“I am often asked, everywhere I’ve been, what is the symbolism of my butterflies? Why Butterflies? The only thing I can say of them is that they are the spirits…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
“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…
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,…
“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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
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.
