November 20, 2015Swann CommunicationsArt Press & Illustrated Books Leather Bindings, Decorative Dust Jackets and Beyond Read more about Leather Bindings, Decorative Dust Jackets and Beyond While the old adage tells us that we certainly shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, it’s hard to ignore the artistry that goes into binding books and creating dust…
Read more about Rare Vintage Posters for the Titanic November 13, 2015 Vintage Posters Rare Vintage Posters for the Titanic A subject of fascination since its dramatic demise during its maiden voyage, the legacy of White Star Line’s Titanic has continued to ripple throughout the auction world for years. While…
Read more about Autographs: The Little “F” in Freud’s Signature October 15, 2015 Autographs Autographs: The Little “F” in Freud’s Signature Written by Autographs Specialist Marco Tomaschett: Autograph collectors all encounter it at one time or another: the perfectly illegible autograph. The impossible convulsive scrawl of Giacomo Puccini, or the idiosyncratic…
Read more about Egon Schiele: A Look at the Artist’s Evolving Self-Image September 22, 2015 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Egon Schiele: A Look at the Artist’s Evolving Self-Image Egon Schiele is celebrated among the Austrian Modern Masters Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, who are best remembered for their insightful portrayal of the human condition. Schiele’s style was informed…
Read more about The Art Collection of Maya Angelou – A Foreword to the Auction Catalogue July 30, 2015 African American Art The Art Collection of Maya Angelou – A Foreword to the Auction Catalogue Swann Galleries is very proud to be offering for sale the art collection of one America’s great cultural heroes, Dr. Maya Angelou. Dr. Angelou’s homes were filled with paintings, sculpture…
Read more about Biography of Dr. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) July 30, 2015 African American Art Biography of Dr. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) On September 15, 2015 Swann Galleries offered The Art Collection of Maya Angelou. Author, poet, actress and champion of civil rights, Dr. Maya Angelou was one of the most dynamic voices…
Read more about Walt Whitman Standing in Solidarity with the Secret Six June 12, 2015 19th & 20th Century Literature Walt Whitman Standing in Solidarity with the Secret Six Walt Whitman was in Boston overseeing the publication of his third edition of Leaves of Grass when he attended the trial of a man who was friendly with the Thoreaus, the…
Read more about A Famous Cartographic Blunder: The Island of California May 15, 2015 Maps & Atlases A Famous Cartographic Blunder: The Island of California For more than a century the state of California was thought to be an island. How? Misinformation by way of maps. In Mapping the West: America’s Westward Movement 1524-1890 (2002),…
Read more about Vernacular Imagery, Photobooks & Fine Photographs December 18, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Vernacular Imagery, Photobooks & Fine Photographs Swann’s second sale devoted to Vernacular Photography showed the strength of this growing segment of the photo market, with strong results for esoteric material. The top vernacular lot was…
Read more about The Hall-Harte Archive of Suffragist Photographs December 3, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Hall-Harte Archive of Suffragist Photographs We are delighted to offer a suffragist archive of rare and important photographs documenting “The Liberty Bell Tour, Votes for Women.” The march was organized by Louise Hall and her life-partner Ethel…
Read more about Nicholas Lowry on Travel Posters from the Julius Paul Collection December 2, 2014 Vintage Posters Nicholas Lowry on Travel Posters from the Julius Paul Collection Swann President and Posters specialist Nicholas D. Lowry writes beautifully about the December 17 auction of Travel Posters from the Julius Paul Collection. Read on for his notes on the sale.…
Read more about Swann FAQ: What Is an Edition? December 1, 2014 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Swann FAQ: What Is an Edition? Among the items that Swann auctions are books, fine art prints, photographs, posters and maps–all of which have their own definition of the word “edition.” When it comes to prints,…
