May 5, 2021Swann CommunicationsPhotographs & Photobooks Photographs & Photobooks: May 2021 Auction Highlights Read more about Photographs & Photobooks: May 2021 Auction Highlights Exploring the thematic and visual diversity of the photographic medium, this auction covers twentieth-century masters as well as contemporary practitioners and items from the visual vernacular: albums, archives, and individual objects.
Read more about Examining Edward Gorey’s Market May 3, 2021 Illustration Art Examining Edward Gorey’s Market Edward Gorey is having a moment. Gorey has had many of these over the years—he was the quintessential multifaceted artist/illustrator/author who remains many things to many people: a master of…
Read more about LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History—At Auction August 19, 2021 May 1, 2021 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History—At Auction August 19, 2021 This year Swann Galleries holds a third annual auction dedicated to the art, material culture, and history of the LGBTQ+ community, bringing to market both familiar artists as well as…
Read more about Consign Now for July 2021: Focus on Women April 30, 2021 Focus On Women Consign Now for July 2021: Focus on Women As collectors and institutions turn their focus to the important contributions of women, Swann is pleased to feature their work at auction. We are seeking consignments that highlight the stories of all those in the community who identify as women in the fields of activism, art and design, community, education, entertainment, health and wellness, science and innovation, sport, and work. The auction will feature first editions, handwritten manuscript material, archives, and works on paper by historically significant poets, novelists, scientists, journalists, photographers, playwrights, performers and beyond.
Read more about Poster Designers: On Brand April 30, 2021 Vintage Posters Poster Designers: On Brand In the twenty-first century, when one thinks of contemporary posters and graphic design, the term “branding” may come to mind. Our daily lives are inundated with examples of branding—company logos, slogans & imagery—on TV, through social media, and of course, on posters. While the focus on digital branding is relatively new in the scope of art history, the idea of designers creating a brand identity for professional clients goes back over 100 years.
Read more about Master Printmakers: Picasso Working With the Crommelyncks April 30, 2021 Old Master Through Modern Prints Master Printmakers: Picasso Working With the Crommelyncks The following collection of scarce, early proofs by Pablo Picasso, as well as a maquette for an original ceramic, was painstakingly built by a California connoisseur and is now appearing at auction…
Read more about Modern & Post-War Art: May 2021 Auction Highlights April 27, 2021 Modern & Post-War Art Modern & Post-War Art: May 2021 Auction Highlights Featuring works by Elaine de Kooning, John Little, John Wesley, and Robert Motherwell, as well as works by members of the American Abstract Artists group, Museum of Non-Objective Painting, American Surrealism, The Irascibles, The Club, and in the movements of Color Field, Pop, Minimalism, Cubism and Synchronism, among others.
Read more about 13 Auction Records in Spring 2021 Sale of African American Art April 26, 2021 African American Art 13 Auction Records in Spring 2021 Sale of African American Art Auction Brings $3.9 Million – Second-Highest Grossing Sale in Department Thirteen-Year History Our spring offering of African American Art on April 22, 2021 was the second highest-grossing sale in the…
Read more about Selections from Letterform Archive April 21, 2021 Vintage Posters Selections from Letterform Archive At Auction May 12, 2021 This special offering of deaccessioned duplicates from the rich collection of Letterform Archive will bring to auction graphics, books, posters and examples of typography that…
Read more about Graphic Design: Auction Highlights May 2021 April 20, 2021 Vintage Posters Graphic Design: Auction Highlights May 2021 At Auction May 13, 2021 This auction is being held in tandem with Selections from Letterform Archive, at auction May 12. European Secession & Art Nouveau Lots 201 to 218…
Read more about Artists Working in Mixed-Media & Assemblage April 19, 2021 African American Art Artists Working in Mixed-Media & Assemblage Howardena Pindell, Betye Saar, Vanessa German, Bisa Butler, and Dindga McCannon are assemblage artists that apply found items and fabrics that previously held different uses or significance.
Read more about Bohemian Brothers: Beauford and Joseph Delaney April 19, 2021 African American Art Bohemian Brothers: Beauford and Joseph Delaney The Delaney brothers became well-known painters in the downtown New York art scene in the 1930s and 40s—while each followed their own distinct artistic path. Sibling artists both finding success in the New York art world is a scarce but not unheard of occurrence, yet there are very few African American visual artist siblings known today, and no other pair quite like Beauford and Joseph Delaney.
