March 2, 2020Rick StattlerBooks & Manuscripts Before O. Henry: William Sydney Porter’s First Professional Commission Read more about Before O. Henry: William Sydney Porter’s First Professional Commission William Sydney Porter, best known to posterity as the author O. Henry, was raised in North Carolina and moved west to Texas as a young man in 1882. After a stint on a sheep ranch, he settled in Austin, TX, where he worked various odd jobs while exploring his interest in writing and drawing. Our winter-spring 2020 sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana on March 10 is set to offer O. Henry’s first professional commission. Here, Rick Stattler, the house’s Americana specialist, tells the story of the mining memoir that never came to be. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about The Rise of Illustration Art in the Public Eye February 21, 2020 Illustration Art The Rise of Illustration Art in the Public Eye Swann Galleries’ Illustration Art Director Christine von der Linn weighs in on the burgeoning category: Illustration art has the ability to reach people in a way that many genres do… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about 2010-19: The Decade in Review January 13, 2020 Swann 2010-19: The Decade in Review The 2010s brought Swann a number of notable moments including memorable sales, the establishment of two new departments, and the celebration of the 75th anniversary of our first sale. Here we take a look at some of favorite highlights from the last ten years. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Auction Record for Ilonka Karasz in Fall 2019 Illustration Art Sale December 12, 2019 Illustration Art Auction Record for Ilonka Karasz in Fall 2019 Illustration Art Sale Swann Galleries’ sale of Illustration Art on Tuesday, December 10 featured an array of original works, from well-known characters of children’s literature to striking New Yorker covers and theater designs. The auction was a success, with seven of the top 20 lots ultimately acquired by institutions. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Collecting the Works of Women Illustrators December 3, 2019 Illustration Art Collecting the Works of Women Illustrators Our fall 2019 sale of Illustration Art on December 10 features a superb selection of artwork by women, whose contribution to the field is only just beginning to receive the recognition it deserves. Here Laura Polucha, the cataloguer for our Illustration Art department, touches on the highlights from the offering including story illustrations, advertisements and cartoons. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about The Hot Bid Interviews Christine von der Linn for our December 10 Sale of Illustration Art December 2, 2019 Illustration Art The Hot Bid Interviews Christine von der Linn for our December 10 Sale of Illustration Art Sheila Gibson Stoodley, author of The Hot Bid, spoke with our Illustration Art Directors, Christine von der Linn about a special 1973 Charles Addams cartoon published in The New Yorker at auction December 10 in our Illustration Art sale. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about 2019 Spring Season in Review July 1, 2019 Swann 2019 Spring Season in Review A season of firsts. The 2019 spring auction season at Swann Galleries delivered an impressive range of sales, rife with auction premiers and record prices. We started our season off… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art June 12, 2019 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art Theater Portraits & Set Designs Lead Illustration Art Miriam Troop makes a stellar auction debut at $40k Our Illustration Art sale on June 4 saw a bustling auction room with… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Cataloguing History: Why we hold specialized auctions. June 10, 2019 Auctions 101 Cataloguing History: Why we hold specialized auctions. Auctions offer a moment where the sometimes-incalculable significance of an object is quantified. The price is reached through collaboration: specialists, consignors, the market, and finally, bidders convene in the room,… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Al Hirschfeld Theater Portraits May 23, 2019 Illustration Art Al Hirschfeld Theater Portraits “The importance and legacy of Al Hirschfeld’s theater portraits lie in that Hirschfeld gave us nearly a century’s eyewitness record of a very elusive art form,” notes specialist, Christine von… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Spring 2019: Illustration Art March 29, 2019 Illustration Art Spring 2019: Illustration Art At Auction June 4, 2019 Exhibition Opens May 30 – June 4 The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups with… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about 2018: Year in Review December 21, 2018 Swann 2018: Year in Review A year of records, debuts and rediscovered works. As we reflect on 2018, we look back at an excellent year of auctions. In April we held our highest-grossing African-American Fine Art… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art December 10, 2018 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art Illustration Art Sale at Swann Sets Six Records Al Hirschfeld’s Marx Brothers Tops Auction at $26k Our auction of Illustration Art on December 6 saw a bustling auction room… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about 2017-18 Year in Review June 25, 2018 Swann 2017-18 Year in Review The 2017-18 auction season at Swann Galleries was replete with record prices and rediscovered paintings, offering works created as early as the fifteenth century and as recently as last year.… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about The Many Illustrious Circles of Pavel Tchelitchew June 8, 2018 American Art The Many Illustrious Circles of Pavel Tchelitchew Multi-talented artists can appear in multiple departments at Swann. Our June 14 auction of American Art will feature highlights by Pavel Tchelitchew, whose work also appears in our auctions of Illustration… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Interview with Rick Meyerowitz: “A Literate, Civilized & Mature Fellow” May 25, 2018 Illustration Art Interview with Rick Meyerowitz: “A Literate, Civilized & Mature Fellow” Artist and illustrator Rick Meyerowitz was kind enough to talk to us in advance of our June 5 sale of Illustration Art, which will include highlights from his personal collection,… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Illustration Art March 13, 2018 Illustration Art A Look Inside the Catalogue: Illustration Art At Auction June 5 A look inside the highly-anticipated catalogue for our upcoming Illustration Art auction. Complete Catalogue