Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Art — March 12, 2026

Collectors Discover Hidden Gems in 19th & 20th Century Art at Swann

Artist Record Established for Margaret French at $106k

Swann Galleries’ spring offering of 19th & 20th Century Art boasted a strong $898,715 total, settling nicely into the pre-sale estimates, and delivered six auction records.

Meagan Gandolfo, specialist for the auction, noted, “Our 19th & 20th Century Art sale continues to provide bidders with an engaging blend of material, with many bidders showing excitement and appreciation for discovering rare artworks and exploring specialized markets. Results were strong for American artists, such as Margaret Hoening French, Karl Priebe, Allan Capron Houser, and Julius Bloch. We also saw competitive bidding for works by European Modern artists such as Paul Signac and Pablo Picasso. We were delighted with the enthusiasm in the room and from afar, with 78% of the lots selling.”

Margaret Hoening French

Margaret Hoening French, Narcissus, tempera on wood panel, circa 1938. Sold for $106,680, a record for the artist.

The sale was led by Margaret Hoening French’s moving tempera on wood Narcissus, at $106,680, marking an auction record for the French. Hoening met Paul Cadmus and Jared French at the Art Students League in New York and became close friends. Hoening and French married in 1937, despite French being in a romantic relationship with Cadmus. The three artists often photographed each other on the beaches of Fire Island and Provincetown. These photographs are attributed to PaJaMa, an acronym using the first two letters of their first names.

Auction Records

Carolyn Gassan Plochmann, East Village, oil and acrylic on masonite, 1988. Sold for $12,700, a record for the artist.

Additional records of note included an artist record for Carolyn Gassen Plochman’s oil-and-acrylic painting East Village, at $12,700; Picasso’s color pochoir Guitare et partition, brought $24,130, breaking the previous record for the print set by Swann in 2022; Allan Capron Houser’s Untitled (Standing Woman), set a record for a wood sculpture by the artist at $8,255; and Sally Michel Avery’s Untitled (Seated Man), earned a record for a crayon drawing by the artist at $6,350. The sale saw the first oil painting by Dorothy Winsalde to appear at auction, Portrait of a Man, which sold for $2,286.

Dorothy Winslade, Portrait of a Man, oil on canvas. Sold for $2,286. The first oil painting by the artist to appear at auction.

Original Works on Paper

Paul Signac, Pont Royal – Matin lilas, watercolor and pencil on paper, 1910. Sold for $22,860.

Original works on paper brought exceptional results with Paul Signac’s 1910 watercolor Pont Royal – Matin lilas, at $22,860; Joseph Yoakum’s 1966 pastel-and-ink work Lake Occachobia near SeeBeriang Florida, at $17,780; Rockwell Kent’s 1927 to 1929 pen-and-ink drawing The Quadrant (for Moby Dick), at $15,240; Karl Priebe’s 1942 gouache The Harbor, at $15,240; and Will Barnet’s 2000 chalk-and-oil pastel and charcoal work Artist and Son (Portrait of Peter Painting), at $13,970.