Fall 2019: African-American Fine Art

Upcoming Highlights

At Auction October 8

Lot 32: Walter Williams, Sunflower Girl, oil on canvas, circa 1951-52. $30,000 to $40,000.

A significant work by Henry Ossawa Tanner, At the Gates (Flight into Egypt), oil on panel, circa 1926, is among the top lots in the sale. A popular subject among his American collectors, this tonal and painterly canvas displays Tanner’s skill with nocturnal scenes. Elizabeth Catlett’s Seated Woman, carved mahogany, 1962, is the earliest of her wood sculptures to come to auction. Sargent Johnson’s Head of a Negro Boy, painted terra cotta, circa 1934, is an outstanding example of his modernist sculpture from the 1930s. Johnson made a small number of stylized heads of children in this medium, with few surviving works known today.

A striking 1966 oil painting by Hale Woodruff is an excellent example of the artist’s landscapes within the idiom of Abstract Expressionism. Not seen publicly in 50 years, this significant canvas shows Woodruff ’s continued evolution as an abstract painter through the 1960s. Kenneth Victor Young’s monumental 1972 acrylic on canvas, at almost ten feet wide, will be his largest work at auction to date. Abstractions by McArthur Binion and Sam Gilliam are featured among contemporary paintings, alongside works by figurative artists Emma Amos, Carrie Mae Weems, Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall and Sedrick Huckaby.

Browse Fall 2019 African-American Fine Art Catalogue


Fine Sculpture

Sargent Johnson, Head of a Negro Boy, painted terra cotta with a wood base, circa 1934.
Lot 9: Sargent Johnson, Head of a Negro Boy, painted terra cotta with a wood base, circa 1934. $80,000 to $120,000.

Browse More Sculpture for Fall 2019


Assemblage

Noah Purifoy, Untitled (Zulu series), mixed-media assemblage with leather, felt, suede, fur, wood & various found objects, 1970-71.
Lot 88: Noah Purifoy, Untitled (Zulu series), mixed-media assemblage with leather, felt, suede, fur, wood & various found objects, 1970-71. $35,000 to $50,000.

Women Artists

Lot 63: Elizabeth Catlett, Seated Woman, carved mahogany, 1962.
Lot 63: Elizabeth Catlett, Seated Woman, carved mahogany, 1962. $100,000 to $150,000.
Carrie Mae Weems, White Patty, White Patty, You Don't Shine, Meet You Around the Corner, And Beat Your Behind, silver gelatin print with printed text, 1987. $20,000 to $30,000.
Lot 136: Carrie Mae Weems, White Patty, White Patty, You Don’t Shine, Meet You Around the Corner, And Beat Your Behind, silver gelatin print with printed text, 1987. $20,000 to $30,000.

Browse More Works by Women Artists for Fall 2019


Abstraction

polka dot stains in a circle, deep purple, magenta and saffron moving inward by Kenneth Victor Young
Lot 95: Kenneth Victor Young, Untitled (Abstract Composition), acrylic on canvas, 1972. $80,000 to $120,000.
tan abstract composition with orange highlights and figures in black ink
Lot 36: Norman Lewis, Untitled, oil and ink, 1960. $60,000 to $90,000.
Lot 178: McArthur Binion, Macon: Blue, crayon on birch plywood, 2003. $50,000 to $75,000.
Lot 58: Hale Woodruff, Landscape No. 2, oil on canvas, circa 1966. $75,000 to $100,000.

Browse More Abstract Works for Fall 2019


Important Painters

Henry Ossawa Tanner, At the Gates (Flight into Egypt), oil on panel, circa 1926-27. $100,000 to $150,000.
Lot 7: Henry Ossawa Tanner, At the Gates (Flight into Egypt), oil on panel, circa 1926-27. $100,000 to $150,000.
Allan Rohan Crite, Play at Dark (Westminster Street, Madison Park), oil on canvas board, 1935.
Lot 10: Allan Rohan Crite, Play at Dark (Westminster Street, Madison Park), oil on canvas board, 1935. $75,000 to $100,000.
Lot 33: Hughie Lee-Smith, Landscape with Figure, oil on masonite board, 1952. $50,000 to $75,000.
abstracted figures of an artist and a model by Robert Colescott
Lot 152: Robert Colescott, The Artist and the Model, acrylic and pencil, 1994. $30,000 to $40,000.

Exhibition Open October 3–8

The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups with advance notice–send an inquiry to rsvp@swanngalleries.com.

Exhibition Hours

Thursday, October 3 — 10 am to 6 pm

Friday, October 4 — 10 am to 6 pm

Saturday, October 5 — 12 pm to 5 pm

Monday, October 7 — 10 am to 6 pm

Tuesday, October 8 — 10 am to 12 pm


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