Read more about Two Day Auction Event: Selections From Letterform Archive & Graphic Design April 15, 2021 Vintage Posters Two Day Auction Event: Selections From Letterform Archive & Graphic Design A two day auction event featuring Selections From Letterform Archive on May 12, and Graphic Design on May 13.
Read more about Old Master Through Modern Prints: May 2021 Auction Highlights April 14, 2021 Prints & Drawings Old Master Through Modern Prints: May 2021 Auction Highlights With engravings, woodcuts, etchings, drypoints and more by both well-known and lesser-known esteemed master printmakers whose images have stood the test of time, from old centuries to the modern decades.
Read more about Self-Portrait Photography April 13, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Self-Portrait Photography A Little Self(ie) Love Whether you love them or hate them, selfies have become a large part of self-representation in contemporary culture. Though the term selfie tends to refer specifically…
Read more about Selections From a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints April 6, 2021 Printed & Manuscript Americana Selections From a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints Our April 15, 2021 auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana opens with a noteworthy collection of historical prints which spins a narrative of America stretching from the arrival of Columbus to the…
Read more about Lies in Publishing: Collecting False Imprints April 5, 2021 Early Printed Books Lies in Publishing: Collecting False Imprints Bibliographers, cataloguers, and scholars rely upon the veracity of a book’s imprint—that is, the publication information provided by the printer on the title page, and includes the following: city of…
Read more about Play Ball!: The Unlikely Tradition of Baseball Ephemera at Swann April 1, 2021 Swann Play Ball!: The Unlikely Tradition of Baseball Ephemera at Swann With the arrival of baseball’s Opening Day, spring is truly here. Swann does not handle baseball memorabilia in the traditional sense, leaving the encapsulated gem-mint rookie cards and game-worn jerseys to…
Read more about African American Art: April 2021 Auction Highlights March 30, 2021 African American Art African American Art: April 2021 Auction Highlights At Auction April 22, 2021 Early 20th Century & Harlem Renaissance Featuring the works of Henry Ossawa Tanner, Grafton Tyler Brown, Aaron Douglas, Norman Lewis, Charles White, sculptures by Richmond…
Read more about Spring 2021 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana Brings $1M March 29, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Spring 2021 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana Brings $1M Our March 25, 2021 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana brought interest from collectors and institutions alike, as well as buyers both new and familiar from across the globe.…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 2021 Auction Highlights March 23, 2021 Printed & Manuscript Americana Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 2021 Auction Highlights A rich offering that features a noteworthy collection of American historical prints, as well as sections of Judaica, and ephemera relating to colonization, the Civil War and Revolutionary eras, early Mexican imprints and manuscript cookbooks, as well as items covering Peru, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere.
Read more about Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to the SCLC Board in 1968 March 19, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to the SCLC Board in 1968 Any piece of oratory by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a part of the nation’s heritage, but the speech offered in our March 25, 2021 sale of Printed &…
Read more about Early Black-Owned Business Ephemera March 19, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Early Black-Owned Business Ephemera “Surely you are not going to shut the door in my face!” Since the establishment of the Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale in 1996, Swann has offered a selection…
Read more about Early Women Cartoonists of The New Yorker March 18, 2021 Illustration Art Early Women Cartoonists of The New Yorker The New Yorker debuted in 1925 amid the country’s post-World War I economic boom and on the heels of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to…
Read more about Early Printed Books: April 2021 Highlights March 16, 2021 Books & Manuscripts Early Printed Books: April 2021 Highlights Featuring illuminated manuscripts, including an ornate Book of Hours, Use in Utrecht, and a robust section of important early scientific texts by Nicolaus Copernicus, Euclid, and Johann Zahn. Medical volumes include a first edition of Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, among others.