Read more about Thomas Paine’s American Crisis Makes the Albany News November 24, 2014 Printed & Manuscript Americana Thomas Paine’s American Crisis Makes the Albany News “These are the times which try men’s souls…” so begins Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis, arguably his second most famous work. Our 2014 annual fall Americana auction, Swann will offer…
Read more about The 14th State: Thomas Jefferson Signs Vermont Statehood Act November 20, 2014 Printed & Manuscript Americana The 14th State: Thomas Jefferson Signs Vermont Statehood Act Among the highlights of today’s auction of Autographs was one of 28 copies of the act making Vermont the 14th state in the Union signed by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of…
Read more about Fluxus: The Art of the Everyday November 12, 2014 Contemporary Art Fluxus: The Art of the Everyday Examples of Fluxus artwork appear in many of our auctions, and demand seems to be on the rise for works by the group, which was active from the early 1960s through…
Read more about Wearable Art: Basquiat Tags a Jacket November 4, 2014 Contemporary Art Wearable Art: Basquiat Tags a Jacket A highlight in our upcoming auction of Contemporary Art is a leather jacket tagged by various 1980s graffiti artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988). These artists frequented the popular four-floor after-hours…
Read more about In Memoriam: W. Michael Mathes, by Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D. November 3, 2014 Printed & Manuscript Americana In Memoriam: W. Michael Mathes, by Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D. On November 6, 2014 Swann auctioned The Latin Americana Library of Dr. W. Michael Mathes. The catalogue for the auction begins with a biography of the sale’s namesake, written by…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Diego Rivera’s Printmaking Career October 25, 2014 Old Master Through Modern Prints Notes from the Catalogue: Diego Rivera’s Printmaking Career Diego Rivera (1886-1957), the painter who helped establish the Mexico Mural Movement and was a leading figure in Social Realism, was born in Guanajuato in North-Central Mexico. In 1897, Rivera…
Read more about American Books Printed Before the Bay Psalm Book? October 17, 2014 Printed & Manuscript Americana American Books Printed Before the Bay Psalm Book? The Bay Psalm Book is often described as the first book printed in America. Issued in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640, it was certainly the first book printed in the English…
Read more about O. Winston Link: A Turbulent Past October 15, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks O. Winston Link: A Turbulent Past O. Winston Link’s photographs have infused Swann’s Photograph Department auctions with a consistent, quiet power for years, but lot 175 brings a new dramatic force to the October 17, 2014…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Dr. Amalia Amaki on Dr. Richard A. Long October 7, 2014 African American Art Notes from the Catalogue: Dr. Amalia Amaki on Dr. Richard A. Long Dr. Amalia Amaki, noted art historian and artist, wrote the catalogue introduction for The Richard A. Long Collection of African-American Art. Dr. Amaki, a native Atlantan, received her Ph.D in…
Read more about Must-See Fall Show: Norman Lewis & Lee Krasner at the Jewish Museum September 16, 2014 African American Art Must-See Fall Show: Norman Lewis & Lee Krasner at the Jewish Museum Last week, From the Margins: Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis opened at the Jewish Museum. The exhibition combines the works of an unlikely pair: Lee Krasner, a female Jewish artist…
Read more about What Is an After Print? September 5, 2014 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings What Is an After Print? One of the most common questions we get asked at Swann is what it means when a lot is catalogued with the word “after” in parentheses following an artist’s name.…
Read more about 75 years of Madeline September 4, 2014 Illustration Art 75 years of Madeline In honor of the 75th anniversary of everyone’s favorite French schoolgirl, our Art Books specialist Christine von der Linn submitted this post. This Saturday, September 6, 2014, marks the 75th…
