April 15, 2014Swann CommunicationsPhotographs & Photobooks Avery Willard Model Visits Swann Read more about Avery Willard Model Visits Swann New discoveries are often made during our auction previews. Sometimes a guest will identify a place depicted in a work of art, or recognize a name in an inscription. One…
Read more about Artwork from the Collection of Artist James D. Smillie April 11, 2014 American Art Artwork from the Collection of Artist James D. Smillie In the 2014 Spring season, Swann is pleased to offer a selection of works from the collection of American painter/printmaker James D. Smillie. Smillie (1833-1909), a New York artist known…
Read more about A Look Inside the Birdman of Alcatraz April 8, 2014 Printed & Manuscript Americana A Look Inside the Birdman of Alcatraz Our April 2014 sale Printed & Manuscript Americana offers a rare and fascinating lot related to Robert Stroud, known as the Birdman of Alcatraz. This research archive contains many hundreds…
Read more about A Fleeting Moment: Edward Hopper’s Evening Wind April 4, 2014 American Art A Fleeting Moment: Edward Hopper’s Evening Wind Edward Hopper was born in Nyack, New York, just north of New York City. After briefly studying at the Correspondence School of Illustrating, he attended the New York School of…
Read more about Pablo Picasso’s Linoleum Cuts April 3, 2014 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Pablo Picasso’s Linoleum Cuts Picasso produced more than 150 color linoleum cuts in the 1950s and 60s, but none stood out more for their boldness of execution and sheer artistry than his colorful, semi-abstract portraits…
Read more about Gay New York March 28, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Gay New York Among the highlights of our April 17, 2014 auction of Vernacular Photography is a small archive of photographs and ephemera relating to cross-dressing and gay rights in New York City…
Read more about Cyanotypes: Into the Blue March 25, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Cyanotypes: Into the Blue The cyanotype or blueprint process has a poetic quality that embodies a painterly aesthetic and is defined by particular visual characteristics, in this case, a distinctive and rich “prussian blue”…
Read more about Significant George Washington Carver Archive Coming to Auction March 25, 2014 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Significant George Washington Carver Archive Coming to Auction Among the highlights of our March 2014 auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana is an extraordinary archive of letters written by George Washington Carver between 1925 and 1937. The…
Read more about What is vernacular photography? March 24, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks What is vernacular photography? What is vernacular photography? According to our director of Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan, it is photography taken for the sake of the photograph.
Read more about Camille Pissarro: Prolific Impressionist Printmaker March 4, 2014 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Camille Pissarro: Prolific Impressionist Printmaker Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was among the most significant players in the Impressionist movement and co-wrote the manifesto for the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs et Graveurs. Of the eight exhibitions held…
Read more about American Modernism: John Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge February 26, 2014 Prints & Drawings American Modernism: John Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge Swann Galleries’ March 6, 2014 auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings features a run of etchings by John Marin that capture the dynamism of New York City…
Read more about They’re All Ears: Folsom Prison Mugshots February 26, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks They’re All Ears: Folsom Prison Mugshots Before the system of identifying individuals by fingerprint was developed, the authorities relied on the distinct, intricate hollows and folds of a person’s ear in order to positively link them…
Read more about The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: An Eye on the American Scene February 19, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: An Eye on the American Scene The vast American scene has long captivated photographers. Some took to the road while others focused on the urban street. The portrait studio also emerged as a site of aesthetic…
Read more about The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: Provocateurs & Innovators February 19, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks The Photobook Library of Bill Diodato: Provocateurs & Innovators As collector Bill Diodato knows, photography begins with the birth of the photobook. Long before the white wall or editioned print–and more than century before galleries and museums exhibited pictures–photographers…
Read more about Bill Diodato on Collecting February 12, 2014 Photographs & Photobooks Bill Diodato on Collecting On February 27, 2014, Swann will auction the Library of Bill Diodato, comprising an excellent assortment of photobooks and photographs. Diodato–a prominent commercial and fine-art photographer–shares his thoughts on collecting…
Read more about The Glory of Gorey: Swann to Offer the Sam Speigel Collection February 11, 2014 Illustration Art The Glory of Gorey: Swann to Offer the Sam Speigel Collection On May 7, 2014, Swann will auction one of the top private collections of Edward Gorey books, illustrations and ephemera as part of our Art, Press & Illustrated Books sale.…
