August 15, 2023Nicholas D. LowrySwann View from The Podium: What’s Old is New Again Read more about View from The Podium: What’s Old is New Again It seems like a cliché in our rarified world of auctions to use the expression “What’s Old is New Again,” and yet, here we are in the heat of an…
Read more about Tenderness in Queer Photography August 15, 2023 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Tenderness in Queer Photography When you think of queer photography what images come to mind? For a lot of people photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe or Peter Hujar come up, especially their more provocative works.…
Read more about Advertising History: A Brief Look At the Use of Polar Bears in Ads August 1, 2023 Vintage Posters Advertising History: A Brief Look At the Use of Polar Bears in Ads For many of us, a polar bear holding a bottle immediately brings to mind the red and white colors of Coca-Cola. Polar bears as brand mascots–and even polar bears drinking…
Read more about Alphonse Mucha Postcards July 31, 2023 Vintage Posters Alphonse Mucha Postcards Coming up in our Vintage Posters Auction on August 3 is a remarkable collection of postcards by Alphonse Mucha. The collection, which represents nearly all of the postcards from Mucha’s…
Read more about LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History — August 17, 2023 Auction Highlights July 19, 2023 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History — August 17, 2023 Auction Highlights This summer’s LGBTQ+ auction is a testament to the growing interest in the newly defined area of collecting. As in previous auctions the material represents a broad and exciting swath…
Read more about A Look Back At Swann’s Book & Manuscripts Sales July 6, 2023 Books & Manuscripts A Look Back At Swann’s Book & Manuscripts Sales Winter/Spring 2023 Brings a Record-Breaking Season for the Books & Manuscripts Department Books and manuscripts had a standout winter/spring season at Swann. “As a company whose origins are as a…
Read more about Vintage Posters: August 3, 2023 Auction Highlights June 27, 2023 Vintage Posters Vintage Posters: August 3, 2023 Auction Highlights The summer poster auction features one of the largest and most impressive collections of Italian Liberty-style posters to come to market in decades. The more than fifty posters, Property of…
Read more about Illustration Art from the June 15, 2023 Auction June 13, 2023 Illustration Art Illustration Art from the June 15, 2023 Auction A standout offering of original illustration art features in the June 15 sale of Fine Books & Autographs. Below is a selection of highlights from the auction. Charles Schulz Charlie…
Read more about Records & Results: Focus on Women — June 1, 2023 June 6, 2023 Focus On Women Records & Results: Focus on Women — June 1, 2023 The house’s third iteration of Focus on Women on June 1, 2023, an auction dedicated to the contributions of women to art, life, and society, brought $361,090, a total more…
Read more about Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books: June 22, 2023 Auction Highlights May 31, 2023 Maps & Atlases Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books: June 22, 2023 Auction Highlights Our spring Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books sale will offer an arrangement of varied material for collectors of virtually any interest and level. Material reveals the…
Read more about Art from the Collection of Norman Dolph May 30, 2023 Contemporary Art Art from the Collection of Norman Dolph The date was mid-April 1966 and Norman Dolph sat at the soundboard at the ramshackle Scepter Studios on West 54th Street in Manhattan, recording songs by a quartet that included musicians Lou Reed,…
Read more about Fine Books, Autographs & Illustration Art: June 15, 2023 Auction Highlights May 24, 2023 Fine Books & Manuscripts Fine Books, Autographs & Illustration Art: June 15, 2023 Auction Highlights Our June Fine Books & Autographs sale features remarkable items signed by U.S. Presidents, musicians, and entertainers, as well as a special selection of autographs by historical figures who aspired…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edith Schloss May 16, 2023 Modern & Post-War Art Artist Profile: Edith Schloss Our May 25, 2023 Modern & Post-War Art auction features a wide array: from the Post-Impressionist era, a work on paper by Gwen John, up to the works of abstract…