Comic Strips Comics that defined the twentieth century include Peanuts strips by… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art December 19, 2017 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art The grand finale of our 2017 roster was a successful auction of Illustration Art on December 14. Highlights of the sale ranged from large-scale oil paintings to sentimental children’s characters… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Ingeborg Willy & the Making of Snow White December 7, 2017 Illustration Art Ingeborg Willy & the Making of Snow White A scrapbook, presumably kept by an inker at Walt Disney Studios, reveals much about the production of Snow White. The album is a highlight in our December 14 auction of Illustration… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Spring 2017 June 16, 2017 Swann Records & Results: Spring 2017 The spring 2017 season at Swann Galleries marked the 75th anniversary of our first auction. On March 27, 1942, Benjamin Swann held an auction dedicated to rare and antiquarian books.… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art March 23, 2017 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art On Tuesday, March 21, we held our spring auction of Illustration Art. The biannual sale offers original works of art intended for publication; it finished with an 83% sell-through rate, and many… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art Draws A Crowd September 30, 2016 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art Draws A Crowd Our September 29, 2016 auction of Illustration Art offered works by Ludwig Bemelmans, Howard Chandler Christy and Man Ray to a room packed with eager buyers. The sale broke five auction records and covered… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Aubrey Beardsley & Le Morte d’Arthur September 28, 2016 Illustration Art Aubrey Beardsley & Le Morte d’Arthur On September 29, five rare pen-and-ink illustrations for Aubrey Beardsley’s first published work, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, 1893-94, are coming to auction. The two-year publishing project was an… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about New Yorker Covers Return September 23, 2016 Illustration Art New Yorker Covers Return This fall at Swann, we continue our tradition of offering a spectacular selection of original New Yorker covers and cartoons. The cover of the New Yorker is one of the most… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about One Bid, Two Bid, Phone Bid, Floor Bid: Dr. Seuss at Swann September 12, 2016 Illustration Art One Bid, Two Bid, Phone Bid, Floor Bid: Dr. Seuss at Swann Hold on to your cats in hats– a rare original watercolor of a rediscovered Dr. Seuss story will be available at our September 29 sale of Illustration Art. Tadd and Todd… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about 2015-16: A Year of Records August 16, 2016 Swann 2015-16: A Year of Records Last year Swann Galleries saw 95 records and first appearances across 31 sales with some of our departments even breaking their own records. Treasures ranging from previously unknown works to… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Margins, Notes & Stamps: The Bones of Illustration Art March 23, 2016 Illustration Art Margins, Notes & Stamps: The Bones of Illustration Art One of the most appealing qualities of Illustration Art is the physical evidence of the creative process that goes into its making. Here’s Christine von der Linn, specialist in the department:… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Illustration Art March 9, 2016 Illustration Art Records & Results: Illustration Art The success of our January 28 auction of Illustration Art displayed a clear rise in interest in this collecting category, prompting our specialists to expand the department and add a second… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about A Look at Original Cover Art From The New Yorker January 26, 2016 Illustration Art A Look at Original Cover Art From The New Yorker Whether they are humorous or heartfelt, simple or striking, the cover image chosen for each issue of The New Yorker bears the heavy burden; the cover must not only grab… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Man-Cave-iana: You’ll Know It When You See It January 12, 2016 Illustration Art Man-Cave-iana: You’ll Know It When You See It Our annual sale of Illustration Art is about to get underway, and with it we see the return of one of our favorite pet genres, “Man-Cave-iana.” Unsure of exactly what… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Howard Chandler Christy’s “I Am An American!” January 8, 2016 Illustration Art Notes from the Catalogue: Howard Chandler Christy’s “I Am An American!” Our fourth annual auction of Illustration Art features the auction debut of Howard Chandler Christy’s large and masterly drawing for the poster I Am an American!, created for the 1941… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Ethel Reed: Talent, Mystery, Tragedy. July 13, 2015 Vintage Posters Ethel Reed: Talent, Mystery, Tragedy. “I’ve always thought that the most interesting people are the people with secrets, and here was a secret on a grand scale.”-William S. Peterson Lot 16. Ethel Reed, Is Polite… Share Facebook Twitter
January 16, 2015 Illustration Art Notes from the Catalogue: Jane Breskin Zalben Among the many well-known illustrators featured in our January 22 auction are a few artists whose work has never been seen at auction before. Award-winning artist Jane Breskin Zalben has… Share Facebook Twitter
December 22, 2014 Illustration Art Who Kissed Santa Claus? The Cover Behind It All Our Illustration Art auction on January 22 features a section of works by cartoonists and cover artists from The New Yorker magazine. As the January catalogue is sent off to… Share Facebook Twitter
September 4, 2014 Illustration Art 75 years of Madeline In honor of the 75th anniversary of everyone’s favorite French schoolgirl, our Art Books specialist Christine von der Linn submitted this post. A featured item in our inaugural Illustration auction… Share Facebook Twitter
February 11, 2014 Art Press & Illustrated Books The Glory of Gorey: Swann to Offer the Sam Speigel Collection On May 7, Swann will auction one of the top private collections of Edward Gorey books, illustrations and ephemera as part of our Art, Press & Illustrated Books sale. Below,… Share Facebook Twitter
January 22, 2014 Illustration Art Of Provenance & Peter Rabbit Christine von der Linn, Swann’s Art & Illustrated Books expert, shares some insight into this week’s 20th Century Illustration auction: One of the challenges of putting together a sale of… Share Facebook Twitter