Iconic Vintage Lewis W. Hine Prints Lead Swann Photographs Auction

ILY: Alfred Stieglitz Critiques Dorothy Norman

New York— Swann Auction Galleries launches into 2018 with the wide-ranging auction Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks on Thursday, February 15. Scarce and one-of-a-kind works will be offered, incorporating the full spectrum of the medium, from nineteenth-century land surveys to fine art photographs printed this century.

The highlight of the sale is a run of 24 prints of Lewis W. Hine’s most iconic images, spanning the entirety of his career, each boasting the handstamp of Hine’s Hastings-on-Hudson studio, as well as notations in his own hand. The works were previously owned by Isador Sy Seidman, a friend of Hine, photographer and lifelong collector of photographs of New York City. An extremely rare early printing of the monumental Powerhouse Mechanic, or Mechanic at Steam Pump in Electric Power House, leads the sale at $70,000 to $100,000. It was printed circa 1921, about a year after the photograph was taken. In some cases, Hine’s notations on the verso serve as alternative titles for famous works. For example, One of many youngsters working in Carolina cotton mills is frequently listed as Sadie Pfeifer, a Cotton Mill Spinner, Lancaster, South Carolina; taken in 1908 and printed 1931, it is here estimated at $10,000 to $15,000. Additional highlights from this collection, which has never before appeared at auction, include recognizable images—some contact prints—of immigrants at Ellis Island, a group of “newsies” and various Empire State Building views.

Recurring characters in the sale are the art world’s favorite love triangle, Georgia O’Keeffe, Dorothy Norman and Alfred Stieglitz. Offered is an illuminating archive of works by both Stieglitz and Norman, with Stieglitz’s notes to the aspiring photographer written in pencil on the mats. These include “Perfection!” and “Wonderful,” but most intriguing is a snapshot by Norman with the letters “ILY” (“I Love You”) repeated hundreds of times by Stieglitz until the symbols create a hypnotic graphic texture covering the mat. The suite, led by a circa 1931 portrait of Norman by Stieglitz, carries an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000 and originally comes from the estate of Dorothy Norman. Meanwhile, photographs of O’Keeffe, Stieglitz’s wife, include the master’s own Hands of Georgia O’Keeffe, no. 26, 1919, printed late 1940s, estimated at $12,000 to $18,000, and the candid portrait by Ansel Adams of Georgia O’Keeffe and Orville Cox, 1937, printed late 1960s, with an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. Adams is additionally represented in the sale with such icons as the famous Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941, printed before 1977 ($30,000 to $45,000).

The sale offers a notably fine selection of nineteenth-century works, including R. B. Talfor’s Photographic Views of the Red River Raft, 1873, of which only three copies are known to exist. In 113 stunning hand-colored views, the album records the second attempt by the Louisiana government to clear the “raft” of fallen trees that clogged the river ($18,000 to $22,000). Leading an edifying selection of photographs of Brazil is an album containing 19 hand-colored salted paper prints of women at work, 1861-62, carrying an estimate of $9,000 to $12,000. Additional highlights include two midcareer works by Gustave le Gray, a veritable who’s-who of Victorian cartes-de-visite and an album of architectural cyanotypes of Haiti, 1895 ($6,000 to $9,000). Rare works by Edward S. Curtis are led by the complete fifth volume of his magnum opus, The North American Indian, 1907, with 36 photogravures on vellum ($18,000 to $22,000).

            Engaging portraits by twentieth-century masters include Diane Arbus’s Young Waitress at a Nudist Camp, New Jersey, 1963, printed by Neil Selkirk, with an estimate of $9,000 to $12,000, and Garry Winogrand’s Victor Riesel, 1957, one year after he was blinded in an acid attack in Manhattan ($14,000 to $18,000). Also available is a double portrait by Roy DeCarava of Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge, 1956, printed 1981, estimated between $15,000 and $25,000. Works by Nick Brandt, Michael Dweck, Robert Frank, Horst P. Horst, Sally Mann, Herb Ritts, Cindy Sherman, Robert Silvers and Bert Stern ensure a well-rounded sale.

            The auction will have its share of haunting landscapes, led by Josef Sudek’s foreboding one-of-a-kind pigment print Gravestone of the Rabbi Lowe, the Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, 1932, with an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000, as well as the silver print Landscape (lake scene), 1920s ($10,000 to $15,000). André Kertész is well-represented, most notably by the large-format modern prints, Carrefour Blois, 1930, and Chez Mondrian, 1926 ($18,000 to $22,000 and $15,000 to $25,000, respectively).

The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com.

 Additional highlights can be found here.

