November 8, 2024Kelsie JankowskiModern & Post-War Art Artist Profile: Roberto Kazuya Sakai Read more about Artist Profile: Roberto Kazuya Sakai Picking a favorite work of art in our season’s auction lineup is kind of like picking a favorite puppy in a litter. I love them all in different ways, and…
Read more about Leslie Ragan Calendars for the New York Central Railway: A Unique Pictorial Record October 7, 2024 Vintage Posters Leslie Ragan Calendars for the New York Central Railway: A Unique Pictorial Record For an artist with such a prominent place in the American pantheon of poster designers, very little biographical information exists about the life of Leslie Ragan. He is best known…
Read more about Artist Profile: Nelson Stevens September 30, 2024 African American Art Artist Profile: Nelson Stevens I create from the rhythmic color-rappin’-lifestyle of Black folk. I believe that art can breathe life, and life is what we are about. — Nelson Stevens Early Life Born in…
Read more about Movement on Paper: The Work of Abraham Walkowitz September 12, 2024 American Art Movement on Paper: The Work of Abraham Walkowitz “Isadora was my strongest weakness. She was like music. When she moved, it was like the sound of violins,” said Russian-American painter Abraham Walkowitz of his muse, modern dancer Isadora…
Read more about Collectors on Collecting: Jules Feiffer on the Artists and Works from His Collection June 11, 2024 Illustration Art Collectors on Collecting: Jules Feiffer on the Artists and Works from His Collection Jules Feiffer’s career spans decades, producing a remarkable range of projects and generating numerous awards and honors. His contributions to the field of comics since his start in the late…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edward McKnight Kauffer February 26, 2024 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: Edward McKnight Kauffer To look at the graphic design work of Edward McKnight Kauffer is to experience a master craftsman helping to propel modernism into the mainstream. He achieved the height of his creativity in the decades after World War I, bringing his creative, modern aesthetic to a fast-paced world that was eager to embrace his exciting new visual creations.
Read more about Artist Profile: Will Barnet September 9, 2023 American Art Artist Profile: Will Barnet Swann Galleries’ September 21, 2023, American Art sale features a special section of approximately 30 works by Will Barnet from the artist’s estate. A Career That Spans Decades Barnet spent…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edith Schloss May 16, 2023 Modern & Post-War Art Artist Profile: Edith Schloss Our May 25, 2023 Modern & Post-War Art auction features a wide array: from the Post-Impressionist era, a work on paper by Gwen John, up to the works of abstract…
Read more about Artist Profile: William Addison Dwiggins May 16, 2023 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: William Addison Dwiggins William Addison Dwiggins was a multi-hyphenate artist: book designer, typographer, illustrator, writer, marionette maker. He rose to prominence through his advertising and publishing work in the 1920s, winning the Gold…
Read more about Artist Profile: Joseph Cornell March 20, 2023 Prints & Drawings Artist Profile: Joseph Cornell Joseph Cornell & His Own Brand of American Surrealism Though now considered one of the few American proponents of Surrealism, Joseph Cornell was apprehensive about the affiliation, once admitting to…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edward Penfield March 7, 2023 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: Edward Penfield Edward Penfield, the Father of the American Poster “A poster should tell its story at once—a design that needs study is not a poster, no matter how well it is…
Read more about Artist Profile: Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene November 28, 2022 African American Art Artist Profile: Alma Thomas & the Washington Scene Alma Thomas: Early Life & Career Born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1891, Alma Thomas was the eldest of four daughters in a family immersed in art and culture. The Thomas…
Read more about Artist Profile: M.C. Escher October 31, 2022 Old Master Through Modern Prints Artist Profile: M.C. Escher Swann prints and drawings director, Todd Weyman, provides an overview of op-artist M.C. Escher’s career Maurits Cornelis Escher, more commonly known as just M.C. Escher (1898-1972), was born in Leeuwarden,…
Read more about A Look at Maurice Logan’s Designs for the Southern Pacific Railway October 27, 2022 Vintage Posters A Look at Maurice Logan’s Designs for the Southern Pacific Railway The November 10, 2022, auction of Rare & Important Travel Posters includes the largest run of Maurice Logan posters that have ever been offered for sale at a single time—19…
Read more about Artist Profile: Hugh Steers August 8, 2022 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Artist Profile: Hugh Steers “I think I’m in the tradition of a certain kind of American artist (…) Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline—they all had this austere beauty to them. They found beauty…
Read more about Artist Profile: Roger Broders July 27, 2022 Vintage Posters Artist Profile: Roger Broders The legacy of Roger Broders’ poster design has made his name synonymous with French Art Deco travel posters. His artistic career, as a whole, spans from the early twentieth century,…
Read more about Artist Profile: Hughie Lee-Smith March 23, 2022 African American Art Artist Profile: Hughie Lee-Smith “I cannot begin to project the meaning of my work in specific terms, for [my] paintings, at their best, are multi-faceted visual complexes whose many aspects are pregnant with as…