Read more about Artist Profile: William Addison Dwiggins May 16, 2023 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: William Addison Dwiggins William Addison Dwiggins was a multi-hyphenate artist: book designer, typographer, illustrator, writer, marionette maker. He rose to prominence through his advertising and publishing work in the 1920s, winning the Gold…
Read more about Contemporary Art: Featuring the Collection of Norman Dolph — June 8, 2023 Auction Highlights May 16, 2023 Contemporary Art Contemporary Art: Featuring the Collection of Norman Dolph — June 8, 2023 Auction Highlights Our spring auction of Contemporary Art will showcase a variety of exceptional works in all media including painting, sculpture, drawing and limited editions ranging from mid-20th century Abstract Expressionism through…
Read more about Focus On Women: June 1, 2023 Auction Highlights May 9, 2023 Focus On Women Focus On Women: June 1, 2023 Auction Highlights Swann’s Focus on Women auction, scheduled for June 1st, pulls together an eclectic set of material representing women’s contributions to art, life, and society. From Louisa May Alcott to Elizabeth…
Read more about Early Modern Women’s Books: Scholar Sarah Lindenbaum on Gift Books May 1, 2023 Focus On Women Early Modern Women’s Books: Scholar Sarah Lindenbaum on Gift Books Cartwright, Comedies, Tragi-Comedies, with Other Poems (1651): Books owned by Mary Kemeys Sarah Lindenbaum is an independent scholar currently working on a book about the life and library of 17th-century female…
Read more about Swann’s Favorite Independent Bookstores of 2023 April 28, 2023 Swann Swann’s Favorite Independent Bookstores of 2023 Swann started as a specialized auction house for rare books in 1941 and we continue to hold auctions dedicated to the genre every year (as the saying goes: once a…
Read more about Modern & Post-War Art: May 25, 2023 Auction Highlights April 26, 2023 Modern & Post-War Art Modern & Post-War Art: May 25, 2023 Auction Highlights Our May 25th Modern and Post-War Art auction has a wide array of art from the Post-Impressionist era, ranging from a work on paper by Gwen John up to the…
Read more about Graphic Design: May 18, 2023 Auction Highlights April 21, 2023 Graphic Design Graphic Design: May 18, 2023 Auction Highlights Swann’s annual Graphic Design auction gets better and better with each passing year. As more people find interest and delight in the material, still others bring us wonderful material to…
Read more about Specialist Picks: Fashion Photography from the April 27, 2023 Auction April 19, 2023 Photographs & Photobooks Specialist Picks: Fashion Photography from the April 27, 2023 Auction Beyond Fashion: Photography in a Category Overlooked in the Fine Art Lexicon Though ostensibly fashion photography is simply intended to sell a product or a lifestyle, the category also offers…
Read more about Old Master Through Modern Prints: May 11, 2023 Auction Highlights April 11, 2023 Old Master Through Modern Prints Old Master Through Modern Prints: May 11, 2023 Auction Highlights Our Old Master Through Modern Prints sale will offer impressions spanning printmaking’s more than four hundred year history, including those rarely seen at auction. Our Old Master portion of…
Read more about Early Printed Books: May 4, 2023 Auction Highlights April 4, 2023 Early Printed Books Early Printed Books: May 4, 2023 Auction Highlights This spring’s EPB sale features the third installment from Ken Rapoport’s collection, showcasing a large group of pre-Restoration quarto plays (lots 1-143). Representation from Shakespeare will also grace the sale,…
Read more about Collector’s Guide: A Look at Whaling History on Paper April 3, 2023 Printed & Manuscript Americana Collector’s Guide: A Look at Whaling History on Paper The adventure, romance, and sometimes horror of the whaling industry have never ceased drawing the attention of collectors. Here, Rick Stattler, director of books and manuscripts, shares a selection of lots that have sold at Swann with a connection to the industry.
Read more about Records & Results: Spring 2023 Sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana April 3, 2023 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Records & Results: Spring 2023 Sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana The March 2023 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana brings $1.3M making it the highest-grossing sale for the category and the third-largest sale for Swann’s books and manuscripts department.