Captions:

Lot 60: Lewis W. Hine, Powerhouse Mechanic, silver print, circa 1921. Estimate $70,000 to $100,000.

Lot 118: Archive of photographs by Alfred Stieglitz & Dorothy Norman, many with hand notations by Stieglitz, silver prints, circa 1931. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.

Lot 20: Robert B. Talfor, Photographic Views of Red River Raft, album of 113 hand-colored photographs, 1873. Estimate $18,000 to $22,000.

Auction date: Thursday, February 15, at 1:30 p.m.

Exhibition dates: February 10, 12, 13 & 14, noon to 5 p.m.; February 15, 10 a.m. to noon; and by appointment

Dear Friends & Colleagues, Happy Holidays! I'm pleased to share our winter/spring 2018 auction schedule. This lineup of sales comes on the heels of a big year for Swann, as we celebrated our 75th anniversary, sold a previously unknown photo of Harriet Tubman, set a new auction record for any print by Edward Hopper, and just last week, held our highest-grossing sale of Illustration Art to date. Our upcoming season features: • Highlights from the collection of poster aficionado and dealer Gail Chisholm • Revolutionary & Presidential Americana from the Collection of William Wheeler III • A marquee sale of African-American Fine Art, with works by Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Carrie Mae Weems and Charles White We'll be sending regular updates throughout the season, but please feel free to reach out for more information on anything below. Warm regards, Alex Alexandra Nelson Communications Director  (212) 254-4710 ext. 19       MAR 1: Georges Dorival, Vers le Mont - Blanc,group of three posters, 1928. FEB 15: Lewis W. Hine, Powerhouse Mechanic, silver contact print, circa 1921.   Full Schedule   MAR 8: Luis de Lucena, Arte de ajedres, first edition of the earliest extant manual of modern chess, Salamanca, circa 1496-97.  MAR 13: Diego Rivera, El sueño (La noche de los pobres), lithograph, 1932.   FEB 15 | Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks   MAR 1 | Vintage Posters Featuring Highlights from the Gail Chisholm Collection MAR 8 | Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books   MAR 13 |  19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Consignment Deadline: January 5   MAR 22 | Autographs Consignment Deadline: January 9   MAR 29 | Printed & Manuscript African Americana     MAR 29: Moses Walker, letter to his enslaved mother, Hootenville, Georgia, January 1854.  MAR 22: George Washington, Letter Signed, as Commander in Chief, planning the Sullivan Expedition, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1778.    APR 5 | African-American Fine Art   APR 12 | Printed & Manuscript Americana   APR 19 | The Knowing Eye: Photographs & Photobooks Consignment Deadline: January 19   APR 26 | Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics Consignment Deadline: February 1   APR 5: Beauford Delaney, Untitled (Village Street Scene), oil on canvas, 1948.    APR 26: Gustav Klimt & Max Eisler, Eine Nachlese, 30 plates by Klimt, Vienna, 1931. MAY 15: Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, limited author’s edition, presentation copy, signed & inscribed, New York, 1953.    MAY 3 | Graphic Design Consignment Deadline: February 2   MAY 8 | Old Master Through Modern Prints Consignment Deadline: March 2   MAY 15 | 19th & 20th Century Literature Consignment Deadline: February 15   MAY 22 | Contemporary Art Consignment Deadline: March 16   JUN 7: Robert Morden, A New Map of the English Empire in America, London, 1698.  APR 12: Alexander Hamilton, unauthorized second edition of a pamphlet detailing his affair with Maria Reynolds, Philadelphia, 1800.   JUN 5 | Illustration Art Consignment Deadline: March 5   JUN 7 | Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books Consignment Deadline: March 7   JUN 14 | American Art Consignment Deadline: April 6   JUN 21 | Revolutionary & Presidential Americana from the Collection of William Wheeler III   AUG 1 | Vintage Posters Consignment Deadline: May 1

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF SALE 2450, June 7, 2017:

MAPS & ATLASES, NATURAL HISTORY & COLOR PLATE BOOKS

Sale total: $704,414 with Buyer’s Premium

Hammer total: $560,480

Estimates for sale as a whole: $574,400 to $868,900

We offered 426 lots; 347 sold (81% sell-through rate by lot)

Top lots                                                                                                                                                                    Prices with buyer’s premium

225*        Hovhannes Amira Dadian, first world atlas in the Armenian language, Venice, 1849.                                                         $37,500 D

60•           Lewis Evans, Speciel Land Charte von Pensilvanien, Neu Jersey, Neu York, Frankfurt, 1750.                                         $27,500 D

249           Arnoldus Montanus & John Ogilby, America: Being the Latest, & Most Accurate…, second issue, London, 1673. $25,000 D

