early institutional recognition when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, purchased his 1969 painting Elbert Jackson L.A.M.F, Part II. His paintings were also included in such important exhibitions as the Studio Museum in Harlem's Inaugural Show, the Whitney Biennial and New Acquisitions at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1970, both the Jewish Museum, New York, and the Menil Collection, Houston, commissioned paintings.

In addition to his long career as a painter, Williams has taught at Brooklyn College for more than 40 years.

Is this the world's first ski poster?

2012-01-13T17:25:00.003-05:00

Ernest Haskell's Truth / Xmas, New York, 1896.

Skiing for sport began in the mid 19th century in Northern Europe, although the activity as a means of transport and hunting dates back thousands of years. Americans caught on in the early 20th century, and by the late 1920s the country was in love with the sport, with winter resorts in full swing--kicking off what is known as the Golden Age of American Skiing.

Ernest Haskell's 1896 poster advertising the magazine Truth, which depicts a lovely lady skiing downhill, is the earliest American ski poster, predating the first American book on skiing by nearly 10 years.

Theodore A. Johnsen's The Winter Sport of Skeeing, was the first American ski book.
It was published in 1905.

Haskell's design has a similar head start on the first European posters for the sport, which are generally believed to be promotional images for the French winter resort town of Chamonix, from the early 1900s.

Chamonix / Mont Blanc, after Abel Faivre, circa 1985.

If you have an example of an earlier ski poster, send us an email: blog@swanngalleries.com

Happy Birthday, Max Roach!

2012-01-10T18:40:00.000-05:00

Today Max Roach, jazz musician,activist, educator and collector, would have turned 88. Swann is proud to offer several worksfrom the artist’s estate in our upcoming February 16 sale of African-American Fine Art, including a sriking group of portraits of Roach by David Hammons& Bruce Talamon. The screenprints were sent to the artist by Hammons &Talamon as potential album artwork, though it is unknown whether or not theywere ever used.

David Hammons & Bruce Talamon, Untitled (Max Roach Album Art), group of 4 color screenprints, 1977. Estimate $50,000 to $75,000. At auction February 16.

Max Roach was born in North Carolina butgrew up in Brooklyn, New York. His early exposure to music came through thechurch, but he found himself drawn to the drums from a very early age. He was still ateenager when he began to play with such jazz masters as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie andColeman Hawkins. Before the age of 30, he had already become one of the seminal drummers ofthe 20th century, whose breakthroughs influenced several subsequent generations. His earlysuccesses as a sideman led him to even great achievements as a bandleader in his ownright starting in the 1950s.

Always among the most socially engagedof jazz artists, Roach was an inspiring figure both to the Civil Rights movement and to theBlack Power movement that developed in the 1960s. His “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite”(1960) was one of the most powerful artistic statements to come out of that milieuand is consistently cited as one of the key recordings in the history of jazz music. Hiscollaborations with other artists ran from classic jazz combos to full orchestras; vocal choruses andinventive string ensembles, including the Uptown String Quartet and the Double Quartet with hisdaughter Maxine; large all-percussion groups, improvisational duos with avant-gardeadventurers such as Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp and Anthony Braxton and major danceproductions with such figures as Alvin Ailey and Bill T. Jones. His theatrical partnershipsembraced playwrights as diverse as William Shakespeare and Amiri Baraka, Sam Shepard and WoleSoyinka.

Roach’s contributions went well beyondthe strictly musical. Ever cognizant of the exploitation of black musicians, he wasnever hesitant to speak out against injustice. He was a leading businessman, co-founding (withCharles Mingus) the Debut Records label, operating his own publishing andproduction companies (Milma, MR Productions), even organizing alternative festivals andvenues to assure the fair treatment of participating musicians. He was a dedicated teacher,serving from 1972 on the music faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,and generously sharing his insights and experiences via lectures and public appearancesworldwide. An adventurous creator, a tireless performer, an articulate spokesman, a passionateeducator, Roach was recognized as one of the great American artists and received numeroushonors and awards, including the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant.

Bill Hunt: The Photo World's Impresario

2012-01-10T12:57:00.000-05:00

On December 7, Swann and Aperture Foundation hosted a talk and booksigning with photography collector, curator and educator Bill Hunt in honor of his book, The Unseen Eye. Hunt and Swann's Photography Director Daile Kaplan had a lively and entertaining conversation that touched on various topics including the first photograph Hunt ever bought, his inclusion of 19th century images in the collection, and what he calls "the best picture in the world."

Click below to watch a recording of the talk.

Bill Hunt Talk Ver 3 from Number 44 Productions on Vimeo.

Henry Ossawa Tanner at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

2012-01-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

A circa 1918 Untitled (Dusk Scene of a Flooded River and Nearby Town) oil on cardstock by Tanner brought $33,600 in Swann's October 8, 2009 auction

Later this month, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will launch an exhibition devoted to Henry Ossawa Tanner Modern Spirit--it runs from January 28 to April 15, then moves on to the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

Adoration of the Golden Calf, oil on canvas, circa 1895, sold for $72,000 on February 17, 2009

Tanner was one of the first African-American students at the Pennsylvania Academy, and the exhibition explores his life and career, including, as the Academy describes it, "the pioneering African-American artist’s upbringing in Philadelphia in the years after the Civil War; the artist’s success as an American expatriate artist at the highest levels of the international art world at the turn of the 20th century; Tanner’s role as a leader of an artist’s colony in rural France; his modernist invigoration of religious painting deeply rooted in his own faith; Tanner’s depictions of the Holy Land and North Africa interpreted through comparison with contemporary French orientalist painting and photography; and the scientific and technical innovations of the artist’s oeuvre."

Seated Arab, oil on wood panel, circa 1895-99, sold for $72,000 on October 4, 2007

Swann has offered several significant paintings by the artist since we began conducting sales of African-American Fine Art, and among the excellent 19th-century highlights in our upcoming February 16 auction is a posthumous circa 1905-10 etching, Gateway in Tangier (below).

