January 16, 2018Swann CommunicationsPrinted & Manuscript African Americana A Look Inside the Catalogue: Printed & Manuscript African Americana Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Printed & Manuscript African Americana On March 29 we will offer Printed & Manuscript African Americana, an array of material that encompasses a wide range of the African-American experience, from letters by Frederick Douglass to his…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Autographs January 15, 2018 Autographs A Look Inside the Catalogue: Autographs Gracing this March 22 sale is a poem completed by Walt Whitman on his deathbed, transcribed by a secretary and signed, with holograph edits. It was his last poem, entitled A…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings January 14, 2018 Prints & Drawings A Look Inside the Catalogue: 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Here’s an overview of our auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings on March 13: Diego Rivera’s scarce lithograph El sueño (La noche de los pobres), 1932, leads a…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books January 14, 2018 Books & Manuscripts A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books This sale on March 8 will feature an extensive selection of early Spanish books on a variety of subjects including agriculture, heraldry and genealogy, history, horses, law, literature, medicine, theology…
Read more about The Top Five Fahrenheit 451s January 4, 2018 19th & 20th Century Literature The Top Five Fahrenheit 451s According to our Literature specialist John D. Larson, there are five first editions of Fahrenheit 451 of interest to collectors. As with all important modern first editions, a set of criteria…
Read more about 2017: Year in Review December 28, 2017 Swann 2017: Year in Review In our diamond anniversary year, we offered a star-studded roster of 30 auctions, setting nearly 100 records and introducing countless items to the market, including a previously unknown photograph of Harriet…
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…
Read more about Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 8, 2017 Maps & Atlases Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books Maps were so plentiful at our December 5 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books that one could be forgiven for getting lost. Many buyers chose…
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…
Read more about Daffydils: A Cartoon Festschrift November 30, 2017 Illustration Art Daffydils: A Cartoon Festschrift Festschrifts, usually academic in nature, can also be jovial. An exceptional example, coming to auction in our December 14 sale of Illustration Art, features contributions from some of the greatest…
Read more about Schedel’s Map: The Last View of the Old World November 28, 2017 Maps & Atlases Schedel’s Map: The Last View of the Old World A historic map shows us where we’ve been, not only geographically but also in terms of the extent of our knowledge, our beliefs and even our technology. Two works coming…
Read more about Records & Results: Contemporary Art November 18, 2017 Contemporary Art Records & Results: Contemporary Art In our most encyclopedic offering of Contemporary Art to date, the November 16 auction saw active bidding, with works by Josef Albers, Jean Arp and Christo exceeding their estimates and…
Read more about Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature November 16, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature Our auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature on November 14 offered a veritable library of scarce first editions and inscriptions by authors from the last two centuries. More than…
Read more about Arthur Luiz Piza November 14, 2017 Contemporary Art Arthur Luiz Piza Arthur Luiz Piza, a Brazilian mixed media artist trained in Paris, leads an ever-growing section of Latin American art in our biannual auctions of Contemporary Art. An especially unusual piece…
Read more about Children’s Literature for Adults November 13, 2017 19th & 20th Century Literature Children’s Literature for Adults Children’s literature is a perennially popular genre. We were all children once, and the antics of Willy Wonka and imagination of Max shaped our early lives in a way that…
Read more about Records & Results: Autographs November 9, 2017 Autographs Records & Results: Autographs Our auction on November 7 saw fine results for Autographs by important historical figures in a variety of fields, from government to science to music. The total of $662K exceeded the…
Read more about Records & Results: Old Master Through Modern Prints November 4, 2017 Prints & Drawings Records & Results: Old Master Through Modern Prints A new auction record for any print by American master Edward Hopper was established at our auction of Old Master Through Modern Prints on November 2. The extremely rare etching The…
Read more about The Jimmy Van Heusen Collection of Musical Autographs November 3, 2017 Autographs The Jimmy Van Heusen Collection of Musical Autographs Our November 7 auction of Autographs is especially noteworthy for a collection of musical autographs from the estate of Jimmy Van Heusen. Jimmy Van Heusen was an American…
