Title: THE GOLDEN STATE MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART COLLECTION
Date: October 4, 2007
Time: 2:00 PM
Exhibition: Saturday, September 29, 10-4
Monday, October 1, 10-6
Tuesday, October 2, 10-8
Wednesday, October 3, 10-6
Thursday, October 4, 10-noon
Contact Person: Nigel Freeman
nfreeman@swanngalleries.com

On Thursday, October 4, Swann Galleries auctioned 94 works of art from the African-American Art Collection of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, one of the oldest African-American owned insurance companies in the United States. This was the second auction organized by Swann's newly formed African-American Fine Art Department, and it brought more than $1.54 million.

Nigel Freeman, Director of the Department said, “There was enormous interest in all the works from this historic collection. The strong results demonstrate the tremendous growth in appreciation of these artists, from important masters to artists whose works were offered at auction for the first time.”

A whopping 31 artist records were set for works by famous and lesser-known artists—23 of those were for artists whose work had never appeared at auction before.