Gateway in Tangier, etching, circa 1905-10, signed and numbered by the artist's son,
is among the highlights of Swann's next auction of African-American Fine Art

Yesterday's Top Lots: The Complete Poster Works of Roger Broders

2011-12-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

The December 15th sale was the first time the complete work of a single poster artist has come to auction. The Complete Poster Works of Roger Broders offered 100 lots - nearly every poster he designed - all from one private collection. The sale beat more than a dozen prices for Broders posters sold in the United States, set three world records, and two others, considering today's exchange rate. The strong prices could be justified, in part, by the work's spectacular condition.

Roger Broders, Dunkerque, circa 1930.

The top lot of the sale was Dunkerque, a poster designed for the railway and the local tourist office of Chemin de Fer du Nord. Swann's specialists were only able to find two other instances of this poster coming to auction. It sold for $19,200.

Roger Broders, Monte-Carlo, 1930. Sold for $18,000.

Monte-Carlo, 1930, was created to promote the Monte-Carlo Country Club's glamorous amenities and membership, and is one of Broders's most masterful posters. The grandeur of the perspective and depth of field, combined with the way the bright Riviera sunlight silhouettes the figures in the foreground, make it a poster to remember.

Roger Broders, Sur la Côte d'Azur, circa 1931.

Another very desirable poster that did well in the sale was Sur la Côte d'Azur. Bringing $11,400, the sale more than doubled the previous auction record for this image.

Tuesday's Top Lots: Important Photobooks & Photographs

2011-12-14T17:15:00.000-05:00

Important Photobooks & Photographs sold well in Tuesday's auction, with several records set and strong interest in some very interesting pieces. The top lot of the sale, Andrew J. Russell's United States Military Rail Road Photographic Album earned a record $156,000, making it the photography department's top lot of the year. The album depicts the railroads, battlefields and landscapes of the Civil War.

Andrew J. Russell, United States Military Rail Road Photographic Album, 107 albumen prints, 1863-64.

Among the photobooks was Edwin Hale Lincoln's beautiful Wild Flowers of New England Photographed From Nature. A first edition of this eight-volume set containing 400 photographic plates, it brought $108,000--another auction record.

Edwin Hale Lincoln, Wild Flowers of New England Photographed From Nature, one of only perhaps 50 copies, Massachusetts, 1910-14.

Contemporary art also did well. Aaron Siskind's portfolio Viterbo Broom, containing 18 abstract photographs, sold for $48,000. It was the portfolio's first time at auction.

Aaron Siskind, Viterbo Broom, portfolio containing 18 photographs, 1967.

The top lot among individual photographs was a striking Peter Beard photograph. Fayel Tall / El Molo Bay, Lake Rudolf, a mixed media silver print with applied blood and feather in Beard's signature style, attracted several bidders and brought $36,000.

Peter Beard, Fayel Tall / El Molo Bay, Lake Rudolf, 1987, printed 1997.

Thursday's Top Lots: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Historical Prints, Ephemera

2011-12-09T17:03:00.001-05:00

Thursday's sale of Maps, Atlases, Natural History & Historical Prints and Ephemera went wonderfully, with successful sales of several very important maps, illustrated books, and prints.

David Roberts, The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, 2 titles in 6 volumes, London, 1842-49.

The top lot of the auction was David Roberts' beautiful illustrated book The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Published in London between 1842 and 1849, it brought a strong $33,600.

Fry-Jefferson, A Map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland, London, 1775.

Among the maps, A Map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland took the top spot, selling for $28,800.

Groups lots of maps also did very well in this sale. In particular, a group of over 22 maps concerning the growth of California during the 1920s and 1930s went for $16,800 - the result of two very interested parties, who drove the price well above the estimate of $400 - $600.

John James Audubon, Barnacle Goose, London: Havell, 1836.

Decorative graphics and Natural History prints also sold well. John James Audubon's Barnacle Goose, Plate CCXCVI from his mammoth portfolio Birds of America, a historical benchmark of ornithological illustrations, sold for $5,040.

Thursday's Top Lots: Americana & Ocean Liner Memorabilia

2011-12-05T14:42:00.001-05:00

Thursday’s sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana /Ocean Liner Memorabilia saw an unusually high number of registered bidders. The American Revolution and Civil War sectionsof the Americana sale attracted the strongest interest, and led to some impressive results.

Thomas Houseworth & Co., Pacific Coast Scenery (detail), San Francisco, 1872.

A scarce and important 1872 album of California photographs by Thomas Houseworth, estimated at $2,000 to $3,000 due to condition problems,nonetheless brought $21,600 in a fierce battle between eight telephone bidders.

Gazette of the United States, first newspaper printing of the Bill of Rights (detail), New York, 3 October 1789.

Two lots tied for the position of top lot in this auction: the first newspaper printing of the Bill of Rights, and an archive of military correspondence from King George’s War each brought $24,000.

Photograph of Eugene Victor Debs from an archive of personal letters to his nephew, 1893-1925.

Two important lots were won by institutions. A group of letters by Socialist leader Eugene Debs went to Indiana State University for$6,720. A large collection of Muhlenberg family correspondence from the1820s and 1830s went to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania for the same price.

"Titanic" Plan of First Class Accommodation, December 1911.

The top lot among the Ocean Liner Memorabilia was the Plan of First Class Accommodation for the “Titanic.” The extremely rare deck plansold for $7,200.

The Collector's Eye: Bill Hunt in Conversation with Daile Kaplan

2011-12-02T16:05:00.001-05:00

Swann is pleased to announce that we will host a talk and book signing with author and photography collector W.M. Hunt.

Wednesday, December 7 from 6 to 8 PM. At 6:30, Bill and Daile Kaplan, Director of Swann's Photographs department, will discuss "The Collector's Eye."

On view will be Important Photobooks & Photographs (at auction December 13).

Please rsvp to 212 254 4710, ext. 305 or rsvp@swanngalleries.com

Surgeons OverSeas Benefit Auction - November 30 at Swann

2011-11-22T15:31:00.001-05:00

Swann Galleries is proud to be hosting the annual fundraiser for Surgeons OverSeas on Wednesday, November 30, at 6:30 pm. In addition to a presentation by SOS founders Drs. Peter Kingham & Adam Kushner, the evening will include a benefit auction by Swann President Nicho Lowry. Among items up for grabs are a Tour of Rockefeller Center, a three-night weekend in South Hampton, an original Salvador Dali print, and NY Giants tickets. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will also be served.