Read more about Artist Profile: Elizabeth Catlett March 16, 2022 African American Art Artist Profile: Elizabeth Catlett I Am a Black Woman: Elizabeth Catlett & Representation in Art Elizabeth Catlett’s landmark contributions to twentieth-century art begin in the 1940s with a new representation of African American women.…
Read more about Artist Profile: Georges Lepape December 13, 2021 Illustration Art Artist Profile: Georges Lepape Georges Lepape: Patriotism & Sentimentality in World War I Era Women’s Magazines World War I invaded every aspect of public life, including illustrated magazines of the period. While some women’s…
Read more about Artist Profile: Belkis Ayón September 27, 2021 African American Art Artist Profile: Belkis Ayón Printmaking has a long history of making the fine art world at large more accessible internationally, due to its affordability and impact. This can be seen in the efforts of…
Read more about Artist Profile: Tom of Finland August 13, 2021 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Artist Profile: Tom of Finland Tom of Finland, perhaps the most iconic creator of erotic gay art, understood his role as a liberator. His images of men unleashing their deepest fantasies have provided an outlet for…
Read more about Examining Edward Gorey’s Market May 3, 2021 Illustration Art Examining Edward Gorey’s Market Edward Gorey is having a moment. Gorey has had many of these over the years—he was the quintessential multifaceted artist/illustrator/author who remains many things to many people: a master of…
Read more about Artist Profile: Peter Hujar March 8, 2021 Photographs & Photobooks Artist Profile: Peter Hujar Peter Hujar was a leading figure in the vibrant downtown New York art scene of the 1970s and 80s. He chronicled the unfolding of public LGBTQ+ life from the time…
Read more about Illustrator Profile: Arthur Burdett Frost January 25, 2021 Illustration Art Illustrator Profile: Arthur Burdett Frost During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Authur Burdett Frost created thousands of illustrations for esteemed periodicals such as Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s and Life, as well as hundreds of oils and watercolors. His drawings,…
Read more about Artist Profile: Louis Lozowick November 2, 2020 Old Master Through Modern Prints Artist Profile: Louis Lozowick Louis Lozowick is known for his geometric and abstracted lithographs of New York City, although his work also included social themes. Often compared to Charles Sheeler and the Precisionists, his stylistic influences changed over the years, but his emphasis stayed…
Read more about Artist Profile: Faith Ringgold September 14, 2020 African American Art Artist Profile: Faith Ringgold A consummate artist, Faith Ringgold has developed a practice that consists of painting, mixed media sculpting, performing, and quilting. Born October 8, 1930, in Harlem, New York, Ringgold’s mother was…
Read more about Artist Profile: Ernie Barnes May 26, 2020 African American Art Artist Profile: Ernie Barnes Ernie Barnes was the first American professional athlete to become a noted painter. From his sports experience and the study of anatomy, Barnes’ unique style of elongation captures the movement, energy and grace of his subjects.
Read more about Illustrator Profile: William Pène du Bois April 9, 2020 Illustration Art Illustrator Profile: William Pène du Bois William Pène du Bois’ whimsical illustrations and beloved cast of characters made serious themes accessible and engaging for children. The American author and illustrator is among a select few who…
Read more about The Social Document: Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother’ April 1, 2020 Photographs & Photobooks The Social Document: Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother’ Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother is widely recognized as the most popular social documentary photograph of all time. During the course of her 40-year career, Lange’s style as a photographer proposed…
Read more about Artist Profile: Rockwell Kent February 26, 2020 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Artist Profile: Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent’s wood engravings and lithographs often convey solitude, spirituality and inner turmoil. Relatable and at the same time, pure fantasy, Kent’s subjects battle the elements as they cling to…
Read more about Artist Profile: Edward Steichen’s Foray into Color Photography February 13, 2020 Photographs & Photobooks Artist Profile: Edward Steichen’s Foray into Color Photography Our winter-spring 2020 sale of Classic & Contemporary Photographs on February 25 is set to offer a rare color image by Edward Steichen. Here Daile Kaplan, the house’s director of photographs and photobooks, presents Steichen’s love for horticulture and the photographer’s employment of color images.
Read more about Artist Profile: Charles Addams September 4, 2019 Illustration Art Artist Profile: Charles Addams With a proclivity to the grim, grisly and gruesome, Charles Addams walked through life illuminating its incongruous funny bones and sore spots. Here we discuss his contributions to The New Yorker and his famous kooky family.
Read more about Artist Profile: Norman Lewis August 30, 2019 African American Art Artist Profile: Norman Lewis Norman Lewis was an Abstract Expressionist painter associated with The Irascibles who developed as a painter as the New York Modern Art scene grew. Here we discuss Lewis’s rise from the margins to art market center.