This Season’s Successes: Winter-Spring 2021 Auctions in Review Swann is so proud to have not only made it through the heart of the pandemic but also to have done so with grace, professionalism and more than just a modicum of success. Throughout it all we were able to keep our focus and continue providing the wonderful services we are known for, in addition to carving out new and exciting niches in brand-new collecting areas. Nicholas D. Lowry, Swann Galleries President & Principal Auctioneer This season, Swann established two new sales, beginning in February with The Artists of the WPA, organized by Modern & Post-War Art Director, Harold Porcher, followed by an offering dedicated to the accomplishments of women in their field in July, curated by Senior Early Printed Books Specialist, Devon Eastland. Special collections on offer were the Dick McDonough Collection of Golf Illustration in our January Illustration Art sale; selections from a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints was included in our April sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana; in May we presented Selections from the Letterform Archive in tandem with our annual Graphic Design auction; and the season was capped off by the Feminist Collection of Harriet Lyons featured in our June Contemporary Art sale. Below we share highlights from this season. The Dick McDonough Collection of Golf Illustration Joseph Christian Leyendecker, Golfer Lighting a Cigarette, probable study for cigarette advertisement, oil on canvas, circa 1920. Sold for $30,000. Related Reading: An Interview with Dick McDonough — Collector & Connoisseur of Golf IllustrationsRecords & Results: ‘Saturday Evening Post’ Covers Pop in Swann Winter 2021 Illustration Art Sale The Artists of the WPA Arthur Getz, Untitled, (WPA Practice Piece), casein and tempera on Masonite, 1938. Sold for $10,625, a record for the artist. Related Reading: The Artists of the WPA: The Promise of a New DealRecords & Results: First Auction of Artists of the WPA at Swann Establishes Four Records Fine Books & Autographs Frederick Douglass, Autograph Letter Signed, recruiting help for his paper after schism with Garrison, Rochester, 1851. Sold for $112,500, a record for an ALS by Douglass. Related Reading: The Voice & Hand of Frederick DouglassRecords & Results: New Auction Record for Frederick Douglass Autograph Set in Winter 2021 Sale of Fine Books & Autographs 19th & 20th Century Art Francis Picabia, Sans titre (Le Rêve), watercolor, pencil, charcoal and brush and ink, circa 1930–32. Sold for $221,000. Printed & Manuscript African Americana Diary, photographs and correspondence of modern dance legend Katherine Dunham, 1935–2002. Sold for $52,500. Records & Results: Spring 2021 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana Brings $1M Printed & Manuscript Americana Bernard Romans, An Exact View of the Late Battle at Charlestown, June 17th, 1775, engraving, 1776. Sold for $32,500. Related Reading: Selections From a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints African American Art Howardena Pindell, Oval Memory Series: (Rhinoceros) Heaven, tempera, gouache, postcards, punched paper, nails, fluorescent paint, glitter and thread on board, 1980–81. Sold for $100,000, a record for the artist. Records & Results: 13 Auction Records in Spring 2021 Sale of African American Art Selections from Letterform Archive Vassily Kandinsky, Bauhaus Ausstellung Juli – Sept 1923 Weimar, color lithograph postcard, 1923. Sold for $9,375. Fine Photographs Robert Frank, Covered Car, Long Beach, California, silver print, 1955–56, printed 1971. Sold for $52,500. Related Reading: American Street Photography of the 1940s–50s Contemporary Art Alice Neel, Portrait of Harriet Lyons, color crayons, watercolor, gouache and pencil, 1974. Sold for $87,500, a record for a drawing by Neel. Related Reading: Collectors on Collecting: The Feminist Collection of Harriet LyonsRecords & Results: May & June 2021 Fine Art Sales Roundup for Swann Galleries Focus on Women Juana Inés de la Cruz, Fama, y Obras Posthumas del Fenix de Mexico, Decima Musa, Poetisa Americana, Madrid, 1700. Sold for $81,250. Related Reading: Devon Eastland on Caroline Schimmel & the Challenges of Creating Diverse Collections Driven by WomenRecords & Results: First Sale Dedicated to the Accomplishments of Women at Swann Exceeds High Estimate LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Tom of Finland, Home – Secured, colored pencil, 1982. Sold for $87,500, a record for the artist. Related Reading: Artist Profile: Tom of FinlandRecords & Results: LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Auction Bests Itself for the Third Year in a Row Browse the Complete List of Results from the Winter Spring 2021 Season Do you have art, posters or rare books and manuscripts we should take a look at? Learn about how to consign to an auction, and send us a note about your item. Share Facebook Twitter August 26, 2021Author: Kelsie JankowskiCategory: Swann Tags: auction records Records & Results Previous LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Auction Bests Itself for the Third Year in a Row Next Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana—At Auction September 30, 2021 Recommended Posts Records & Results: Illustration Art Illustration Art December 19, 2017 Top Prices for Portfolios in October 2020 Fine Photographs Auction Photographs & Photobooks October 27, 2020 2017-18 Year in Review Swann June 25, 2018