Read more about White Line: Blanche Lazzell and the Provincetown Printers September 3, 2014 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings White Line: Blanche Lazzell and the Provincetown Printers Swann Galleries’ upcoming September 23 auction featuring American Prints & Drawings includes Blanche Lazzell’s Tulips, color woodcut on Japan paper, 1920, created by the artist in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1920. Lazzell (1878-1956) was…
Read more about Nick Brandt, Activist-Photographer: “I Stick with Nature” August 29, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Nick Brandt, Activist-Photographer: “I Stick with Nature” The delicate condition of the natural world is vividly brought to life by Nick Brandt, who organized the Big Life Foundation to protect wild animals in East Africa. This British…
Read more about WWI&II, Grand Prix and Tennis Images Led Swann’s Top August Posters Auction of All Time August 8, 2014 Vintage Posters WWI&II, Grand Prix and Tennis Images Led Swann’s Top August Posters Auction of All Time Coming on the heels of tremendous media coverage (see: The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, Luxury Travel Magazine, Robb Report and Slate), Swann’s August 6 auction of Vintage Posters grossed more…
August 4, 2014 African American Art African-American Artists on Martha’s Vineyard Martha’s Vineyard, an affluent summer colony located on an island south of Cape Cod, has long attracted African American artists. The town of Oak Bluffs has been a favored vacation…
Read more about The Richard A. Long Collection of African-American Art Comes to Swann July 25, 2014 African American Art The Richard A. Long Collection of African-American Art Comes to Swann On October 9, as part of our Fall African-American Fine Art auction, Swann will offer the collection of Richard A. Long. Among these 60 works are pieces by early pioneers…
Read more about “The Great War” in Posters July 18, 2014 Vintage Posters “The Great War” in Posters Summer 2014 marks 100 years since the start of World War I, also known as The Great War. Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria on June 28,…
Read more about Keep Calm and Poster On July 11, 2014 Vintage Posters Keep Calm and Poster On The image is so iconic, it’s been co-opted countless times, but in Swann Galleries’ upcoming Vintage Posters auction we have the original: a 1939 Keep Calm and Carry On poster. When…
Read more about Top Lots: Melville’s Whale, Signed Flannery O’Connor Firsts, Rex Stout Titles June 23, 2014 19th & 20th Century Literature Top Lots: Melville’s Whale, Signed Flannery O’Connor Firsts, Rex Stout Titles Topping our June 19, 2014 auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature was a first American edition of Herman Melville’s seminal Moby-Dick, which brought $40,000 against a pre-sale estimate of $18,000…
Read more about Celebrating Bloomsday 2014 June 16, 2014 19th & 20th Century Literature Celebrating Bloomsday 2014 To celebrate the life and literary oeuvre of James Joyce on the international holiday that is Bloomsday, we are looking back on some of the many editions of James Joyce’s…
Read more about Top Lots: Winslow Homer, Preston Dickinson & James D. Smillie June 14, 2014 American Art Top Lots: Winslow Homer, Preston Dickinson & James D. Smillie The first of its kind at Swann to break $1 Million, the American Art auction on Thursday was our highest-grossing sale in this category ever, with a sale total of…
Read more about Barkley L. Hendricks in Conversation with Nigel Freeman at Swann June 13, 2014 African American Art Barkley L. Hendricks in Conversation with Nigel Freeman at Swann Last week Swann Galleries had the pleasure of hosting an artist talk with Barkley L. Hendricks, whose “unique work resides at the nexus of American realism and post-modernism, a space…
Read more about Records & Results: African-American Fine Art June 12, 2014 African American Art Records & Results: African-American Fine Art An auction focused on the politically charged and artistically fertile period of the 1960s and 70s, Swann Galleries’ African-American Fine Art auction titled The Shape of Things to Come on…
Read more about Naturalist Charles Burchfield June 11, 2014 American Art Naturalist Charles Burchfield If you’ve got summer on your mind these days–and who doesn’t?–you may be drawn to some of the bucolic images in Swann’s June 12 auction of American Art. And, among…
