African-American Art from the Johnson Publishing Company

At Auction January 30

Artworks from the Offices of Ebony and Jet Magazines

Ebony magazine office, Chicago

We welcome a new decade with 100 fine artworks from the collection of the Johnson Publishing Company, a great institution of American publishing and an icon of African-American culture. The sale will feature paintings, sculpture and works on paper from diverse periods, with 75 artists featured, from Henry Ossawa Tanner to Carrie Mae Weems. The majority of the artwork dates from the period when the company’s headquarters building, at 820 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, opened in 1971.

Highlights from the Collection of the Johnson Publishing Co.

Dindga McCannon, The Last Farewell, oil on canvas, 1970.
Dindga McCannon, The Last Farewell, oil on canvas, 1970. $30,000 to $40,000.

Highlights are Moonrise near Kasbah, circa 1913, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, a beautiful nocturne of a Moroccan kasbah, and a significant midcareer oil painting. Richmond Barthé’s The Negro Looks Ahead, 1940, and Elizabeth Catlett’s Sister, 1973, are two important bronze sculptures.

Elizabeth Catlett, Sister, cast bronze, with brushed patina and inlaid eyes, mounted on a wooden base, 1973.
Elizabeth Catlett, Sister, cast bronze, with brushed patina and inlaid eyes, mounted on a wooden base, 1973. $50,000 to $75,000.
Richmond Barthé, The Negro Looks Ahead, cast bronze with dark brown patina, mounted on wood pedestal, 1940.
Richmond Barthé, The Negro Looks Ahead, cast bronze with dark brown patina, mounted on wood pedestal, 1940. $50,0000 to $75,000.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Moonrise by Kasbah, oil on canvas, 1912. $150,000 to $250,000.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Moonrise by Kasbah, oil on canvas, 1912. $150,000 to $250,000.
Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (detail), seven panels of framed chromogenic prints and sandblasted text on glass, 1996-97.
Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (detail), seven panels of framed chromogenic prints and sandblasted text on glass, 1996-97. $100,000 to $150,000.
Walter J. Williams, White Butterfly, oil on canvas, 1969.
Walter H. Williams, White Butterfly, oil on canvas, 1969. $30,000 to $40,000.

Significant abstraction includes Upper Egypt, by Kenneth Victor Young, 1971, Red Berries, by Thomas Sills, 1959, and Azo, by Francis Sprout, 1971. The Sills and Sprout paintings are currently on view in Theaster Gates: Assembly Hall at the Walker Art Center, Gates’s firstmajor museum exhibition. Carrie Mae Weems’s Untitled, 1996, seven C-print photographs with etched text on glass, commissioned by the City of Chicago Public Art Program in an edition of three, is an outstanding example of the artist’s work.

Kenneth Victor Young, Upper Egypt, acrylic on canvas, 1971.
Kenneth Victor Young, Upper Egypt, acrylic on canvas, 1971. $80,000 to $120,000.
Irene V. Clark, Mansion on Prairie Avenue, oil on masonite board, circa 1962.
Irene V. Clark, Mansion on Prairie Avenue, oil on masonite board, circa 1962. $5,000 to $7,000.
Loïs Mailou Jones, Bazar Du Quai, Port Au Prince, Haiti, oil on canvas, 1961.
Loïs Mailou Jones, Bazar Du Quai, Port Au Prince, Haiti, oil on canvas, 1961. $20,000 to $30,000.
Barbara Johnson Zuber, Jump Rope, oil on canvas, circa 1970.
Barbara Johnson Zuber, Jump Rope, oil on canvas, circa 1970. $1,000 to $1,500.
Ralph Arnold, Untitled, intaglio and color inks, with engraving and drypoint on metal, 1968.
Ralph Arnold, Untitled, intaglio and color inks, with engraving and drypoint on metal, 1968. $2,000 to $3,000.
Richard Mayhew, Departure, oil on canvas, 2006.
Richard Mayhew, Departure, oil on canvas, 2006. $50,000 to $75,000.

Browse Complete Catalogue: African-American Art from the Johnson Publishing Company

Exhibition Begins January 25

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

Saturday, January 25 — 12 pm to 5 pm

Monday, January 27 — 10 am to 6 pm

Tuesday, January 28 — 10 am to 6 pm

Wednesday, January 29 — 10 am to 6 pm

Thursday, January 30 — 10 am to Noon

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December 7, 2019
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Category: African American Art
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