Read more about Rick Stattler’s Auction Selections for Spring 2023 March 29, 2023 Books & Manuscripts Rick Stattler’s Auction Selections for Spring 2023 Spring has just about sprung, and Swann Galleries’ resident Americana specialist, and director of the house’s books and manuscripts department, is sharing a selection of lots from the 2023 auction schedule that will put you in the spirit for the season.
Read more about Fine Photographs: Featuring 100 Works from the Stephen White Collection — April 27, 2023 Auction Highlights March 29, 2023 Photographs & Photobooks Fine Photographs: Featuring 100 Works from the Stephen White Collection — April 27, 2023 Auction Highlights We are excited to present A Singular History of Photography: 100 Works from the Stephen White Collection in our spring Fine Photographs auction. This dynamic sale tells the history of…
Read more about Artist Profile: Joseph Cornell March 20, 2023 Prints & Drawings Artist Profile: Joseph Cornell Joseph Cornell & His Own Brand of American Surrealism Though now considered one of the few American proponents of Surrealism, Joseph Cornell was apprehensive about the affiliation, once admitting to…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 13, 2023 Auction Highlights March 15, 2023 Printed & Manuscript Americana Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 13, 2023 Auction Highlights Our April 13 Printed & Manuscript Americana auction features an exciting an array of Civil War material represented by several diaries, including an officer on a desert expedition undertaken by…
Read more about African American Art: April 6, 2023 Auction Highlights March 10, 2023 African American Art African American Art: April 6, 2023 Auction Highlights Our April 6 African American Art auction features an exciting range of scarce and significant art from the Harlem Renaissance to the contemporary. We are thrilled to offer an outstanding…
Read more about Records & Results: Fine Photographs Winter 2023 March 7, 2023 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Fine Photographs Winter 2023 The February 2023 timed-app exclusive sale of Fine Photographs brought $996,156 with 220 of the 266 lots offered finding buyers, an 83% sell-through rate by lot. I am thrilled to…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edward Penfield March 7, 2023 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: Edward Penfield Edward Penfield, the Father of the American Poster “A poster should tell its story at once—a design that needs study is not a poster, no matter how well it is…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 30, 2023 Auction Highlights March 3, 2023 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 30, 2023 Auction Highlights Our March 30 Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale will offer an outstanding manuscript broadside of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, signed by the Vice President and 111 congressmen. It…
Read more about 19th & 20th Century Art: Featuring Dada & Surrealism — March 23, 2023 Auction Highlights February 24, 2023 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings 19th & 20th Century Art: Featuring Dada & Surrealism — March 23, 2023 Auction Highlights Dada & Surrealism We are especially excited for the current iteration of our annual Nineteenth & Twentieth Century Art auction offering a selection of 150 lots devoted to modern artists…
Read more about John Larson’s Specialist Picks: Five to Watch in the March 2, 2023 Sale February 22, 2023 19th & 20th Century Literature John Larson’s Specialist Picks: Five to Watch in the March 2, 2023 Sale John Larson, Swann’s nineteenth and twentieth century literature specialist, shares five exciting lots from the March 2, 2023 sale of Fine Books & Autographs. An Inscribed First Edition of Richard…
Read more about Photographs from the Richard T. Rosenthal Collection February 22, 2023 Photographs & Photobooks Photographs from the Richard T. Rosenthal Collection An eclectic collection driven by an eye for the interesting, unusual, and beautiful, as well as intellectual interests as wide-ranging as car racing, early cased imagery, crime, and botanical studies,…
Read more about Vintage Posters: March 9, 2023 Auction Highlights February 16, 2023 Vintage Posters Vintage Posters: March 9, 2023 Auction Highlights In our upcoming March 9 Vintage Posters auction there is an exceptional selection of over 140 European and American Art Nouveau posters, featuring many of the most sought-after artists of that…