Read more about Works from Will Barnet’s Estate at Auction November 1, 2017 Prints & Drawings Works from Will Barnet’s Estate at Auction American artist Will Barnet is known for his intimate, foreshortened views of women with cats, but his oeuvre, spanning nearly a century, reveals a diverse and multifaceted artist who transcended…
Read more about Records & Results: Rare & Important Travel Posters October 30, 2017 Vintage Posters Records & Results: Rare & Important Travel Posters Our annual auctions of Rare & Important Travel Posters are destinations in and of themselves. On October 26, we offered more spectacular examples that embodied a century’s worth of technological development.…
Read more about Marvel at Early Aviation Posters from 1910 October 25, 2017 Vintage Posters Marvel at Early Aviation Posters from 1910 The development of manned flight from hot air balloon to heavier-than-air machines was recorded and disseminated to the public via promotional posters. Some of the most influential works from this…
Read more about Records & Results: Art & Storytelling: Photographs & Photobooks October 21, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Art & Storytelling: Photographs & Photobooks On October 19 our sale of Art & Storytelling: Photographs & Photobooks combined works spanning the lifetime of the medium into an auction intended to “highlight the interrelationships between fine art, documentary and…
Read more about Records & Results: Early Printed Books October 20, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: Early Printed Books Our October 17 auction of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books garnered eager interest from bibliophiles, exceeding the sale’s high estimate and earning more than half a million dollars.…
Read more about The First Accounts of Captain Cook’s Fateful Voyage October 16, 2017 Books & Manuscripts The First Accounts of Captain Cook’s Fateful Voyage A transportive highlight in our October 17 auction of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books is the rare complete set of first editions detailing Captain James Cook’s voyages around the…
Read more about Magnum Photographs: 70th Anniversary October 16, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Magnum Photographs: 70th Anniversary Magnum Photos, founded as a cooperative agency in 1947, is perhaps the most well-known photographic collective in the world. Through the Magnum photographs included in our October 19 auction of Art…
Read more about Records & Results: African-American Fine Art October 11, 2017 African American Art Records & Results: African-American Fine Art Four works exceeded $100,000 at our sale of African-American Fine Art on Thursday, October 5. A wealth of unique paintings, drawings and monotypes distinguished the sale of approximately 150 lots, nearly…
Read more about Do You Speak Photography? October 10, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Do You Speak Photography? This post was written by our Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, Daile Kaplan. Photography is ubiquitous in visual culture. Whether you prefer contemporary works by Alec…
Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana October 7, 2017 Printed & Manuscript Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana Hoards of history-lovers came out to attend the preview for our auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana on September 28. The sale featured a trove of unique material, much of which…
Read more about Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings October 4, 2017 Prints & Drawings Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings We opened our fall season with a marathon sale of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings, breaking multiple records and earning more than $2.6M. The September 19 auction offered…
Read more about Four Unique Works by Charles White Debut at Auction October 2, 2017 African American Art Four Unique Works by Charles White Debut at Auction The highlight of our October 5 auction of African-American Fine Art is a series of unique works by Charles White that have never before appeared at auction. We spoke to our…
Read more about Alma Thomas’s Journey to Abstraction September 27, 2017 African American Art Alma Thomas’s Journey to Abstraction Alma Thomas is renowned for her brightly colored abstract works that seem to dance across canvas and paper, but how did she develop that iconic style? Two paintings that reveal…
Read more about Diary of a Syrian-American Woman, 1908 September 26, 2017 Printed & Manuscript Americana Diary of a Syrian-American Woman, 1908 On a trip to her homeland, a young Syrian-American woman named Mary Arbeely kept a diary recording her attempts to connect with her ancestors while feeling deeply homesick. The diary,…
Read more about A Nineteenth-Century Honolulu Gossip Rag September 25, 2017 Printed & Manuscript Americana A Nineteenth-Century Honolulu Gossip Rag The book arrived in Honolulu by ship from San Francisco on New Year’s Day, 1863, and soon caused a stir throughout the city. It begins by revealing the author’s intent…
Read more about John Biggers Mural Damaged by Hurricane Harvey September 18, 2017 African American Art John Biggers Mural Damaged by Hurricane Harvey As Hurricane Harvey roared through Houston last month, an unlikely victim was left behind: the monumental 1953 mural by John Biggers, titled Contribution of Negro Women to American Life and Education.…