Read more about Assemblage Artist Noah Purifoy at Auction for First Time June 5, 2014 African American Art Assemblage Artist Noah Purifoy at Auction for First Time Swann Galleries is pleased to offer the first significant work by assemblage artist Noah Purifoy to come to auction in our upcoming sale of African-American Fine Art titled The Shape of Things…
Read more about Taking a Closer Look: A Map of Kyoto as the Imperial Capital of Japan May 30, 2014 Maps & Atlases Taking a Closer Look: A Map of Kyoto as the Imperial Capital of Japan The June 3, 2014 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books is marked by a number of unique or exceedingly rare examples of cartographic material and…
May 22, 2014 American Art Let It Snow: Guy C. Wiggins’s Views of New York City With Memorial Day approaching, all of us here in New York are hoping for warm weather. But, among the most charming images in our June 12, 2014 auction of American…
Read more about Kara Walker: The Talk of the Town May 22, 2014 African American Art Kara Walker: The Talk of the Town Swann’s African-American Fine Art Department discusses art-world sensation Kara Walker. Kara Walker is one of the most well-known, respected and controversial artists of her generation. She’s been a star in…
Read more about Sense of Play: Will Barnet’s Nude with Cats May 21, 2014 American Art Sense of Play: Will Barnet’s Nude with Cats Among the highlights of our June 12, 2014 auction of American Art—and the image that graces the catalogue cover—is Will Barnet’s Play, a watercolor and oil on paper from 1975. Barnet…
Read more about Marco Tomaschett: Snippets of History May 12, 2014 Autographs Marco Tomaschett: Snippets of History Marco Tomaschett, Swann Galleries’ Autographs specialist, wrote this piece about clipped autographs, which appeared in Antiques & Auction News last week. Here is his piece in its entirety: Since there are few…
Read more about Moneta Sleet, Jr. and Coretta Scott King May 5, 2014 African American Art Moneta Sleet, Jr. and Coretta Scott King On this date in 1969, Moneta Sleet, Jr. won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for this image of a mourning Coretta Scott King, with daughter Bernice, at the funeral…
Read more about Where He Crosses Over: Edward Gorey Posters & Postcards May 5, 2014 Vintage Posters Where He Crosses Over: Edward Gorey Posters & Postcards “I didn’t know GOREY did that poster!” That was the excited reaction of a Swann employee as she spotted the six-foot-high poster of a ballerina’s feet in five positions that…
Read more about Records & Results: Vintage Posters April 29, 2014 Vintage Posters Records & Results: Vintage Posters The three top lots in Swann Galleries’ April 24, 2014 auction each set new auction records in a sale marked by incredible results for esoteric images. Lot 1 was Bertold Löffler’s Kunstschau…
Read more about Dreaming Youths: Oskar Kokoschka’s Transition to Expressionism April 28, 2014 Old Master Through Modern Prints Dreaming Youths: Oskar Kokoschka’s Transition to Expressionism Among the highlights of our April 29, 2014 auction of Old Master Through Modern Prints is Oskar Kokoschka’s Die Träumenden Knaben, with text and eight color lithographs, 1906-08. Die Träumenden Knaben…
Read more about Collectors on Collecting: Sam Speigel on Collecting Edward Gorey April 24, 2014 Art Press & Illustrated Books Collectors on Collecting: Sam Speigel on Collecting Edward Gorey On May 7, 2014 Swann will auction The Edward Gorey Collection of Samuel Speigel, and the catalogue for that sale opens with this charming recollection from Speigel himself: Collecting Edward…
Read more about Records & Results: Vernacular Photographs April 21, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Records & Results: Vernacular Photographs Last week Swann Galleries held an auction devoted to Vernacular Photography, which was the first sale of its kind. Two items led the auction–bringing $22,500 each–and they could not…
Read more about Battle of the Nile Sketch: The French Fleet on the Eve of Its Destruction April 16, 2014 Maps & Atlases Battle of the Nile Sketch: The French Fleet on the Eve of Its Destruction Swann Galleries’ June 3, 2014 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books offers an unparalleled sketch from life of the Battle of the Nile attributed to Captain James…