June 16, 2017Swann NewsSwann Records & Results: Spring 2017 Read more about Records & Results: Spring 2017 The spring 2017 season at Swann Galleries marked the 75th anniversary of our first auction. On March 27, 1942, Benjamin Swann held an auction dedicated to rare and antiquarian books.…
Read more about Records & Results: Art, Press & Illustrated Books June 14, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: Art, Press & Illustrated Books Our June 13 auction of Art, Press & Illustrated Books offered a spectrum of books that doubled as objets d’art, with records for important twentieth-century works celebrating art and typography.…
Read more about Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books June 12, 2017 Maps & Atlases Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books Our June 7 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books saw strong results with multiple auction debuts and records, as well as a plethora of unique…
Read more about Winslow Homer’s Personal “Bible” June 9, 2017 American Art Winslow Homer’s Personal “Bible” On a visit to his Prout’s Neck studio, Winslow Homer’s friend and fellow artist John W. Beatty picked up a dogeared book and asked him if he found it of…
Read more about Grapefruit: Yoko Ono’s Guide to Living Art June 9, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books Grapefruit: Yoko Ono’s Guide to Living Art Visionary Yoko Ono created “event scores” as a way to encourage people to find art and beauty in their quotidian activities. A signed first edition of her seminal self-published book…
Read more about Recently Rediscovered Watercolor by John Marin June 7, 2017 American Art Recently Rediscovered Watercolor by John Marin A recently rediscovered watercolor by John Marin will be making its auction debut in our June 15 sale of American Art. The work displays two features for which the artist…
Read more about Nahui Olin: Muse & Maker June 5, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books Nahui Olin: Muse & Maker Nahui Olin, the pseudonym of Carmen Mondragón, was a Mexican Surrealist active in the 1920s and ’30s. She hailed from the upper echelons of Mexican society, and fraternized with the…
Read more about Records & Results: Graphic Design June 1, 2017 Vintage Posters Records & Results: Graphic Design Our May 25 auction of Graphic Design offered a cornucopia of inspired works spanning fin de siècle Art Nouveau masters to modernist posters. The top lot of the sale was Col…
Read more about Leaving the Land: Ship’s Logs from England to the Mediterranean in the Nineteenth Century May 30, 2017 Maps & Atlases Leaving the Land: Ship’s Logs from England to the Mediterranean in the Nineteenth Century In January of 1819, Captain William Hodgson steered the three-masted merchant ship Transit down the River Avon from Bristol, beginning a six-month voyage toward the Mediterranean. The ship’s log book he…
Read more about A Personal Collection of Bernhardt Wall Books May 30, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books A Personal Collection of Bernhardt Wall Books Bernhardt Wall was an American illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. A selection of fine, early or test examples of his work were given to his…
Read more about The Endless Mountains: A Map That Promised More May 26, 2017 Maps & Atlases The Endless Mountains: A Map That Promised More Specialist Caleb Kiffer of our Maps & Atlases department on one of his favorite pieces in our June 7 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books: a…
Read more about Graphic Design in the Vienna Secession May 23, 2017 Vintage Posters Graphic Design in the Vienna Secession This post includes notes from the catalogue of our May 25 auction of Graphic Design, featuring an extensive selection of works out of the Wiener Werkstätte, the design school for the…
Read more about Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature May 18, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature First editions and inscribed copies filled the shelves at our May 16 auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature. The sale broke several auction records and encompassed a variety of genres,…
Read more about Psychedelic Concert Posters May 12, 2017 Vintage Posters Psychedelic Concert Posters This post was written by Sarah Shelburne of the Vintage Posters department using examples from the May 25 auction of Graphic Design. Few art forms have been as…
Read more about George & Robert Cruikshank, Early Caricaturists May 11, 2017 Books & Manuscripts George & Robert Cruikshank, Early Caricaturists Brothers George and Isaac (who often went by his middle name of Robert) Cruikshank were famed early nineteenth-century caricaturists. Their work appears in two of our sales this season, 19th…
Read more about East Hampton Artists May 10, 2017 Contemporary Art East Hampton Artists The community of East Hampton has long been known as an avant-garde artist enclave. Our May 11 auction of Contemporary Art features a century’s worth of output by artists who…
Read more about Records & Results: Autographs May 9, 2017 Autographs Records & Results: Autographs On Thursday, May 4, we held an auction of Autographs, with twentieth-century highlights by authors taking the spotlight. The sale performed well overall, with 88% of items offered finding buyers. …