Surgeons OverSeas, the flagship program of the Society of International Humanitarian Surgeons, aims to provide support to local surgeons, hospitals and ministries of health to assist them in developing long-term surgical capacity. Tickets are still available for this event, which supports very worthy cause - they can be purchased on-line, here.

Barbara Kafka Book Signing: The Intolerant Gourmet

2011-11-21T15:33:00.001-05:00

Swann is pleased to host a book signing by best-selling cookbook author--and recipient of the James Beard Foundation lifetime achievement award--Barbara Kafka.

Kafka will be signing copies of her latest book, THE INTOLERANT GOURMET: Glorious Food without Gluten & Lactose.

Please join us for gluten- and lactose-free hors d'oeuvres on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 6 to 8 pm. (Books will be available for purchase)

RSVP to 212-254-4710, ext. 305 or rsvp@swanngalleries.com

Thursday's Top Lots: American Art & Contemporary Art

2011-11-21T14:31:00.001-05:00

Last week's American Art / Contemporary Art auction resulted in new records and strong prices all around, with both sections bringing strong prices. The top lot was Robert Gwathmey's excellent Prologue II, a large oil on canvas that sold for $72,000, an record price for the artist at auction. Prologue II and his Southern Farmer, which went for $43,200, were the top two lots in the American Art portion of the sale.

Robert Gwathmey, Prologue II, oil on canvas, 1962.

Wayne Thiebaud's Blighted Area is the earliest work by the artist to ever come to auction. The piece - made before Thiebaud started painting the vibrant candy for which he is known - was painted circa 1955 and brought $45,600, the top lot among the Contemporary Art.

Wayne Thiebaud, Blighted Area, oil on board, circa 1955.

Another major item was a group of drawings by Robert Mangold. Arc Studies: 4 Drawings, 1974, color pencil drawings on paper which explore material, shape, line and color, sold for $31,200.

Robert Mangold, Arc Studies: 4 Drawings, color pencil on paper, 1974.

Robert Gwathmey Paintings in Tomorrow's American Art Auction

2011-11-16T16:13:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning’s auction of American Art features strongexamples of drawings and paintings by a wide range of artists. Some of the moststriking works in the sale are by noted Southern artist Robert Gwathmey(1903 – 1988). Two pieces in particular, Prologue II and Southern Farmer, are the largest figural works by the artist to evercome up at auction.

Robert Gwathmey, Prologue II, oil on canvas, 1962. Estimate $60,000 to $90,000.

Gwathmey is known as one of the most celebrated painters ofAfrican-American life in the rural South. An outsider to the African-Americancommunities he depicted, his observational and figurative works are renderedwithout sentimentality, imbuing an unromanticized dignity into his subjects.His high level of empathy was aided by his own time working on a tobaccofarm in North Carolina. Herecalled, “Harvesting tobacco is difficult… I picked tobacco because I wantedto know the whole story… I couldn’t sit there and make a sort ofrepresentational [painting] and calling it priming tobacco, if I hadn’t done itmyself.”

Robert Gwathmey, Southern Farmer, oil on canvas, 1966. Estimate $40,000 to $60,000.

As an artist, he was heavily influenced by Picasso,whose influence can be seen in the tobacco leaves in Southern Farmer, and also largely influenced through his life’s travels. As a youngadult he worked on a ship, stopping in ports in Europe and the Americas, andvisited museums along the way. His style may also have been influenced by hisvisits to European cathedrals, and he mentioned at one point that “aftervisiting the cathedral in Chartres I was willing to believe that the stainedglass there was the finest visual art expression ever.”

Full Frontal Warhol Screenprint to be Auctioned for Charity

2011-11-16T14:32:00.001-05:00

AndyWarhol, Untitled (Sex Parts), screenprint printed in black on a green cloth, man's work shirt, circa 1980

Among the many fine Warhol pieces in tomorrow's auction of Contemporary Art, is an Untitled screenprint printed in black on green cloth, circa 1980 depicting a man's penis--a well endowed one at that.

The fabric comes from a man's work shirt, the print is 14 by 11 inches, and the work is signed by Warhol in ink.

Proceeds of the sale of this lot will benefit the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, a Seattle-based non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of thousands by providing health insurance, healthy meals, housing, education and dignity to people living with HIV/AIDS. LLAA is the Pacific Northwest's leading AIDS service organization.

Friday's Top Lots: Rare & Important Travel Posters

2011-11-14T16:28:00.001-05:00

Friday’s Rare & Important Travel Posters sale was atremendous success, and a host of new and returning collectors came out inunexpected force to bid on the scarce and desirable lots.

White Star Line / Titanic (detail), New York, 1912.

The top four lots all set auction records with their verystrong prices. A White Star Line / Titanic poster from 1912 advertising third-class tariffs on theill-fated ship’s return voyage sold for $72,000.

Montauk Beach, New York, circa 1929.

Montauk Beach, circa 1929, a poster by an unknown designer, marks the development of Montauk in the late 1920s as a destinationfor the wealthy, and evokes the spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel TheGreat Gatsby. Friday’ssale was the first time this poster has been seen at auction, and it brought$31,000.

Gert Sellheim, Australia / Surf Club, Melbourne, circa 1936.

Gert Sellheim’smodernist Australia / Surf Club, circa 1936, doubled the previous record for any poster promoting Australia, selling for $24,000.

Tom Purvis, Cruden Bay, London, circa 1925.

A golf poster designed by Tom Purvis, one of two posters Purvis designed forthe Scottish golf destination, sold for $18,000. Cruden Bay, circa 1925, set a record for any poster designed by Purvis sold at auction.

Posters for the Windy City

2011-11-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

Among the many advertisements for tempting domestic and exotic locations in Friday's Rare & Important Travel Posters auction, is a particularly fine selection of images promoting Chicago.

Ervine Metzl, Chicago, 1924.

From 1924 are two images for Chicago Rapid Transit intended to draw visitors to the city's attractions: Ervine Metzl's evening view of buildings obscured by trees, which is reminiscent of the Beggarstaff brothers' cut-out collage style; and Willard Frederic Elmes's unusually large poster depicting a statue of war hero and politician John Alexander Logan that sits in Grant Park.

Hernando G. Villa, Chicago World's Fair 1933.

