Fall 2019: Contemporary Art

Upcoming Highlights

At Auction November 21

Pat Steir, Berlin Waterfall, color screenprint, 1993.
Lot 295: Pat Steir, Berlin Waterfall, color screenprint, 1993. $2,000 to $3,000.

Anchoring this auction is a special selection of works by women of the New York Abstract Expressionist school, notably Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell and Lee Krasner, in a timely celebration of the era and their overlooked contributions to the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence. Stellar works from this selection include Frankenthaler’s monumental color Mixografia Guadalupe, 1989, and several bright, bold color lithographs by Mitchell.

An exceptional offering of prints and originals includes a suite of four drawings by Sol LeWitt; Roy Lichtenstein’s 1967 color lithograph Explosion; large-scale prints by Alexander Calder; Jasper Johns’s Device, 1972; works by Andy Warhol; color aquatints by Robert Motherwell; and minimalist printed works by Donald Judd and Ellsworth Kelly.

Among contemporary European works are English Pop artist Richard Hamilton’s sleek Guggenheim Museum, a white acrylic multiple from 1970. On the cutting edge, there are a pair of six-foot-tall robotic sculptures by Enrique Castro-Cid, a pioneering Latin-American artist who rarely appears at auction, whose 1960s sculptures and assemblages explore the relationship between technology and art.

Complete Catalogue


New York Abstract Expressionist School

Helen Frankenthaler, Guadalupe, color Mixografía, 1989.
Lot 23: Helen Frankenthaler, Guadalupe, color Mixografía, 1989. $20,000 to $30,000.
Joan Mitchell, Sides of a River II, color lithograph, 1981.
Lot 17: Joan Mitchell, Sides of a River II, color lithograph, 1981. $12,000 to $18,000.

Pop Art

Roy Lichtenstein, Explosion, color lithograph, 1967.
Lot 196: Roy Lichtenstein, Explosion, color lithograph, 1967. $12,000 to $18,000.
Keith Haring, Untitled, lithograph, 1982.
Lot 226: Keith Haring, Untitled, lithograph, 1982. $10,000 to $15,000.

Postwar Works

Pierre Soulages, Eau Forte V, color aquatint and etching, 1957.
Lot 87: Pierre Soulages, Eau Forte V, color aquatint and etching, 1957. $8,000 to $12,000.
 Josef Albers, Duo H, machine-engraved Resopal laminate mounted on particle board, 1966.
Lot 160: Josef Albers, Duo H, machine-engraved Resopal laminate mounted on particle board, 1966. $25,000 to $35,000.

Recent Works

Lot 312: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Surveillance is your busywork), color lithograph, 1983. $1,500 to $2,500.
Vija Celmins, Saturn Stamps, offset lithograph, 1995.
Lot 307: Vija Celmins, Saturn Stamps, offset lithograph, 1995. $2,500 to $3,500.
Vik Muniz, Romy Schneider (from the Diamond Series), cibachrome print mounted on aluminum, 2004.
Lot 338: Vik Muniz, Romy Schneider (from the Diamond Series), cibachrome print mounted on aluminum, 2004. $60,000 to $90,000.
Jeff Koons, Balloon Rabbit (Violet), porcelain with chromatic coating, 2017.
Lot 329: Jeff Koons, Balloon Rabbit (Violet), porcelain with chromatic coating, 2017. $10,000 to $15,000.
Ai Weiwei, Study of Perspective in Glass (Deep Amber), glass casting, 2018-19.
Lot 354: Ai Weiwei, Study of Perspective in Glass (Deep Amber), glass casting, 2018-19. $7,000 to $10,000.

Exhibition Begins November 16

The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups with advance notice—send an inquiry to rsvp@swanngalleries.com.

Exhibition Hours

Saturday, November 16 — 12 pm to 5 pm

Monday, November 18 — 10 am to 6 pm

Tuesday, November 19 — 10 am to 6 pm

Wednesday, November 20 — 10 am to 6 pm

Thursday, November 21 — 10 am to 12 pm


Sign up for Auction Updates to get email notifications about new catalogues, or download our Live Bidding App and enable push alerts.

Buying at Swann

Selling with Swann

Complete Auction Schedule