LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History — August 17, 2023 Auction Highlights

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Lot 323: Hugh Steers, In the Paper, oil on canvas, 1989. Estimate $40,000 to $60,000.
This summer’s LGBTQ+ auction is a testament to the growing interest in the newly defined area of collecting. As in previous auctions the material represents a broad and exciting swath of nineteenth and twentieth century political, social and sexual culture.
Lot 275: Keith Haring, Silence = Death, color screenprint, 1989. Estimate $30,000 to $40,000.

On offer are a number of original works of art by Tom of Finland and other artists associated with or influenced by him: including Sadao Hasegawa and Jim French. We are also delighted to be able to offer a rare, original illustration by Rex, “Leather Boy.”

Related Reading

JEB & Shelby Sharie Cohen on Photographing the Lesbian Community
Artist Profile: Hugh Steers

Photography

Photographs, a perennial favorite in this auction, are well represented by highly regarded artists such as, David Wojnarowicz, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar.

Lot 178: Diane Arbus & Neil Selkirk, Two men dancing at a drag ball, silver print, 1970; printed 1972. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.
Lot 253: David Wojnarowicz, Untitled (Buffaloes), platinum print, 1988; printed 1994. Estimate $12,000 to $18,000.

Books, Material & Historical Ephemera

On offer will be scarce material from the early years of the gay liberation movement in the United States and the AIDs activism era of the 1980s. A Manhattan Gay Scene Guide from 1970, as well as material and booklets from the Mattachine Society, including a long run of the Mattachine Review.

Left: Lot 74: Hal Call, The Mattachine Review & Newsletter, an Archive of Approximately 80 Issues, 1955-65. Estimate $2,500 to $3,500; right: Lot 91: Mattachine Book Service, Manhattan Gay Scene Guide, Spring 1970 edition, printed phamplet, 1970.

Other notable artists include Paul Cadmus, Robert Bliss, Mark Beard, Jean Cocteau,  Leonor Fini, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Marcus Leatherdale, Rene Ricard, Joan E. Biren (JEB), Shelby Sharie Cohen and Yiannis Nomikos.

Left: Lot 221: Harvey Milk Has Something for Everybody, lithograph poster, 1973. Estimate $400 to $600; right: Lot 236: Gran Fury, The Government has Blood on its Hands, offset lithograph poster, 1988. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000.

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July 19, 2023
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Category: LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History
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