There are also five posters for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, which had the theme "A Century of Progress." These include Weimer Pursell's exceedingly rare Wings of a Century, which was designed to promote the Railroads on Parade pageant; Hernando G. Villa's design featuring a male figure with a laurel wreath on his head, indicating that it may have been a repurposed image from the 1932 Olympic Games; and a poster of the popular Skyride attraction by an unknown artist.

Unknown designer, Skyride, 1933.

Yesterday's Top Lots: Art, Press & Illustrated Books / 19th & 20th Century Literature

2011-11-09T16:58:00.001-05:00

Yesterday’s auction ofArt, Press & Illustrated Books / 19th & 20thCentury Literature saw activity in all sections of the catalogue, and for everysuccessfully sold item, there were numerous underbidders.

Andy Warhol, 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy, signed artist's book.

The top lot in the Art, Press & Illustrated books section was an inscribed and signed copy of 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy by Andy Warhol, an artist’sbook of 18 lithographs by Warhol, one of 150 copies produced. Among many quirkydetails surrounding the book are that Warhol hosted “coloring parties” to colorin the cats, and the fact that it actually only contains 16 cats named Sam,despite its title. It sold for $45,600.

Beatrix Potter, Mrs. Rabbit with basket and umbrella in the forest, ink and watercolor drawing, 1927.

In keeping with the animaltheme amongst top lots, another major item was an original Beatrix Potter illustration:Mrs. Rabbit with basket and umbrella in the forest, an ink andwatercolor drawing after Potter's original iconic image published inThe Tale of Peter Rabbit, London, 1902. In 1927 Potter re-drewfifty versions of her illustrations and offered them for sale to raisemoney for the National Trust. This particular drawing brought $14,400, arecord for one of these scarce images of Mrs. Rabbit.

James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris, 1922.

The top lot among 19th & 20th Century Literature was a 1922 copy of James Joyce’sUlysses, which sold for $14,400. Number349 from an edition of 750 copies printed on handmade paper, it was publishedby Shakespeare and Company in Paris and was originally sold by book dealersDavis & Orioli.

Penises and Pompadours: The Erotic Art of Franz von Bayros

2011-11-03T16:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks to John Larson of Swann's books department for this eye-opening post!

Frans von Bayros, Original pen-and-ink drawing, most likely a design for a bookplate, circa 1915.

Decadent! Erotic! Phantasmagoric! Fin-de-siècle grotesqueries! Gents and ladies disporting themselves, occasionally with a zealous attention by attending friends from the animal kingdom! The provocative work of Austrian artist Franz von Bayros (1866-1924) garnered all of these responses, though simple outrage was no doubt the most prevalent.

Erzählungen am Toilettentische von Choisy Le Conin, illustrated title-page and 15 erotic plates by Bayros, privately printed for subscribers, circa 1908.

On Tuesday, November 8^th at 1:30 pm, Swann Galleries will be offering a nice sampling for sale, spread among several lots, of Franz von Bayros’ erotic illustrations as part of our Art, Press, & Illustrated Books / 19^th and 20^th Century Literature sale.

Der Amethyst, with plates by von Bayros, Aubrey Beardsley (shown), Alfred Kubin, Félicien Rops, Maurice Besnaux, and others. Number 746 of 800 copies privately printed for subscribers, Vienna, 1906-06.

Typically, for an artist dealing with such imagery, von Bayros produced work under several pseudonyms, most notably Choisy Le Conin, and was hounded by authorities for much of his life for his “indecent” art. Yet it has been often pointed out that, unlike some other decadent or erotic art, von Bayros is keen to suggest the primal joy of sex, even while indulging an imagination that allows for the inclusion of such taboo or “exploitative” subjects as sadomasochism and bestiality.

Marquis de Sade, Le Bordel de Venise, 8 plates and 2 vignette pochoirs of orgy scenes by Couperyn [pseud. of George A. Drains], Paris, 1921.

For more information, including detailed descriptions and auction estimates for the von Bayros material and similarly themed erotic books and illustrations, view our online catalogue. The sale's preview exhibition is open Friday, November 4, 10-6; Saturday, November 5, 10-4; Monday, November 7, 10-6; and from 10-noon Tuesday, November 8, the day of the auction.

ARTnews's Milton Esterow to speak at Swann on Nov 15

2011-10-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Swann is pleased to announce an upcoming talk by ARTnews editor & publisher Milton Esterow "on the current art scene and how to look at art without feeling inferior." Set against a fitting backdrop, the opening reception & preview of our Contemporary Art sale, the evening is sure to be both interesting and fun. The event is Tuesday, November 15 from 6 to 8 PM, with the talk starting at 6:30. RSVP by November 8 to rsvp@swanngalleries.com.

Print Department Specialist Conner Williams with guests and jazz trio at the Atelier 17 reception.

Speaking of mingling, this past week's opening reception for the Atelier 17, Abstract Expressionism & The New York School auction was a great success. Guests enjoyed jazz and martinis while perusing prints by Motherwell, Pollock, de Kooning and many others.

Print Department staffers Erin Bennett, Todd Weyman & Brittney Ingarra at the reception.

A Freudian Slip of Paper: 1933 Analysis Bill Comes to Auction

2011-10-28T17:32:00.005-04:00

Despite the waning influenceof his work in contemporary psychology, Sigmund Freud’s ideas, personality, andimage continue to attract admirers. Freud’s importance to western culture isdemonstrated by the widespread familiarity of his name and of the notion of theunconscious mind.

Cinema has been greatlyinfluenced by his work—consider the films of Alfred Hitchcock from the 1940sand 1950s. Even today, Freud inspires important filmmakers: David Cronenberg’slatest film, A Dangerous Method, which screened early this month at the New York FilmFestival at Lincoln Center, is a fictionalized account of the relationshipbetween Freud and Carl Jung.

A practicing psychoanalyst or an avid moviegoer might beequally delighted by an item being offered in Swann’s November 3 Autographs auction. Lot 89, a brief note written out and signed by Freud on hiscorrespondence card, states directly and without ceremony the amount of moneydue him for 23 hours of psychoanalysis.