Read more about Postwar Innovations in Printmaking May 5, 2017 Contemporary Art Postwar Innovations in Printmaking These examples come from our May 11 auction of Contemporary Art. From the initial proliferation of engraving in the fifteenth century to the explosion of lithography in the late 1800s,…
Read more about Records & Results: Old Master Through Modern Prints May 4, 2017 Prints & Drawings Records & Results: Old Master Through Modern Prints On Tuesday, May 2, we offered Old Master Through Modern Prints, with highlights from as long ago as 1495 and as recent as 1959. The top lot of the…
Read more about Thomas Hart Benton Links Pollock and Rubens May 3, 2017 Autographs Thomas Hart Benton Links Pollock and Rubens In 1926, Thomas Hart Benton was a teacher at the Art Students League of New York. Disappointed by the lack of a painting manual, he set about writing his own.…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Robert Motherwell’s Early Surrealist Period May 2, 2017 Contemporary Art Notes from the Catalogue: Robert Motherwell’s Early Surrealist Period Notes from the catalogue of our May 11 auction of Contemporary Art. Though Motherwell is known for his integral role in the New York school of Abstract Expressionism, the…
Read more about Dearest Marlene: Letters & Photos from the Collection of Marlene Dietrich May 1, 2017 Autographs Dearest Marlene: Letters & Photos from the Collection of Marlene Dietrich Swann is honored to commemorate the legacy of Marlene Dietrich by offering for the first time select items that have touched her life and that of her family. Our May…
Read more about Masters of Early Engraving April 28, 2017 Prints & Drawings Masters of Early Engraving Our May 2 auction of Old Master Through Modern Prints offers a rare opportunity to see works by some of the earliest scions of European engraving in the same place. Master…
Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana April 27, 2017 Printed & Manuscript Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana On Thursday, April 27, our tenth consecutive auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana exceeded $700,000. Much of the top material was unique or extremely rare, including diaries, letters and archives, many…
Read more about What is a Cosway-Style Binding? April 26, 2017 Books & Manuscripts What is a Cosway-Style Binding? It’s hard not to judge a book by its cover when it is encased in a fine Cosway-style binding. Two of these sumptuous decorative tomes will be coming to auction…
Read more about The Cherokee Messenger April 24, 2017 Printed & Manuscript Americana The Cherokee Messenger The complete set of The Cherokee Messenger, Oklahoma’s earliest periodical, will be coming to auction in our Printed & Manuscript Americana sale on April 27. Only one other complete set…
Read more about Records & Results: Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks April 23, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks On Thursday, April 20, our sale ofImages & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks set multiple records for early and modern works, with 71% of works offered finding buyers. Nearly all…
Read more about William Bradford & The Arctic Regions April 19, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks William Bradford & The Arctic Regions The following are notes from the catalogue for our April 20 sale of Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks. William Bradford, a celebrated American painter, was also a…
Read more about Modern Daguerreotypes & More April 13, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Modern Daguerreotypes & More While we live in a digital age, faced with a tsunami of photographs on all manner of devices, many modern artists have returned to the earliest photographic techniques. These were delicate, time-consuming…
Read more about Danny Lyon & New Photojournalism April 7, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Danny Lyon & New Photojournalism The Photographs & Photobooks department contributed to this post on Danny Lyon’s eponymous portfolio in our April 20 auction of Images & Objects: Photographs & Photobooks. The New Journalism movement…
Read more about Los Angeles Assemblage Artists March 28, 2017 African American Art Los Angeles Assemblage Artists From the catalogue of our April 6 sale of African-American Fine Art. Assemblage emerged as a dynamic new art form in Los Angeles in the late 1960s. The…
Read more about John Augustine Washington III & Mount Vernon March 27, 2017 Printed & Manuscript African Americana John Augustine Washington III & Mount Vernon From the catalogue for our March 30 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana. The sale will feature a run of 16 lots of letters and ephemera from Mount Vernon…
Read more about Was Walter Sickert Really Jack the Ripper? February 27, 2017 Prints & Drawings Was Walter Sickert Really Jack the Ripper? Though the official identity of Jack the Ripper has never been determined, there are those who believe Walter Sickert, the Impressionist painter called the most talented British artist* between Joseph…
Read more about Edgar Allan Poe: Birthday & A Lost Photograph January 19, 2017 Photographs & Photobooks Edgar Allan Poe: Birthday & A Lost Photograph Today, on what would be Edgar Allan Poe’s 207th birthday, we take a look at an exceedingly rare and unusual lot in our upcoming sale of Icons & Images: Photographs…