Read more about Dorothea Lange, Ed van der Elsken, Peter Hujar & More Shine in March 2021 Sale of Fine Photographs March 15, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Dorothea Lange, Ed van der Elsken, Peter Hujar & More Shine in March 2021 Sale of Fine Photographs Our March 11, 2021 sale of Fine Photographs saw strong results across the auction with humanist works and portraits drawing interest from collectors. “We were pleased to see strength across…
Read more about Artist Profile: Peter Hujar March 8, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Artist Profile: Peter Hujar Peter Hujar was a leading figure in the vibrant downtown New York art scene of the 1970s and 80s. He chronicled the unfolding of public LGBTQ+ life from the time…
Read more about 5 Portrait Photographers To Inspire Your Collection March 4, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks 5 Portrait Photographers To Inspire Your Collection Photography is a particularly compelling medium for making portraits. The possibility to render oneself or another in this representational medium is relentlessly appealing, and in any given sale, we see…
Read more about New Auction Record for Frederick Douglass Autograph Set in Winter 2021 Sale of Fine Books & Autographs March 2, 2021 Fine Books & Manuscripts New Auction Record for Frederick Douglass Autograph Set in Winter 2021 Sale of Fine Books & Autographs The house closed out February 2021 with an exceptional sale of Fine Books & Autographs, which saw a 90% sell-through rate and exceeded the total high estimate, bringing in $522,632.…
Read more about Dorothea Lange & Photography as a Tool for Social Change March 2, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Dorothea Lange & Photography as a Tool for Social Change Dorothea Lange‘s iconic photographs from her time documenting for the Farm Security Administration, as well as her international travels, resonate through the decades since. Here we provide insight to the…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 2021 Auction Highlights March 1, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 2021 Auction Highlights Featuring material relating to Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Phillis Wheatley, Katherine Dunham, Kool Lance, and more.
Read more about Artist Record for H.A. Volodimer in Winter 2021 Sale of Vintage Posters February 24, 2021 Vintage Posters Artist Record for H.A. Volodimer in Winter 2021 Sale of Vintage Posters Our winter 2021 offering of Vintage Posters on February 18 saw the highest recent sell-through rate of the house’s large biannual sale in the category, “This is particularly gratifying under…
Read more about Claude Monet & George William Thornley: A Printmaking Partnership February 22, 2021 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Claude Monet & George William Thornley: A Printmaking Partnership At the end of the nineteenth century, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro rediscovered lithography as a medium both to recreate their artistic conceptions on paper and simultaneously achieve widespread distribution…
Read more about Ship’s Papers, Passports, and Privateers: Marco Tomaschett on Collectible Documents and U.S. Maritime History February 22, 2021 Autographs Ship’s Papers, Passports, and Privateers: Marco Tomaschett on Collectible Documents and U.S. Maritime History Water vessels played a critical role in shaping the early history of America. That U.S. maritime history is brief relative to some other nations is an advantage, because many artifacts…
Read more about Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road,’ Off the Rails February 22, 2021 19th & 20th Century Literature Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road,’ Off the Rails John Larson on the cinematic history of Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ An immediate success upon its publication in 1957, Jack Kerouac’s second book, On the Road, has maintained a…
Read more about Fine Photographs: March 2021 Auction Highlights February 18, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Fine Photographs: March 2021 Auction Highlights Fine photographs by Diane Arbus, Julia Margaret Cameron, Robert Frank, Adam Fuss, Dorothea Lange, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Irving Penn, portfolios by Ansel Adams, Berenice Abbott, Eugène Atget, Paul Strand, and more.
Read more about As Seen on TV: Vintage Posters February 12, 2021 Vintage Posters As Seen on TV: Vintage Posters Missing our Poster Auction Exhibitions? An easy way to see the posters Swann has to offer, right from your couch. Jennifer De Candia, our vintage poster department administrator, takes us…
Read more about A Brief History of Guinness Posters & Alice in Guinnessland February 12, 2021 Vintage Posters A Brief History of Guinness Posters & Alice in Guinnessland James Joyce allegedly proclaimed that Guinness was “the wine of Ireland,” and a 1973 ad for the company featured a reluctant drinker and the tag line “I’ve never tried it…
Read more about 19th & 20th Century Art: March 2021 Auction Highlights February 10, 2021 Prints & Drawings 19th & 20th Century Art: March 2021 Auction Highlights Featuring prints, drawings, paintings, sculptures by Mary Cassatt, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Wifredo Lam, Fernand Léger, Martin Lewis, Henri Matisse, Diego Rivera, Egon Schiele, Paul Signac, James A.M. Whistler, and Francisco Zúñiga.