Freud wrote this bill for servicesrendered in 1933, a year of tremendous historical importance for the West. Inthat year, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, leading to the destructionor flight of some of the greatest scientific minds of Europe; the GreatDepression was at its worst, causing many to loose faith in the notion thatscience can solve our economic problems; and the World’s Fair opened in Chicago,celebrating a century of scientific progress and technological innovation. Alsoduring that year, the American recipient of the bill, Roy R. Grinker, Sr., visited Freud in Vienna to be psychoanalyzed for the purpose of furthering hisown study of psychology.

Dr. Grinker, who was among Freud’s last patients,later founded the now-defunct Institute for Psychosomatic and PsychiatricResearch and Training at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. For the privilegeof being analyzed by the father of modern psychology, Dr. Grinker paid Freud’srate at the time of $25/hour. Freud’s bill shows 2,400 Austrian shillings duefor 23 hours between the months of September and October. One can only speculate on whether Dr. Grinker got his money’s worth.

Records for Pollock, Whistler & Rembrandt in This Week’s Sale

2011-10-28T15:20:00.000-04:00

Wednesday’sOld Master Through Modern Prints sale, paired with yesterday’s Atelier 17,Abstract Expressionism & The New York School sale, brought nearly$3,000,000, and set print records for several major artists.

Jackson Pollock, Untitled, circa 1944-45. One of only two proofs.

A posthumously produced Jackson Pollock drypoint and engraving, Untitled, circa 1944-45, one of two proofs prior to an editionof 50 printed for the MoMA, New York, 1967, set a record for any print by Pollock sold atauction. Bringing $102,000, it wasthe top lot across both sale days.

James A.M. Whistler, Finette, 1859.

Among the stellar prints by Whistler in the Old Master through Modern section were five that set new auctionrecords, and each of these brought more than $20,000. The top Whistler lot, Finette, a drypoint and etching on Japan paper, 1859, sold for $84,000.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, etching, 1639.

The Old Master section of the saleearned over $1 million on its own, andsaw two records for Rembrandt etchings. Self Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, 1639, an extremely scarce printin excellent condition, brought $72,000, and Rembrandt’s The Descent fromthe Cross: Second Plate, 1633, a large print, sold for $69,000.

Atelier 17 and Abstract Expressionism: Notes from the Catalogue

2011-10-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Jackson Pollock, Untitled, screenprint on Strathmore paper, 1951 (printed 1964).

The 1940s marked the moment of Stanley W. Hayter’s greatest influence--not only among printmakers--in the emergence of Abstract Expressionism in America. The term Abstract Expressionism was not first applied to American art. In fact, the German Expressionist magazine Der Sturm, which featured art and writings by abstract-bent artists, fostered its beginnings in 1919, when it first used the term. The first instance of the term in America came in 1929 from Alfred Barr, founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, in describing the art of Wassily Kandinsky. The term was not officially coined to describe a sphere of influence and proverbial school in America until 1946, when art critic Robert Coates conveyed the stylistic approach of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock as belonging to abstract expressionism.

Willem de Kooning, For Lisa, color lithograph, 1984.

Hayter’s newly reestablished New York Atelier 17 provided an important link between printmaking and the emerging American artists. Many painters did not adjust easily to the rigorous technical requirements of printmaking, and some, including Pollock, made experimental prints, perhaps to stimulate and inform their work in other media. Many artists could trace the development of their artistic language through the Atelier and the abstract expressionistic tendencies practiced there.

While Hayter advocated both the theory and practice of automatism, he helped to fuse this Surrealist technique with the expressive power of abstraction. According to Hayter, “We had an experimental approach and created an environment where things could happen."

Robert Motherwell, Orange Lyric, color aquatint and carborundum on German etching paper, 1989.

Hayter embarked on a lecture series throughout the United States while also giving courses in Chicago and Brooklyn. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, printmaking departments became well established, and juried exhibitions and competitions also brought attention to the printmaking medium. The most prestigious of these competitive exhibitions were the Brooklyn Museum print national, and the Cincinnati Biennial of Color Lithography; these helped to legitimize the graphic arts, and made printmakers across the country realize that their creative community was large and more diverse than originally thought.

This Week's Top Lots

2011-10-21T17:15:00.001-04:00

There were two very successful auctions at Swann Galleries this week, with record prices and several lots that had never been seen at auction.

Monday’s Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books sale featured religious texts, classics, law books, works on anesthesia & medicine, as well as a selection of books of Iberian interest. The top lot, a book of music by Cristobal de Morales entitled Missarum liber primus, brought $33,600. It was the first time this book, a second edition of the first volume, printed in Lyon in 1546, had been offered at auction.

Cristobal de Morales' Missarum liber primus.

Another auction first was a Biblia sacra, a Latin bible printed in Salmanca, 1555. This first attempt to publish the Vatable Bible in Spain was suppressed by the Inquisition, and the book, which sold for $28,800, is one of only four known copies.

This 1555 Salmanca edition was placed on the first Spanish index of prohibited books in 1559.

There was a large offering of medical books in Monday’s sale as well, including works by Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie, and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s Some Account of the Success of Inoculation for the Small-Pox in England and America, with contributions by William Heberden, set an auction record, bringing $15,600.

Franklin's statistical account of smallpox inoculation in Boston is a first edition.

Fine Photographs were sold on Tuesday. The auction started with a bang when the very first lot, a group of nine early albumen prints of China from 1860, set off a bidding war that resulted in a price of $57,600, a record.

One of the nine images of China from the record-setting portfolio.

The top lot for the photographs sale was Berenice Abbott’s intrepid Retrospective Portfolio, printed in 1982. Consisting of 50 large-format silver prints taken from 1930 to 1960, the group of images brought $90,000, a record for this portfolio.

A selection from Abbott's portfolio, titled Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8.

Another top lot was Edward S. Curtis’s Canyon del Muerto, a stunning orotone dated 1906.

This piece was offered in the original Curtis frame with a caption label verso.

Love Is in the Air at Swann

2011-10-18T13:12:00.000-04:00

Much is said and written about the art market, with coverage of auctions often limited to top-selling lots and big names. But, every once in a while a more personal--even romantic--story emerges.

Jessica Miely, 27, Assistant Development Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
and Mac Joseph, 29, Social Media Marketing Manager at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group,
visit Swann Galleries' Fine Photographs preview.

