Swann Galleries offered the single-owner collection of African American art, Abstract Beauty: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim, on Thursday, February 6. The auction was an overall success, with 98% of…
2024 was an eventful year for Swann that brought about exciting changes, including the reorganization of our Fine Art Department, which saw Nigel Freeman step in as the head of…
The November 26, 2024, Contemporary Art auction served as the first with Nigel Freeman as Swann’s head of fine art. “High prices for excellent examples of Pop art prints by…
Swann’s Thursday, November 21 auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana brought $608,036, landing squarely in the pre-sale estimates, with 234 of the 320 lots offered finding buyers. Of the auction,…
After 10 years with Swann and the reorganization of the house’s fine art offerings, Lisa Crescenzo is now the Managing Director of Fine Art. As she transitions into her new…
Picking a favorite work of art in our season’s auction lineup is kind of like picking a favorite puppy in a litter. I love them all in different ways, and…
African American Art Sets Six Artist Records The Thursday, October 3, 2024, sale of African American Art at Swann brought $3M and saw top prices for artists, with six records…
As a specialized auction house, Swann has the unique ability to connect collectors with their specific interests. This is especially true for aviation collectors; the auctions from our books and…
Swann Galleries announced on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, the reorganization of their fine art offerings under the leadership of Nigel Freeman. This change comes with the news of the retirement…
Swann Galleries’ spring offering of Fine Books on April 11, 2024, brought $974,793, with 84% of the lots finding buyers. The auction was the first of a combined format featuring…
Swann Galleries’ April 4, 2024 sale of African American Art brought crowds back to the sale room with a selection of standout modernist works alongside a contemporary selection sold to…
In celebration of the changing of the seasons we’re sharing a selection of works coming up for auction this month at Swann that are sure to inspire.
Swann’s March 21, 2024 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana proved once again to be a success among institutions and collectors alike. The sale brought $967,061, closing well within…
The March 14 sale of 19th & 20th Century Art features a strong selection of original artworks, among them a run of those working in Eastern Europe in the first…
“The Subculture Sale was an exciting foray into relatively new territory for Swann Galleries, not focusing on works from previous centuries, but, on the personally memorable. Among the scores of…
Swann Galleries opened the winter 2024 season with the fourth iteration of The Artist of the WPA. The timed online auction closed Thursday, January 25, with an 89% sell-through rate…
Swann Galleries continued to offer exceptional auctions of quality material in 2023. The year featured several collections, including a special selection of 100 works from the Stephen White collection in…
The December 14, 2023 auction of Illustration Art at Swann Galleries features a selection of original animation cels from Walt Disney Studios’ iconic films. Lot 15: Harry Reeves, Reflection in…
The start of the fall 2023 auction season at Swann brought Skye Lacerte as a new specialist for the Illustration Art department. Ahead of the December 14 sale, we sat…
Our Prints & Drawings department shares their picks for the November 16, 2023, sale of Contemporary Art.
Swann Galleries’ October 19 sale of African American Art proved consistent among new contemporary artists and auction house favorites. Regarding the auction, department director Nigel Freeman noted, “I’m very happy…
Autographs The spirits of conflict and exploration are intertwined in the autographs on offer. Among the most respected explorers of the unknown are scientists, each of whom must contend with…
The August 17, 2023, LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History auction was a testament to the growing interest in the newly defined area of collecting. In keeping with previous years,…
Winter/Spring 2023 Brings a Record-Breaking Season for the Books & Manuscripts Department Books and manuscripts had a standout winter/spring season at Swann. “As a company whose origins are as a…
A standout offering of original illustration art features in the June 15 sale of Fine Books & Autographs. Below is a selection of highlights from the auction. Charles Schulz Charlie…
The house’s third iteration of Focus on Women on June 1, 2023, an auction dedicated to the contributions of women to art, life, and society, brought $361,090, a total more…
Swann started as a specialized auction house for rare books in 1941 and we continue to hold auctions dedicated to the genre every year (as the saying goes: once a…
Beyond Fashion: Photography in a Category Overlooked in the Fine Art Lexicon Though ostensibly fashion photography is simply intended to sell a product or a lifestyle, the category also offers…
The March 2023 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana brings $1.3M making it the highest-grossing sale for the category and the third-largest sale for Swann’s books and manuscripts department.
The February 2023 timed-app exclusive sale of Fine Photographs brought $996,156 with 220 of the 266 lots offered finding buyers, an 83% sell-through rate by lot. I am thrilled to…
2022 was a historic year for Swann in more ways than one. The house celebrated its 80th year of auctions, bringing with it the 70th anniversary of the first photography…
Swann Galleries kicked the final month of 2022 off with a sale of Modern & Post-War Art featuring Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene on December 1 to great fanfare.…
The December 15, 2022, sale of Illustration Art features a selection of vintage winter and holiday illustrations by iconic illustrators such as Edward Gorey, Ludwig Bemelmans, Saul Steinberg and more.…
We asked Swann maps specialist Caleb Kiffer a few questions about what to consider when purchasing an antique map. How important is the map maker when considering a map? There…
Rafael Tufiño Rafael Tufiño was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Puerto Rico at age ten. He served in the US Army from 1943-1946 during the Second World War.…
The Thursday, October 20 sale of Fine Photographs at Swann Galleries brought $1.2M with a strong showing for American photography and portfolios. Romana Javitz & Dorothea Lange The top lot…
The October 13, 2022 sale of Early Printed Books at Swann Galleries was the highest-gorssing auction of books in the auction house’s history at $1.1 million.
Swann Galleries’ October 6, 2022 sale of African American Art delivered $3.7M with auction debuts and records for artists in the top 15 lots of the auction.
Swann’s fall 2022 auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana held on September 29 earned $960k. Civil War-era material earned nearly $470,000 of that total. Collectors joined the sale through the…
Director Nigel Freeman shares his top eight lots to watch in the October 8, 2022 sale. Jacob Lawrence’s Westchester Graduation Ball, 1951 In June 1951, Westchester African American community leaders,…
Our prints and drawings department shares their favorite lots from the September 22, 2022 sale of American Art.
The winter-spring auction season at Swann is a masterclass in marathon training, and the 2022 iteration proved no different with 20 auctions held between late January and the middle of August.
Summer is well underway which means our auction schedule has slowed and our specialists and staff have a bit more downtime to catch up on their favorite books. Enjoy this…
The May 5, 2022 sale of Early Printed Books features the first part of the complete library of bibliophile Ken Rapoport. Below are some of the highlights from the selection.…
The spring 2022 offering of African American Art closed out the March auctions at Swann with an exceptional marathon sale bringing $3.6M and seeing an 89% sell-through rate with 214 of the 241 lots on offer finding buyers.
On Monday, March 28, ahead of our spring 2022 sale of African American Art, department director Nigel Freeman sat down with collector Bernard I. Lumpkin for a conversation on the growing legacy of his family collection.
On February 10, 2022, we held Fine Photographs: Celebrating 70 Years of Photographs at Swann, not only did the sale mark the 70th anniversary of photography auctions at the house…
The house opened 2022 with The Artists of the WPA on Thursday, January 27. The follow-up to an inaugural 2021 sale proved the staying power of this special offering with…
As we close out another successful year at Swann we look back at our record-filled sales.
Pictured here is Marvin Newma