January 8, 2025Swann
2024: Year in Review
2024 was an eventful year for Swann that brought about exciting changes, including the reorganization of our Fine Art Department, which saw Nigel Freeman step in as the head of…
Browsing Tag
LGBTQ+ History
Lili Elbe was a Danish painter, trans woman, and one of the earliest recipients of gender-affirming surgery in 1930. The child of Ane Marie Thomsen and spice merchant Mogens Wilhelm…
Swann Galleries is excited to present the sixth iteration of the LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History. The sale will take place on Thursday, August 22, and will feature an exciting selection of fine art, illustration, photography, manuscripts & archives from the expansive range of the LGBTQ+ community.
Swann Galleries continued to offer exceptional auctions of quality material in 2023. The year featured several collections, including a special selection of 100 works from the Stephen White collection in…
The August 17, 2023, LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History auction was a testament to the growing interest in the newly defined area of collecting. In keeping with previous years,…
When you think of queer photography what images come to mind? For a lot of people photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe or Peter Hujar come up, especially their more provocative works.…
2022 was a historic year for Swann in more ways than one. The house celebrated its 80th year of auctions, bringing with it the 70th anniversary of the first photography…
The winter-spring auction season at Swann is a masterclass in marathon training, and the 2022 iteration proved no different with 20 auctions held between late January and the middle of August.
Beefcake imagery was appropriated by the gay community for its own benefits to become a visual testimony of same-sex desire during the pre-Stonewall era.
As we close out another successful year at Swann we look back at our record-filled sales.
Monday, August 16 at 6PM ET Swann President Nicholas D. Lowry will be in conversation with Memphis Brooks Museum curator Dr. Rosamund Garrett and photographer Mark Seliger. They will discuss…
This year Swann Galleries holds a third annual auction dedicated to the art, material culture, and history of the LGBTQ+ community, bringing to market both familiar artists as well as…
With the arrival of baseball’s Opening Day, spring is truly here. Swann does not handle baseball memorabilia in the traditional sense, leaving the encapsulated gem-mint rookie cards and game-worn jerseys to…
In a year that was unlike any in our lifetimes, Swann’s specialists and staff proved to be as resilient and innovative as ever, bringing forward new and safe ways to…
Swann Sets New Auction Record for Tom of Finland The second iteration of Swann Galleries’ LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History sale on Thursday, August 13, 2020, was a resounding…
Antonio Lopez, the bold and blazingly talented fashion illustrator, designer, and stylist of the 1960s-80s was a true iconoclast. He broke racial and sexual barriers decades before it was considered…
Our second annual auction dedicated to the art, material culture, and history of the LGBTQ+ community features items by and from major figures and trailblazers; Richmond Barthé, JEB, Paul Cadmus, Antonio Lopez, Harvey Milk, Freddie Styles, Toyen, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, David Wojnarowicz and more.
Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day, 1971. Upcoming at auction. Remembering & Creating History Swann Galleries’ inaugural Pride Sale in June 2019 was met with a full house and eager international…
What are the inherent challenges in telling a history that is still being unearthed, and what can media and material objects add to that story? Against the backdrop of the…
Historic Pride Sale at Swann Brings Market Premiers and Auction Records The Pride Sale on Thursday, June 20 offered a curated selection of LGBTQ+ art, photography, literature, autographs…
The Gay Day Archive Today, at least a million spectators line the Pride parade route along Fifth Avenue each year. But in its earliest days, the celebration was a much smaller event…
“Every woman who wants to be beautiful should be beautiful” Among the many items up for auction in our June 20 Pride Sale, is an archive of personal effects of Candy Darling an enduring trans icon, American actress…
Auctions offer a moment where the sometimes-incalculable significance of an object is quantified. The price is reached through collaboration: specialists, consignors, the market, and finally, bidders convene in the room,…
The Pride Sale An Exploration & Celebration of the Art, Influence & History of the LGBTQ+ Community We invited Eric Marcus, the founder and host of the Making Gay History…
An Exploration & Celebration of the Art, Influence & History of the LGBTQ+ Community Our first Pride Sale, being held in the same month as WorldPride and the 50th anniversary…
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…
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…