Yesterday's auction preview was visited by a young couple shopping for a photograph that would be a wedding gift for each other. Rather than surprising each other with, say, a watch, or a pair of earrings, they saw an opportunity to begin an art collection together. The two agreed on an image that appealed to both of their tastes, and left an order bid for the lot.

The couple previews material with Alex Van Clief of Swann's Photo Department

Of course, when it comes to leaving a bid for an item at auction, there are no guarantees. It's a little bit of a gamble--just like marriage itself. But, we certainly wish them luck, with the photograph and with their wedding this December!

Atelier 17 in New York: Notes from the Catalogue

2011-10-17T13:05:00.000-04:00

Jackson Pollock, Untitled, drypoint and engraving, circa 1944-45.

The tradition of the artist-printmaker was not a fully developed one in the late 19th- and early 20th-century United States. Few American artists saw printmaking as a worthy endeavor, but rather a new and arduous process that was not worth their time and toil. When artists considered printmaking it was often as a means of reproducing their work, and they employed professional printmakers to fulfill their requests. Printmaking courses of the day promoted technical competence and picturesque subjects but did little to push the medium beyond second-rate status.

Gabor Peterdi, Combat, brush and black and gray ink and wash on paper, 1950.

Atelier 17's Stanley Hayter promoted the print as an expressive and experimental process for form and meaning. This approach appealed to those who were disenchanted with the provincialism and conservatism in American art--particularly in New York in the late 1940s.

Mauricio Lasansky, Sol y Luna, engraving, etching, soft-ground etching, aquatint, scraping and burnishing, 1945.

At the onset of the World War II, Hayter left Paris for London and finally settled in New York in 1940, after a short stint giving courses at the California School of Fine Arts. At the New School for Social Research, Hayter was given a small space to re-establish his workshop. The close proximity of students and intellectual discourse surpassed that in Paris, with students often going for drinks after class, discussing art, ideas and even personal matters.

The draw of the workshop was the opportunity to study, converse and work
at the same table with many émigré European artists, including Chagall, Miró, Dalí and Masson, all of whom had worked with Hayter earlier in Paris.

Fred Becker, Underwater, engraving and embossing, 1948.

Perhaps the watershed moment for the workshop’s re-establishment
came in the years 1944 and 1945, when the Museum of Modern Art organized an exhibition entitled “Hayter and Studio 17.” Among the exhibitors were Miró, Masson, Lasansky, Chagall, Calder, Lipchitz, and Peterdi. And, some of them went on to establish their own printmaking studios and programs at other American universities. These studios would perpetuate the spirit of the experimental workshop throughout the United States.

Letterio Calapai, Elemental Figure, etching and aquatint, 1946.

Others who worked at Atelier 17, and seem to have been influenced by ideas central to the studio, were artists experimenting with abstraction, including Reuben Kadish, Robert Motherwell, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Nevelson and Jackson Pollock.

Auctioneers in Action!

2011-10-14T16:09:00.000-04:00

Our dueling auctioneers battled it out last Sunday at two different benefit auctions in New York, with successful and energetic results on both fronts. Swann President Nicholas Lowry conducted the Garrison Art Center’s Artists on Location live auction, and Swann Vice President Daile Kaplan conducted the auction of classic and contemporary photographs at The Center for Photography at Woodstock’s Benefit Gala.

Daile Kaplan and Nicholas Lowry.

We are pleased to find our auctioneers' talents in such high demand for these fundraising events, even if they are competing for our attention by scheduling auctions on the same night!

Nicho Lowry in the Big Easy

2011-10-13T11:54:00.002-04:00

Swann President and Principal Auctioneer Nicholas Lowry is in New Orleans, and will be conducting the O What a Night Live Auction at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art tomorrow, October 14.

The auction offers works by notable Southern artists, and in past years attendees have included important local figures and celebrities. Below is an image of Nicho at the 2010 event.

This year, the Museum will honor the work of beloved New Orleans artist George Dureau and his contributions to the community and the world. And, event co-chairs Allison Kendrick and Anna Beth Goodman promise an unforgettable evening of art, music and cuisine with Southern flair.

Franz Krieger WWII Album that Became Internet Sensation Comes to Auction

2011-10-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

In June 2011, New York Times journalists James Barron and David W. Dunlap posted an article about a mystery WWII photograph album on the Times's blog, Lens, with a few representative images. Given the album's broad range of pictures -- Nazi solders en route to Minsk (the site of a concentration camp), political prisoners of war, a Jewish prisoner wearing a Star of David, Hitler arriving at Marienurg, as well as scenes of the photographer and his "frau" (a Marlene Dietrich-lookalike) -- the story was immediately picked up by Eines Tages, a site associated with the German magazine Der Spiegel, whose blog received more than 7 million hits in a single day!

An online reader in Germany quickly identified the pictures as the work of Franz Krieger (1914-1993), a former Austrian press photographer and businessman. Readers in South Africa, the U.S. and Europe posted additional information, clarifying the location or backstory to some of the pictures. Clearly the photographs still had extraordinary resonance and historical interest. Perhaps this overwhelming response may be attributed to Krieger's direct, if not artful, documentary style as well his special access to Hitler. Indeed, the album's narrative reflects a startling duality, alternating between pictures of the photographer's personal life and the military activities he was commissioned to document. The pictures offer glimpses into the quotidian nature of the soldiers' lives, which is counterpointed with compelling portraits depicting the victims of the Nazi's brutal campaign.

Now, this uncommon album containing 214 photographs from 1941-1942 is coming to auction. For more information, read the complete catalogue description.

Catch-22 Turns 50

2011-10-10T17:37:00.001-04:00

Today, October 10, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Joseph Heller’s satirical anti-war novel Catch-22. There's been much news coverage, and various related events are planned, including an October 19 reading and discussion at Symphony Space in New York. On Tuesday, November 8, Swann Galleries will be offering several Heller items as part of our Art, Press & Illustrated Books / 19th & 20th Century Literature sale, all of which are signed or inscribed, including a first American edition of Catch-22.

Few works have had the immediate and enduring impact of Catch-22. Not without controversy, Heller’s black-humored evisceration of “Good War” cultural assumptions would become increasingly relevant in the years following its publication, especially in the wake of the escalating Vietnam War. A film version—directed by noted filmmaker Mike Nichols and scripted by Buck Henry, the pair behind the 1967 film The Graduate—was released in 1970 and also proved a success. Included in the auction is the Final Revised Draft of the screenplay inscribed by Heller, in which he enthusiastically praises the just-seen film.