Read more about Fine Books & Autographs: March 2, 2023 Auction Highlights February 7, 2023 Fine Books & Manuscripts Fine Books & Autographs: March 2, 2023 Auction Highlights Our March 2 Fine Books & Autographs sale will feature an outstanding selection of presidential autographs, including clipped signatures and signed letters by George Washington. More than three items are…
Read more about Mural Projects of the New Deal February 7, 2023 The Artists of the WPA Mural Projects of the New Deal In times of economic hardship, the United States government has stepped in to create jobs for the unemployed through federal programs. In such cases focusing on our country’s infrastructure is…
Read more about Fine Photographs: February 23, 2023 Auction Highlights January 24, 2023 Photographs & Photobooks Fine Photographs: February 23, 2023 Auction Highlights The Photographs season begins with an exciting online auction featuring an array of nineteenth- and twentieth-century highlights. The sale is headlined by Irving Penn’s exceptionally bold and textural Blast, 1980;…
Read more about The Signer’s Mark: Signatures of the Unlettered — Part II January 23, 2023 Autographs The Signer’s Mark: Signatures of the Unlettered — Part II Nineteeth Century America When thinking of autographs, the first thing to come to mind is famous signatures—John Hancock, Babe Ruth, Walt Disney, etc. Inscribed names with looping letters and distinct…
Read more about The Artists of the WPA: February 16, 2023 Auction Highlights January 13, 2023 The Artists of the WPA The Artists of the WPA: February 16, 2023 Auction Highlights Swann Galleries will open the 2023 winter season on February 16 with the Artists of the WPA. The sale marks the house’s third annual presentation of this category. In keeping…
Read more about The Signer’s Mark: Signatures of the Unlettered — Part I January 4, 2023 Autographs The Signer’s Mark: Signatures of the Unlettered — Part I Middle Ages Through the Seventeenth Century When thinking of autographs, the first thing to come to mind is famous signatures—John Hancock, Babe Ruth, Walt Disney, etc. Inscribed names with looping…
Read more about 2022: Year in Review January 3, 2023 19th & 20th Century Literature 2022: Year in Review 2022 was a historic year for Swann in more ways than one. The house celebrated its 80th year of auctions, bringing with it the 70th anniversary of the first photography…
Read more about Records & Results: Modern & Post-War Art Featuring Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene — December 2022 December 13, 2022 Modern & Post-War Art Records & Results: Modern & Post-War Art Featuring Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene — December 2022 Swann Galleries kicked the final month of 2022 off with a sale of Modern & Post-War Art featuring Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene on December 1 to great fanfare.…
Read more about Holiday Illustrations Featured in the December 15 Sale December 12, 2022 Illustration Art Holiday Illustrations Featured in the December 15 Sale The December 15, 2022, sale of Illustration Art features a selection of vintage winter and holiday illustrations by iconic illustrators such as Edward Gorey, Ludwig Bemelmans, Saul Steinberg and more.…
Read more about Collecting 101: Antiquarian Maps December 6, 2022 Maps & Atlases Collecting 101: Antiquarian Maps We asked Swann maps specialist Caleb Kiffer a few questions about what to consider when purchasing an antique map. How important is the map maker when considering a map? There…
Read more about Latinx Art in the December 2022 Sale of Modern & Post-War Art November 28, 2022 Modern & Post-War Art Latinx Art in the December 2022 Sale of Modern & Post-War Art Rafael Tufiño Rafael Tufiño was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Puerto Rico at age ten. He served in the US Army from 1943-1946 during the Second World War.…
Read more about Artist Profile: Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene November 28, 2022 African American Art Artist Profile: Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene Alma Thomas: Early Life & Career Born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1891, Alma Thomas was the eldest of four daughters in a family immersed in art and culture. The Thomas…
Read more about Illustration Art: December 15, 2022 Auction Highlights November 23, 2022 Illustration Art Illustration Art: December 15, 2022 Auction Highlights December’s Illustration Art sale marks ten full years of auctions since the department’s inception. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve included many of the illustrators who appeared in that first catalogue,…