Read more about Alphonse Mucha: Behind the Magic January 12, 2017 Vintage Posters Alphonse Mucha: Behind the Magic Even those unfamiliar with Alphonse Mucha’s name will recognize the tendrils of hair and profusion of delicate flowers surrounding his seraphic models. But what of the man himself? How did these ethereal…
Read more about On A Previously Unknown First State of de Wit’s Map of the Netherlands November 30, 2016 Maps & Atlases On A Previously Unknown First State of de Wit’s Map of the Netherlands This post was written by Maps & Atlases Specialist Caleb Kiffer in advance of our December 8, 2016 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books. The…
Read more about A Bright Light at a Dark Time: The WPA Handicraft Project November 22, 2016 Art Press & Illustrated Books A Bright Light at a Dark Time: The WPA Handicraft Project One unusual piece in our December 2016 auction of Art, Press & Illustrated Books was a six-volume folio of textiles designed and produced by the WPA Handicraft Project in Milwaukee,…
Read more about Le Corbusier’s Color Theory Sample Book November 17, 2016 Art Press & Illustrated Books Le Corbusier’s Color Theory Sample Book Before the holidays drive you up a wall, let an unusual piece in our December 1, 2016 sale of Art, Press & Illustrated Books soothe you with harmonious colors. Famed…
Read more about Civil War Correspondence Between Sweethearts: “Scattered, Knew Not Where To Go” November 15, 2016 Printed & Manuscript Americana Civil War Correspondence Between Sweethearts: “Scattered, Knew Not Where To Go” Coming to auction November 17, 2016: Printed & Manuscript Americana Charles L. Taylor married his sweetheart Harriet Tuttle in August, 1862 and days later went to join the 16th Connecticut…
Read more about Signed First Edition of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet November 7, 2016 19th & 20th Century Literature Signed First Edition of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet One of the highlights in our November 10 sale of 19th & 20th Century Literature is a scarce first edition of The Prophet, signed by its author, Kahlil Gibran, in…
Read more about Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” October 18, 2016 Photographs & Photobooks Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” Edward Ruscha is a pioneer of the American photobook. Between 1962 and 1978 he produced no fewer than sixteen artist’s books, fourteen of which will be offered as a lot in Swann Galleries’…
Read more about An Eighteenth Century Pye Recipe October 13, 2016 Early Printed Books An Eighteenth Century Pye Recipe When recipe books come to Swann, the only thing to do is test them out. In our upcoming October 18 sale of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books is…
Read more about Aubrey Beardsley & Le Morte d’Arthur September 28, 2016 Illustration Art Aubrey Beardsley & Le Morte d’Arthur On September 29, 2016, five rare pen-and-ink illustrations for Aubrey Beardsley’s first published work, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, 1893-94, are coming to auction. The two-year publishing project was…
Read more about Politics & Satire: The Etchings of James Gillray May 25, 2016 Maps & Atlases Politics & Satire: The Etchings of James Gillray With the presidential primary election in full swing, we’re all up to our eyeballs in satirical columns and cartoons. In the spirit of the season, we thought we’d look at…
Read more about A Rare Manuscript Map from the Dutch East India Company: Java May 21, 2016 Maps & Atlases A Rare Manuscript Map from the Dutch East India Company: Java With an almost two hundred year history, the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC), was the dominate force in European trade and navigation of Asia…
Read more about Grimm’s Fairytales Signed by Anne Frank Comes to Auction May 4, 2016 19th & 20th Century Literature Grimm’s Fairytales Signed by Anne Frank Comes to Auction Through her poignant writing and tragic story, Anne Frank has become a source of inspiration for millions. Two of our upcoming auctions feature items related to Frank, including Anne and Margot’s…
Read more about The First Auction of Photographs in the United States February 24, 2016 Photographs & Photobooks The First Auction of Photographs in the United States February 14, 1952 Much has changed over the course of our 75-year history here at Swann Galleries, from new departments to the expansion our exhibition space. One small but…
Read more about Elizabeth Catlett’s Varied Mediums December 11, 2015 African American Art Elizabeth Catlett’s Varied Mediums An accomplished graphic artist and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett was known for her poignant depictions of African-American life, Mexican life (after her relocation to Mexico following a grant from the Rosenwald…
Read more about The Foundation of a Capital: Early Maps of Washington D.C. December 5, 2015 Maps & Atlases The Foundation of a Capital: Early Maps of Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., with its neoclassical architecture and grand monuments, almost seems as if it arose organically over centuries on the shores of the Potomac. In reality, the Capital City was…
Read more about Remembering Eldzier Cortor December 2, 2015 African American Art Remembering Eldzier Cortor Thanksgiving weekend was tinged with grief this year as the art world mourned the loss of painter and print-maker Eldzier Cortor. Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1916, his family moved…