All of the Heller material being offered is from noted New York collector Frank Adamucci, Jr., whom Heller himself described as “far and away my favorite autograph collector.”

Other Catch-22 highlights include a signed British first edition; a signed, uncorrected proof of Heller’s dramatization of his most famous novel; and a wonderful association copy and advance proof that once belonged to W.H. Auden.

Atelier 17: Europe and the Early Years

2011-10-10T16:37:00.009-04:00

Stanley W. Hayter, Cronos, engraving, soft-ground etching and scorper, 1944.

This is the first in a series of posts about Swann's October 27 auction of Atelier 17, Abstract Expressionism & The New York School.

The informal co-operative printmaking workshop that English painter and draftsman Stanley William Hayter opened in 1927 had its modest and unforeseen beginnings at his own dilapidated studio in Paris. In 1933 he moved to a studio at 17 rue Campagne-Premier, from where the now famous printmaking workshop would take its name.

Joan Miró, Fraternity, etching, 1939.

Located in close proximity to Montparnasse, one of the liveliest quarters for artists, the workshop brought many casual visitors and serious students seeking training or advice on technical matters in printing. Among attractions of Atelier 17 in the beginning were the magnetic personality and technical prowess of Hayter as printmaker and teacher, and the presence of experienced artists such as the Surrealists Ernst, Giacometti, Masson, Miró, Tanguy, and others, including Calder, Campigli, Lipchitz and Picasso, who worked side by side with younger artists.

Yves Tanguy, La Mythe de la Roche Percée, etching, 1947.

Hayter embraced automatism in the 1930s, encouraging his students to work without preliminary sketches, not transcribing a drawing or painting but creating a unique work. He even encouraged them to destroy the plate, taking proofs of the plates from time to time. These investigations in line engraving spurred experimentation with different intaglio techniques such as soft-ground etching, scorper and embossing, as well as relief printing of intaglio plates and even plaster molds.

Picasso would drop by to converse on technical matters concerning printmaking, something he would explore at the encouragement of Hayter. Others, like Miró and Ernst, would visit sporadically, as they had their more intimate group of Surrealist colleagues with whom they exchanged ideas and exhibited.

Jacques Lipchitz, Couple et Enfant, etching, engraving and aquatint, circa 1940.

The printmaking work of noted artists was sometimes seen as secondary to their painting and sculpture, but the younger artists, whose techniques, styles and even ideologies were less developed, collaborated with greater personal meaning.

Max Ernst, Le Sonneur/Carte de l'Océan, color etching and embossing, 1950.

Money made from the few sales was often given back to the studio for supplies and those who had no money contributed their time to maintenance. In this atmosphere there were no teachers and all students, all learning from each other’s successes and failures.

Yesterday's Top Lots: African-American Fine Art

2011-10-07T14:55:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's auction of African-American Fine Art saw heated bidding from dealers, collectors and institutions, resulting in strong prices for works by modern and contemporary artists.

Charles White's powerful drawing of a worker was the sale's top lot.

The sale's top lot was Charles White's large-scale drawing Work, crayon and charcoal on board, 1953, which brought $306,000. It was the second highest price paid at auction for a work by White--the highest was his General Moses (Harriet Tubman), Chinese ink on two joined sheets of illustration board, 1965, which sold at Swann in October 2007 for $360,000.

Barkley Hendricks's Twins are typical of his cool, stylish portrait subjects

Also selling just below the previous artist record was Barkley L. Hendricks's Twins, oil and acrylic on canvas diptych, 1977, which sold for $108,000. The artist's Bid 'Em In/Slave (Angie), oil and acrylic on canvas, 1973 , sold for $144,000 in Swann's October 2009 auction.

Duncanson was the first African-American landscape painter to gain international renown.

Rounding out the top lots were Robert S. Duncanson's Untitled (Landscape), oil on canvas, late 1850s, which went to an institution for $120,000; and two untitled gouache paintings by Jacob Lawrence of Card Players, panels from a folding screen, circa 1941-42, $108,000.

These panels by Jacob Lawrence were likely realized while he was on honeymoon
in New Orleans in late 1941/early 1942.

Artist records that were set in the sale included Joseph Delaney's Low Key, oil on canvas, circa 1945, $33,600 and Loïs Mailou Jones, Marché de Kenscoff, Haiti, oil on canvas, 1962, $32,400.

This painting set a new artist record for Joseph Delaney.

One of the fine paintings by Loïs Mailou Jones from her estate that was offered in the auction.

Battling Swann Auctioneers!

2011-10-06T17:37:00.003-04:00

With so many good causes in the New York area, and such talented auctioneers at Swann, it's no wonder two of our big names are participating in fundraisers on the same day.

Swann President Nicholas Lowry will be conducting the Garrison Art Center's Artists on Location live auction this Sunday, October 9 at 3:30 PM.

Sixty miles north, Swann Vice President Daile Kaplan will be conducting an auction of contemporary and classic photographs at The Center for Photography at Woodstock's Benefit Gala, which begins at 5:30 PM.

For information on these not-for profit arts and educational organizations, visit their websites: http://garrisonartcenter.org and http://www.cpw.org/index.html. And, please support the arts.

African-American Fine Art Across the Country

2011-10-04T13:16:00.000-04:00

Hale Woodruff, Rape of Europa, oil on canvas, circa 1958. Estimate: $90,000 to $120,000.

Across the U.S. this fall, a bevy of museum shows related to the impressive works in Thursday’s African-American Fine Art auction have opened.

Norman Lewis, Promenade, oil on canvas, 1961. Estimate: $120,000 to $180,000.

Just uptown from Swann, at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Spiral:Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective, winds down later this month. The show includes masterworks by Norman Lewis and Hale Woodruff; the show’s Bonfire shares the same calligraphic “ritual” figures as those in Lewis’s Promenade, which is being exhibited for the first time at Swann since its purchase in 1961. The auction catalogue’s cover lot, Woodruff’s Rape of Europa, is one of only four known paintings from the Mythic series—one of the others, Africa and the Bull, is on view in the Spiral show. Charles Alston and Romare Bearden were also active members of the collective and their work is included in the show.

