The First Auction of LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History at Swann The Pride Sale An Exploration & Celebration of the Art, Influence & History of the LGBTQ+ Community We invited Eric Marcus, the founder and host of the Making Gay History podcast, to be one of the first to view a selection of highlights from our first LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History auction, the Pride Sale. From this meeting sprung Marcus’ guest introduction to the auction catalogue, which we share here: On Making Gay History Lot 117: Archive of 134 photographs by Hank O’Neal depicting Pride parades in New York City, each annotated by Allen Ginsberg, silver prints, 1970s. Pictured here is LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson – inscription reads: “If I keep dressing up like this I’ll save the world from nuclear apocalypse, but will anyone love me for it? I’ll have to save the world anyway. I know what looks good.” Thirty years ago I was commissioned to write an oral history book about my people. Growing up as a gay Jewish kid in far eastern Queens, New York, in the 1960s and 70s, I didn’t know I had a people, let alone a history. I knew about the Jewish part, but the gay part was a complete unknown. By the time I started researching my book, which I came to call Making Gay History, I knew a bit about the struggles LGBTQ+ people had faced and the fight for equal rights, mostly from what I’d read in the press and experienced on my own, but the gaps were many. Soon, however, I began to record intimate conversations with LGBTQ+ activists and champions of the past. Hearing firsthand about our rich, compelling, sometimes infuriating, at other times joyous history was a process of wide-eyed, breathtaking discovery. Sharing those stories—first in my book and more recently in a podcast of the same name that draws on the original decades-old recordings—was and remains a privilege. Lot 144: Harvey Milk, Autograph Letter Signed, as acting Mayor of San Francisco, March 7, 1978.“Don & Tony Thought you should have a memo from the 1st upfront gay mayor of any city – it’s for real!!! Warmly, Harvey Milk” I recently had that experience of breathless discovery all over again as I sat with Nicholas Lowry and his colleagues at a large conference table behind the scenes at Swann Auction Galleries. I knew they’d planned to share with me a sampling of the objects they’d gathered for a first-of-its-kind auction of photos, art, and ephemera related in some way to my people and our history. But I hadn’t anticipated that I was about to become a time traveler as each object catapulted me from a back room on East 25th Street in Manhattan to another place and time—to Harvey Milk’s office in San Francisco’s City Hall, to Candy Darling’s closet, and into Oscar Wilde’s hands. Lot 164: An archive of trans icon, actress & Warhol superstar Candy Darling, with personal papers, photographs & effects, circa 1950s-73. I think of myself as a story collector. I generally don’t collect things. But with each reveal, with each piece of history I held, I found myself wondering whether it would fit in my backpack (not to mention my budget). Maybe the portfolio of a hundred photographs of pride parades, each annotated by Allen Ginsberg—including photographs of iconic trans activist Marsha P. Johnson. Definitely Candy Darling’s sunglasses. But not the electric guitar covered with Keith Haring’s unmistakable figures. I’d have to carry that separately. Lot 191: Keith Haring, autograph guitar signed with a Haring drawing, circa 1985. Queer history has long remained invisible. And for good reason. We kept our lives hidden because the risks—of losing our jobs, our families, and even our homes—were too great. And we were so stigmatized by society that most of us didn’t think our history and the things that represented our lives and experiences were worth saving. And even once we began to fight for our rights, we were too busy looking ahead to consider saving what was past. Fortunately, there were savers among us. Lot 24: Walt Whitman, Memoranda During the War, Remembrance Copy, inscribed to Peter Doyle, from “the author with his love,” Camden, NJ, 1875-76. Some of what Nicholas and his colleagues shared with me that day brought long-ago history vividly to life, like a “remembrance” copy of Walt Whitman’s Memoranda During the War, inscribed by Whitman to Peter Doyle, from “the author, with his love.” With his love! In 1875! More than a century before I dared to sign things to a man with my love. Others triggered personal memories, and I found myself sharing stories with Nicholas, Daile, Diana, and Alex that were conjured by the precious objects I held in my hands, like the poster from the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. I almost had a fistfight with another student at Vassar College over that one. A long story, but I couldn’t help but tell it. And they graciously listened. Lot 124: A flyer for the first national March on Washington, 1979. So in this 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall uprising (a key turning point in the history of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement), get ready for a trip back in time—to a history you may not have known or perhaps lived and then forgot. Or a history that you will remember until the day you die. What you’ll find represented in this landmark collection is astounding, inspiring, and sometimes heartbreaking. A history that’s still there to be discovered, rediscovered, and saved for generations to come. Complete Catalogue Questions? Contact pride@swanngalleries.com Auction Schedule About Swann Share Facebook Twitter May 29, 2019Author: Kelsie JankowskiCategory: LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Tags: Allen Ginsberg Candy Darling Eric Marcus Keith Haring LGBTQ+ LGBTQ+ History Making Gay History Marsha P. Johnson Peter Doyle Pride Pride 2019 Pride Month Stonewall Riots Stonewall Uprising Stonewall50 The Pride Sale walt whitman WorldPride Previous Lewis Evans: An Overview of Creating ‘General Map of the Middle British Colonies in America’ Next Records & Results: Contemporary Art Recommended Posts Artist Profile: Antonio Lopez Illustration Art August 12, 2020 Notes from the Catalogue: Candy Darling LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History June 12, 2019 2019 Spring Season in Review Swann July 1, 2019