January 30, 2014 African American Art James Amos Porter, The Father of African-American Art History Swann’s African-American Fine Art Department, writes about the catalogue cover image for the upcoming auction Shadows Uplifted: The Rise of African-American Art. The cover for our February 13 auction catalogue is…
Read more about Of Provenance & Peter Rabbit January 22, 2014 Illustration Art Of Provenance & Peter Rabbit Christine von der Linn, Swann’s Art & Illustrated Books expert, shares some insight into this week’s 20th Century Illustration auction: One of the challenges of putting together a sale of…
Read more about California Artists Pauline Powell Burns and Beulah Woodard January 16, 2014 African American Art California Artists Pauline Powell Burns and Beulah Woodard Among the featured artists in Swann’s February 13, 2014 auction, Shadows Uplifted: The Rise of American-American Fine Art, are Pauline Powell Burns and Beulah Ecton Woodard. These early Californian artists…
Read more about Man-Cave-iana: The Birth of the Drool January 14, 2014 Illustration Art Man-Cave-iana: The Birth of the Drool Renewed interest in and appreciation of so-called genre illustration art has resulted in the growth of colorful and not-so-colorful descriptives for this type of material: Pulp, Pin-Ups, Nudies and Calendar…
Read more about Charles Schultz’ Peanuts in Illustration Sale January 13, 2014 Illustration Art Charles Schultz’ Peanuts in Illustration Sale Few comic strips are more beloved than Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts, and few characters more enduring than Charlie Brown and his irrepressible beagle Snoopy. Schulz, a dog lover, even coined…
Read more about Judging a Book by Its Cover January 6, 2014 Illustration Art Judging a Book by Its Cover Our January 23, 2014, 20th Century Illustration sale boasts an abundance of original book-cover art, many examples of which became iconic images of the literary works they graced and, in…
Read more about Seussian Advertisements: The Early Work of Theodor Seuss Geisel January 2, 2014 Illustration Art Seussian Advertisements: The Early Work of Theodor Seuss Geisel Swann Galleries is pleased to offer original illustrations by Dr. Seuss–also known as Theodor Geisel–in our January 23, 2014 auction of 20th Century Illustration, including some early advertisements by the…
Read more about The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Brooklyn Bridge December 9, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a monumental architectural triumph of New York City, constructed on May 24, 1883, which supports, to this day, the colossal weight of bridge-walkers, automobiles and its…
Read more about One of a Kind: Josef Hoffmann’s Wiener Werkstätte Poster December 3, 2013 Vintage Posters One of a Kind: Josef Hoffmann’s Wiener Werkstätte Poster A unique item among the scarce posters in the recently restituted Julius Paul Collection that Swann is auctioning on December 18, 2013 is Josef Hoffmann’s hand-stenciled poster announcing the opening of the…
Read more about Herman Melville: Neighbor November 20, 2013 19th & 20th Century Literature Herman Melville: Neighbor Thanks to John D. Larson, Swann’s 19th & 20th Century Literature Specialist, for contributing this post: It’s a fine thing (call it geographic serendipity) to share a similar address with someone who…
Read more about Sol LeWitt Before Minimalism November 11, 2013 Contemporary Art Sol LeWitt Before Minimalism Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) was a pioneering figure in the establishment of Minimalism and Conceptualism during the postwar era. He studied art at Syracuse University and moved to New York City to…
Read more about From The Kiss to The Scream: Edvard Munch November 1, 2013 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings From The Kiss to The Scream: Edvard Munch Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian Symbolist and Expressionist painter/printmaker who, unlike the Impressionists in their focus on the natural world, looked inward to portray basic human conditions—love, jealousy, anxiety, loneliness, illness and…
Read more about Paul Cézanne: A Lightning Rod for Criticism at the Armory Show October 29, 2013 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Paul Cézanne: A Lightning Rod for Criticism at the Armory Show Amid all of the shock, sensationalism and bewilderment surrounding many of the works in the 1913 Armory Show, much of the harshest criticism was levied at the paintings of Paul Cézanne, though…
Read more about Mary Cassatt: Celebrated Impressionist October 24, 2013 Prints & Drawings Mary Cassatt: Celebrated Impressionist Born in Philadelphia into a well-to-do family, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) spent most of her adult life in Europe and, along with Berthe Morisot, went on to become one of the…
Read more about James A.M. Whistler in the 1913 Armory Show October 23, 2013 Prints & Drawings James A.M. Whistler in the 1913 Armory Show There were four paintings by James A.M. Whistler (1834-1903) in the Armory Show; all of which were figural works exhibited in Gallery P among significant French 19th century paintings.
Read more about Francisco José de Goya and Modern Art October 18, 2013 Prints & Drawings Francisco José de Goya and Modern Art Francisco José de Goya (1746-1828) was included in the Armory Show as the first artist in the organizers’ timeline of modern art. The chronology of modern art devised by Arthur B. Davies–president of the Armory Show exhibition committee, aka the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS)–grouped Goya with Ingres, Delacroix and Courbet as a forerunner of modern art.
