2018: Year in Review A year of records, debuts and rediscovered works. As we reflect on 2018, we look back at an excellent year of auctions. In April we held our highest-grossing African-American Fine Art auction ever, a milestone for the category, and our September auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana was the highest-earning Americana sale in the last six years. To follow that up, we had our best Contemporary Art sale to date in November. Swann offered three major special collections this year: inventory from the renowned poster dealer Gail Chisholm, Revolutionary & Presidential Americana from the Collection of William Wheeler III, and a trove of artifacts from the Harold Holzer Collection of Lincolniana. We also recently launched the Swann Galleries App, where collectors can browse, bid and watch the auction live without any extra fees. Thanks to all our consignors, bidders and visitors over the last year. Here’s a look at some of our favorite highlights, and a few records: Africa-American Fine Art Charles White, O Freedom, charcoal with crayon & wash, 1956. Sold April 5 for $509,000, a record for the artist.O Freedom is currently on display in Charles White: A Retrospective. Robert Colescott, Down in the Dumps: So Long Sweetheart, acrylic on canvas, 1983. Sold October 4 for $329,000, at the time of sale a record for the artist. Eldzier Cortor, Sea of Time, oil on canvas, 1945. Sold October 4 for $245,000, a record for the artist. Autographs Kurt Vonnegut, archive of 12 letters signed, to his family, including 6 illustrated, 1930s-40s. Sold November 8 for $12,500. Thomas Jefferson, Letter Signed, to Major-General Nathanael Green, Richmond, February 1781. Sold March 22 for $35,000. Books 19th & 20th Century Literature Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan. A Play About a Good Woman, first edition, presentation copy, signed and inscribed, London, 1893. Sold on November 12 for $27,500. Emily Dickinson, Poems, Poems Second Series, and Poems Third Series, first editions, Boston, 1890. Sold May 15 for $13,750. Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poesie, unauthorized first edition, London, 1595. Sold March 8 for $149,000, a record for the work. Jean de Mandeville, Reysen und Wanderschafften durch das Gelobte Land, Strassburg, 1488. Sold October 16 for $106,250. José González Cabrera Bueno, Navigación Especulativa, y Práctica, first edition, Manila,1734. Sold October 16 for $55,000. Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics Gustav Klimt, Das Werk von Gustav Klimt, with 49 plates, Vienna & Leipzig, 1918.Sold April 26 for $106,250. Contemporary Art Louise Bourgeois, He Disappeared Into Complete Silence, portfolio with complete text and 9 engravings, 1947. Sold November 15 for $413,000. Alfonso Ossorio, Untitled (Sidrach, Misach and Abednego), mixed-media on panel, 1962. Sold November 15 for $125,000. Illustration Art H.A. Rey, Do you want to get across?, illustration from Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys featuring the first appearance of Curious George, color pencil, charcoal & watercolor with wash, 1939. Sold December 6 for $17,500, a record for the artist. Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, hand-painted collage. Sold December 6 for $20,000, a record for the artist. Maps & Atlases Currier & Ives, Across the Continent, New York, 1868, formerly in the collection of Thomas Winthrop Streeter. Sold December 13 for $62,500, a record for the image. Samuel De Champlain, and Pierre Du Val, Le Canada Faict par le Sr de Champlain ou sont La Nouvelle France, Paris, 1664. Sold December 13 for $22,500, a record for the map. John James Audubon, Fish Hawk, aquatint & engraved plate from Birds of America, London, 1830. Sold June 7 for $68,750. Photographs & Photobooks Constantin Bråncusi, Vu d’atelier [The artist’s studio], silver print, circa 1928. Sold October 18 for $125,000. Malick Sidibé, suite of 25 photographs of the people of Bamako, Mali, all in custom frames, silver prints, 1964-2001. Sold October 18 for $55,000, a record for the artist. Robert B. Talfor, Photographic Views of Red River Raft, album with 113 hand-colored photographs, 1873.Sold February 15 for $93,750. This is one of three known copies of the book. Lewis W. Hine, Powerhouse Mechanic, silver print,circa 1921. Sold February 15 for $81,250. Printed & Manuscript African Americana Frederick Douglass, signed cabinet card, by George Kendall Warren, Boston, circa 1879. Sold March 29 for $30,000, an auction record for a signed photograph of Douglass. Printed & Manuscript Americana Francis W. de Winton, Notes on pow-wows with Indians during an official tour of western Canada, 1881. Sold September 27 for $65,000. Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, Parts I & II, first separate edition, Philadelphia, 1777. Sold April 12 for $50,000. Prints & Drawings Pablo Picasso, Le Repas Frugal, etching and drypoint, 1904. Sold November 1 for $125,000. Rembrandt van Rijn, Bust of an Old Bearded Man, Looking Down, Three Quarters Right, etching, 1631. Sold November 1 for $37,500, a record for the etching. Pablo Picasso, Grand nu Dansant, color linoleum cut, 1962. Sold September 20 for $70,000, a record for the print. Vintage Posters Philip Zec, By Night Train to Scotland / LMS, 1932. Sold October 25 for $17,500. Man Ray, [London Transport] – Keeps London Going, 1938. Sold May 3 for $149,000, a record for the work. Special Collections Highlights from the Gail Chisholm Collection Georges Dorival, Vers le Mont – Blanc, group of three posters, 1928. From the Collection of Gail Chisholm. Sold March 1 for $13,750. Revolutionary & Presidential Americana from the Collection of William Wheeler III The 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden was overshadowed in South Caroline by the gubernatorial contest on the same ticket. The election resulted in riots, lynch-mobs and a contested victory for the governorship which is covered in the archive of 153 items which sold June 21 for $23,400. The Harold Holzer Collection of Lincolniana John C. Wolfe, Portrait of the beardless Lincoln as he appeared in June 1860, oil on board in a period wooden frame, circa 1860s. Sold September 27 for $40,000. Franklin H. Brown, State Sovereignty, National Union: Abraham Lincoln from a Photograph by Hesler, engraving, circa 1860. Sold September 27 for $21,250. Spring Auction Schedule How to Consign Share Facebook Twitter December 21, 2018Author: Kelsie JankowskiCategory: Swann Tags: 19th & 20th Century Literature 2018 Abraham Lincoln African-American Fine Art Alfonso Ossorio Alphonse Mucha Ansel Adams autographs books Charles White Constantin Brancusi contemporary art Currier & Ives Early Printed Books Eldzier Cortor Emily Dickinson Eric Carle Erik Nitsche Gail Chisholm Georges Dorival H.A. Rey Harold Holzer illustration art Incunabula Jean de Mandeville John James Audubon José González Cabrera Bueno Kurt Vonnegut Louise Bourgeois Malick Sidibé Man Ray Old Master through Modern Prints Oscar Wilde Pablo Picasso Philip Zec Philippine Imprints Photographs & Photobooks Printed & Manuscript Americana Prints & Drawings Rembrandt Van Rijn Robert B. Talfor Robert Colescott Rutherford B. Hayes Sir Philip Sidney The American Crisis The Very Hungry Caterpillar Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine travel posters Vernacular Photography Vintage Posters Previous Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books Next Upcoming Highlights: Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics Recommended Posts Danny Lyon’s Civil Rights Photography Photographs & Photobooks February 7, 2022 Diary of a Syrian-American Woman, 1908 Printed & Manuscript Americana September 26, 2017 Records & Results: Contemporary Art Contemporary Art May 24, 2018