Read more about Who is Françoise Gilot? September 12, 2017 Prints & Drawings Who is Françoise Gilot? The top lot in our September 19 auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings is a masterful lithograph by Pablo Picasso of his muse, Françoise Gilot. The following…
Read more about Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata September 8, 2017 Prints & Drawings Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata Some people made such an impact on history that we see them in multiple sales each season, across widely disparate genres. One such figure was Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books August 31, 2017 Maps & Atlases A Look Inside the Catalogue: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books At Auction December 13 Complete Catalogue Maps An example of Abraham Ortelius’s map of Iceland will be included, famously and prominently featuring one of the most beloved aspects of…
Read more about Black and White All Over: The Riddle of Classical Photography August 17, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Black and White All Over: The Riddle of Classical Photography The following was written by Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, Daile Kaplan: I love looking at photographs in both black-and-white and color iterations. Long before streaming…
Read more about Identifying Types of Photographic Prints August 11, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Identifying Types of Photographic Prints Our Photographs & Photobooks department has put together a cheat sheet for identifying some of the more common types of photographs we handle. A cyanotype print is made by…
Read more about Records & Results: Vintage Posters August 4, 2017 Vintage Posters Records & Results: Vintage Posters More than 600 colorful advertisements and announcements crossed the block at our sale of Vintage Posters on Wednesday, August 2. The encyclopedic selection represented a century’s worth of development in…
Read more about Specialists in the Field: Nigel Freeman at the Tate August 1, 2017 African American Art Specialists in the Field: Nigel Freeman at the Tate Nigel Freeman, founder and director of our African-American Fine Art department, is in London this week visiting some familiar images. Two of the works in the Tate Modern’s latest exhibition, Soul of…
Read more about The Symbiotic Relationship Between Tattoos & Posters July 27, 2017 Vintage Posters The Symbiotic Relationship Between Tattoos & Posters An unusual lot in our upcoming auction of Vintage Posters features a colorful individual: Captain Costentenus, a Greek Albanian man tattooed from head to foot. Captain Costentenus was…
Read more about Isle Adam: Timeless & Inspiring July 19, 2017 Vintage Posters Isle Adam: Timeless & Inspiring Shrewd perusers of our sales may notice a familiar eave lurking in the catalogue for our upcoming auction of Vintage Posters: the iconic orange roof of the beach house at…
Read more about Abram Games’s Sultry Poster Causes a Stir July 17, 2017 Vintage Posters Abram Games’s Sultry Poster Causes a Stir Our August 2 auction of Vintage Posters features the largest — and best — selection of war posters we have ever offered. As England prepared to enter World War Two,…
Read more about Daile Kaplan on The Thrill of Photographic Discovery July 14, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan on The Thrill of Photographic Discovery With the recent NPR coverage questioning whether an anonymous photograph actually depicts Amelia Earhart on a wharf in Jaluit Atoll, photography’s role as historic evidence is once again in the…
Read more about Swann Summer Reading List 2017 July 13, 2017 Swann Swann Summer Reading List 2017 We spoke to specialists at Swann about their extracurricular activities. Unsurprisingly, their interests are generally aligned with their specialty! We asked them to talk about what they’re reading, and compiled…
Read more about American War Posters, 100 Years Later July 10, 2017 Vintage Posters American War Posters, 100 Years Later Our August 2 auction of Vintage Posters will feature an exceptionally wide array of World War I imagery, honoring the centennial anniversary of the U.S.’s entry into the fray. More…
Read more about Specialists in the Field: The New Museum June 30, 2017 Contemporary Art Specialists in the Field: The New Museum Specialists at Swann keep up with the cultural heartbeat by frequenting museum exhibitions. Over the summer, we’ll be sharing some of their experiences, beginning with Diana Flatto and Jessica Feldman…
Read more about Mrs. Stimson Joins Her Husband at the Huntington Historical Society June 27, 2017 American Art Mrs. Stimson Joins Her Husband at the Huntington Historical Society Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lewis Stimson lived in an estate in Huntington, Long Island. In his memoir, he wrote of her, “That marriage has now lasted over fifty-four years, during…
Read more about Records & Results: American Art June 19, 2017 American Art Records & Results: American Art We closed our Spring 2017 season with a climactic sale of American Art on Thursday, June 15. The annual auction offered exclusively original or unique works by artists living or…