Read more about First Auction of Artists of the WPA at Swann Establishes Four Records February 9, 2021 American Art First Auction of Artists of the WPA at Swann Establishes Four Records The Artists of the WPA were on display in our February 4, 2021, auction. The multi-departmental sale was headed by Harold Porcher, the house’s director of Modern and Post-War Art,…
Read more about Fine Books & Autographs: February 2021 Auction Highlights February 3, 2021 Books & Manuscripts Fine Books & Autographs: February 2021 Auction Highlights Featuring fine autographs by Frederick Douglass, Albert Einstein, James Dean, John F. Kennedy, Lord Byron, Richard Wagner, alongside literature and art books by Joseph Albers, Leonetto Cappiello, Ian Fleming, Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Ellison, and more.
Read more about ‘Saturday Evening Post’ Covers Pop in Swann Winter 2021 Illustration Art Sale February 2, 2021 Illustration Art ‘Saturday Evening Post’ Covers Pop in Swann Winter 2021 Illustration Art Sale Swann Galleries opened the winter/spring 2021 season with a robust sale of Illustration Art. The auction saw record prices for several works, as well as auction debuts from artists. Original…
Read more about Harold Porcher Explores Mexican Muralists & Their Impact on the WPA February 1, 2021 The Artists of the WPA Harold Porcher Explores Mexican Muralists & Their Impact on the WPA The Whitney Museum of American Art’s recent exhibition, Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945, was a comprehensive evaluation of post-revolution art in Mexico and the powerful influence it…
Read more about Illustrator Profile: Arthur Burdett Frost January 25, 2021 Illustration Art Illustrator Profile: Arthur Burdett Frost During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Authur Burdett Frost created thousands of illustrations for esteemed periodicals such as Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s and Life, as well as hundreds of oils and watercolors. His drawings,…
Read more about Vintage Posters: Auction Highlights February 2021 January 25, 2021 Vintage Posters Vintage Posters: Auction Highlights February 2021 At Auction February 18, 2021 Literary Posters Art Nouveau Bicycles, Automobiles & Aviation Food and Drink Skiing & Winter Sports Travel Fashion & Products Theater, Entertainment & Film Russian, War…
Read more about The Artists of the WPA: The Promise of a New Deal January 20, 2021 The Artists of the WPA The Artists of the WPA: The Promise of a New Deal On February 4, 2021, Swann offered: The Artists of the WPA. The first iteration of the multi-departmental sale, featured paintings, prints, photographs, posters, books and related ephemera by artists whose…
Read more about An Interview with Dick McDonough — Collector & Connoisseur of Golf Illustrations January 12, 2021 Illustration Art An Interview with Dick McDonough — Collector & Connoisseur of Golf Illustrations Swann’s January 28, 2021 auction of Illustration Art features 63 works of art (Lots 217 to 280) that are golf-themed, including original illustrations and rare printed posters and graphics from…
Read more about The Artists of the WPA: Auction Highlights February 2021 January 11, 2021 Swann The Artists of the WPA: Auction Highlights February 2021 We’re pleased to present this curated auction of WPA-era artwork, photographs, and related material. In the aftermath of the Great Depression, president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and its related agencies represented an unprecedented investment in art and artists, setting the scene for the twentieth century’s art movements, and establishing the careers of diverse creatives, including women, Black artists, photographers, and muralists.
Read more about Harold Porcher’s Debrief on the First Modern & Post-War Art Auction At Swann January 6, 2021 Modern & Post-War Art Harold Porcher’s Debrief on the First Modern & Post-War Art Auction At Swann On December 3, 2020, we held our first Modern and Post-War Art auction. The sale was met with enthusiasm by collectors generating success for a number of works on offer.…
Read more about Illustration Art: Winter 2021 Highlights January 4, 2021 Illustration Art Illustration Art: Winter 2021 Highlights This sale brightens up January with a collection of golf illustrations formed by the avid collector and esteemed author on the subject, Dick McDonough. Many of the famous illustrators represented here were fans of the sport, including James Montgomery Flagg, Arthur B. Frost, Lealand Gustavson, John Held, Jr., and Arthur Sarnoff.