Barkley L. Hendricks, Twins, oil and acrylic on canvas diptych, 1977. Estimate: $100,000 to $150,000.

Washington D.C.’s Corcoran Gallery of Art’s “30 Americans" features African-American artwork from the past three decades, including pieces by Barkley Hendricks, Carrie Mae Weems and Kara Walker.

Throughout Los Angeles, a group of exhibitions have just launched under the umbrella "Pacific Standard Time: an L.A. Art Story." While mid-century American art emerged predominantly in New York, the West Coast art scene is not to be ignored. The Getty Foundation helped launch a collaboration between 60 Southern California cultural institutions—several of the shows, including Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980 at the Hammer Museum, charts the legacy of the city's pioneering African-American artists. Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, includes Robert Colescott’s painting, My Shadow, which comes from the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, as shown in the crayon drawing—evidently for the painting—in the October 6^th auction.
Robert Colescott, I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me..., colored crayon, 1977. Estimate: $5,000 to $7,000.

Robert S. Duncanson, Untitled (Landscape), oil on canvas, late 1850s. Estimate: $60,000 to $90,000.

And, of course, Robert S. Duncanson’s Untitled (Landscape) oil on canvas only taps the surface of the works in his retrospective, Robert S. Duncanson: The Spiritual Striving of the Freedmen's Sons, at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY through October 30^th.

Daile Kaplan Auctioneer at CPW Benefit Gala Auction

2011-10-04T12:28:00.000-04:00

Daile Kaplan, Director of Swann Galleries' Photographs Department, will be the auctioneer at The Center for Photography at Woodstock's annual Benefit Gala on Sunday, October 9th.

Held at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY, the event will honor FotoFest founders Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss as the 2011 Vision Award Honorees.

Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss founded the photo festival FotoFest in 1983

The live auction offers contemporary and classic photographs, and proceeds will support the creative programs of the Center, a not-for-profit arts and educational organization. There are photographs by Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Robert Mapplethorpe, Mary Ellen Mark, Aaron Siskind, William Wegman and many others.

Auction highlights include Aaron Siskind's Rome 135, 1977,
vintage gelatin silver print, donated by the Aaron Siskind Foundation
and the Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NYC.

Online bidding is also available, visit http://cpw.auctionanything.com for more information.

Bearden, Snail Mail Style

2011-09-28T13:12:00.000-04:00

Romare Bearden, Untitled (Scales of Justice), collage of mixed colored papers, circa 1976. Estimate: $40,000 to $60,000.

An email can get lost in your inbox, but a hand-written letter can last forever. And, you might want to save the envelope, too, if it has one of the new stamps commemorating Romare Bearden's centennial that the U.S. Postal Service is releasing today.

The issuing of these commemorative stamps, which come in four different designs, each with an iconic Bearden collage, coincides with the 100^thanniversary of Bearden's birth. Very few visual artists have received such an honor from the Postal Service, and there will be a launch celebration at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture today.

Swann has been commemorating the pioneering African-American artist’s centennial all year, and has highlighted significant works by Bearden in the February 17^th auction, and upcoming October 6^th African-American Fine Art auction.

The Bearden stamps are “Forever” stamps, meaning they will remain valid for the full first-class postage regardless of any rate increases. And, with the art of a 20th century American master like Bearden on them, they're already worth more than a mere 44 cents each.

Three Print Records Set at Swann's September 22 Auction

2011-09-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

Swann's September 22 auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings set three auction records for prints by important artists. Furthering Swann's position as the leading auction house for Whistler works on paper, was a new auction record of $90,000 for the artist's Upright Venice, etching, circa 1879-80, which shattered the previous record of $16,250 for this image. In October 2010, Swann established the record price for any Whistler print at auction with another etching of Venice, Nocturne, 1879-80, which brought $282,000.

Also setting new records were Edward Hopper's Portrait of Walter Tittle (The Illustrator), etching, 1918, which likely hadn't appeared at auction in the last 25 years. Hopper and Tittle were neighbors at 3 Washington Square and supported each other in their early years. The print has a handwritten inscription to illustrator Arthur Hosking, and was passed down through his family. It sold for $48,000.

Pablo Picasso's Portrait de Jacqueline au bandeau accoudée, color linoleum cut, 1962 also achieved a record price, selling for $72,000.

The Art of Giving Back

2011-09-21T16:18:00.005-04:00

Swann is a proud sponsor of the United Negro College Fund's first ever visual art scholarship--The Art of Giving Back.

To raise funds for the scholarship the UNCF is conducting an art sale with works by master artists like Charles Alston, Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis, as well as important contemporary artists such as Sam Gilliam and Glenn Ligon.

Works by these artists will be on view at the School of Visual Arts Gallery on September 28. The public is invited to see this African-American art exhibit, also titled "The Art of Giving Back" from 10 AM to 6 PM at 601 West 25 St., New York, NY 10001.

For more information, and to register to purchase these desirable works of art, visit www.artleadership.com

Celebrating the Art of the Print: Martin Lewis

2011-09-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

Quarter of Nine--Saturday's Children, drypoint, 1929. Estimate $15,000 to $20,000

Swann regularly offers works by Martin Lewis in the American Art sections of our Works on Paper auctions, and we have set auction record prices for some of his best known prints of New York City subjects.

Butter and Egg Man's Holiday, etching and sand ground, 1926. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000

Lewis was born in Australia, trained at the James Ashton school near Sydney, and sailed to the United States in 1900. After working as a commercial illustrator, he traveled to Japan where he studied Japanese printmaking. Upon his return to New York, Lewis began to produce his most celebrated body of work, etchings and drypoints depicting the denizens of the city in their everyday environs.

Chance Meeting, drypoint, 1940-41. Estimate $8,000-12,000

Many of his images capture the energy of the bustling streets, while others show lonely, barely lit street corners or vacationers with their feet in the sands of Coney Island. Tomorrow's auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings offers a fine assortment of prints by Lewis, some relatively well known, such as Chance Meeting, drypoint, 1940-41, some more scarce, like Butter and Egg Man's Holiday, etching and sand ground, 1926, which is one of only five impressions to come to auction in the last 25 years.