Read more about The Armory Show at 100: An Introduction to the Catalogue October 16, 2013 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings The Armory Show at 100: An Introduction to the Catalogue This is the first in a series of posts about Swann’s upcoming November 5 auction titled The Armory Show at 100: America’s Introduction to Modern Art. The following essay by…
Read more about A Previously Unknown Norman Lewis Painting September 30, 2013 African American Art A Previously Unknown Norman Lewis Painting The image chosen for the cover of Swann’s upcoming sale Point of Departure: Postwar African-American Fine Art is a circa 1957 Untitled oil on canvas by Norman Lewis. The previously unrecorded painting was acquired…
Read more about Mark Michaelson: Crime Becomes Collectible, Mugshots for Sale September 16, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks Mark Michaelson: Crime Becomes Collectible, Mugshots for Sale Murder and mayhem have long fascinated photographers and film aficionados, and are also inextricably linked with collectors of vernacular photography. But, how did the mugshot become a fine-art collectible? For…
Read more about Moholy-Nagy’s Watercolor September 11, 2013 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Moholy-Nagy’s Watercolor Swann will offer a László Moholy-Nagy gouache and watercolor Composition in our 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings auction tomorrow. Moholy-Nagy (1894-1946) was an influential Jewish-Hungarian artist known for…
Read more about Chiles Rellenos, circa 1825, with Americana Specialist Rick Stattler September 5, 2013 Printed & Manuscript Americana Chiles Rellenos, circa 1825, with Americana Specialist Rick Stattler We will be offering an early Mexican manuscript cookbook in our October 10, 2013 Printed & Manuscript Americana auction. We don’t know the author, we don’t know the date, but…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Artist Jane Peterson May 31, 2013 American Art Notes from the Catalogue: Artist Jane Peterson Our June 13 auction of American Art features five unique works by Jane Peterson, an American artist born in Elgin, Illinois in 1876. Born into relative poverty, she showed artistic promise…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: John Randel’s Map of New York May 14, 2013 Maps & Atlases Notes from the Catalogue: John Randel’s Map of New York Among the highlights of Swann’s June 6 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Historical Prints, Ephemera is a Final Commissioner’s Map of New York City by John Randel,…
May 3, 2013 Art Press & Illustrated Books Christine von der Linn on Irving Oaklander Thursday, May 9th, our sale of Art, Press & Illustrated Books will feature the inventory of the late Irving Oaklander, known to all who sought rare books about graphic design,…
Read more about Notes from the Catalogue: Picasso’s Dora Maar April 29, 2013 Old Master Through Modern Prints Notes from the Catalogue: Picasso’s Dora Maar Among the highlights of our May 1, 2013 auction of Old Master Through Modern Prints is a brilliant, richly-inked impression of Pablo Picasso’s aquatint, scraper, burin and drypoint, Femme au fauteuil II: Dora Maar.…
March 13, 2013 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Notes from the Catalogue: The Emancipation Proclamation “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” declares the extraordinary document brought forth by our founders on July 4, 1776. But as we…
Read more about Early Photographs of Asia from the Estate of Fong Chow February 5, 2013 Photographs & Photobooks Early Photographs of Asia from the Estate of Fong Chow Swann Galleries’ February 26, 2013 auction of Fine Photographs features several early photographic albums filled with images of Asia that come from the Estate of Fong Chow. Chow (1923-2012) was…
January 28, 2013 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings The Armory Show at 100: America’s Introduction to Modern Art This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the famed 1913 Armory Show. The seminal show was originally held in the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington & 25th Street, just across…
Read more about Three Artist’s Christmas Cards November 14, 2012 American Art Three Artist’s Christmas Cards The holiday season seems to have surprised everyone this year with its early arrival, but there is still time to get your Christmas cards in order. Need inspiration? Look no…
Read more about The Chicago Renaissance: Eldzier Cortor, Hughie Lee-Smith, & Charles White October 18, 2012 African American Art The Chicago Renaissance: Eldzier Cortor, Hughie Lee-Smith, & Charles White Figurative artists Eldzier Cortor, Hughie Lee-Smith and Charles White stayed true to their roots in social realism as their work evolved in the post-war decades. Unlike contemporaries Charles Alston, Norman…
Read more about $1.44 Million for Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian October 5, 2012 Photographs & Photobooks $1.44 Million for Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian Yesterday Swann sold a complete set of Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian for $1,440,000–the highest priced item ever sold at New York’s premiere auction house for works on…
Read more about Typography Masterpieces May 7, 2012 Vintage Posters Typography Masterpieces A recent auction of Modernist Posters features several examples of modernist typography from major innovators of the form, including Max Bill, Walter Dexel and Jan Tschichold, all associates of the…
Read more about Ansel Adams in Color! March 22, 2012 Photographs & Photobooks Ansel Adams in Color! Known for his attention and passion for the technical aspects of print making, Ansel Adams became a consultant for Edwin Land and the Polaroid Corporation in 1948. He tested film…
November 10, 2011 Vintage Posters Three Chicago Travel Posters You’ll Love Two images from 1924 for Chicago Rapid Transit were intended to draw visitors to the city’s attractions: Ervine Metzl’s evening view of buildings obscured by trees, which is reminiscent of…