36             Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres, A Sketch of the Operations Before Charleston, London, 1780.                           $21,250 C

296           William Hodgson, Journal of a Voyage, two manuscript ship’s logs, with 35 watercolor illustrations, 1891-21.   $20,800 D

12             Samuel Baker, A New & Exact Map of the Island of St Christopher [St. Kitt’s], London, 1753.                                     $18,750 D

228           Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, L’Hydrographie Françoise, with 92 charts, Paris, circa 1770.                                                     $18,750 D

310           George Shaw & Frederick Polydore Nodder, The Naturalist's Miscellany, complete, London, 1789-1813.                $16,250 C

30             Henry Briggs, The North part of America…, hand-colored map showing CA as an island, London, 1625.                 $15,000 I

403           Thomas Rowlandson, attributed to, English Garden Scene, watercolor, England, circa 1820.                                         $11,875 C

7•             Aaron & Samuel Arrowsmith, Chart of the Sandwich Islands, London, 1830.                                                                     $10,625 D

254           Gerardus Mercator, Tabulae Geographicae, first edition of his Ptolemaic atlas, Cologne, 1578.                                    $10,625 D

219           Matthias Quad, six double-page maps, hand-colored, Cologne, circa 1600.                                                                            $9,100 C

259           John Speed, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, with 86 double-page maps, London, 1676.                        $8,125 D

62•           John Farmer, Map of the State of Michigan, large folding map, Detroit, 1846-47.                                                                $7,500 C

174           Abraham Ortelius, Maris Pacifici, double-page hand-colored map, Antwerp, circa 1590.                                                 $7,250 C

200           Pierre Francois Tardieu, United States of Nth. America, large case map, Paris, 1802.                                                          $6,750 D

235           Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D’Anville & John Harrison, D’Anville’s Atlas, complete, London, 1792.                      $6,750 D

377•        Robert Cruikshank, 25 ink & watercolor drawings for juvenile dramas, London, 1830s.                                                   $5,750 D

159           Egbert Viele, Sanitary and Topographical Map of… New York, hand-colored lithograph, New York, 1865.            $5,500 D

239           Willem & Johannes Blaeu, Toonneel des Aerdrycx ost Nieuwe Atlas, volume 3, Amsterdam, 1642.                                $5,500 C

KEY:       * = Auction Record for Work; • = First at Auction; C = Collector; D = Dealer; I = Institution

Armenian Atlas Reaches $37,500

at Swann Galleries’ Antiquarian Maps Sale

New York— On June 7, Swann Galleries’ held its biannual auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books. Approximately two thirds of the lots offered fell into the category of maps and atlases, with strong results in both subheadings. Of the 265 lots, 86% percent found buyers, exceeding the low estimate for the section by more than $100,000.

The first world atlas in the Armenian language topped the sale, reaching more than five times its $6,000 high estimate to sell for $37,500*, a record for the work. Hovhannes Amira Dadian created the atlas in the Armenian monastery on the Venetian island of San Lazzaro in 1849 in an effort to bring Western knowledge to his home country. The atlas boasts ten hand-colored double-page maps, including one of the solar system, all of which were printed in Paris and based primarily on contemporary French models.

Another highlight was the Speciel Land Charte von Pensilvanien, Neu Jersey, Neu York, a 1750 map by Lewis Evans published in Frankfurt, whose alluring designations such as “The Endless Mountains” may have been responsible for the subsequent German emigration to the state. The map sold for $27,500, far exceeding its high estimate of $15,000. The only other known copy is in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Multiple bidders on a manuscript logbook that recounts two voyages from England to the Mediterranean, replete with records and delightful watercolors by Captain William Hodgson, sent the price flying past the high estimate of $5,000 to a price realized of $20,800. Specialist Caleb Kiffer notes, “The log book is one of those unusual items that rarely comes to market and that gets people really excited.”

Other items he noted included a mysterious early twentieth-century chalkboard globe that tripled its modest high estimate to sell for $1,625, and a rare map detailing the proceedings of the Revolutionary War near Charleston, SC ($21,250).

Mr. Kiffer added, “I was glad to see a mix of collectors, dealers and institutions actively bidding.”

The next sale of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books at Swann Galleries will be on December 5, 2017. For more information or consign quality materials, contact Caleb Kiffer at caleb@swanngalleries.com.

Attached images are:

Lot 225

Hovhannes Amira Dadian, first world atlas in the Armenian language, Venice, 1849. Sold June 7, 2017 for $37,500, a record for the work. (Pre-sale estimate $4,000 to $6,000)

Lot 60

Lewis Evans, Speciel Land Charte von Pensilvanien, Neu Jersey, Neu York, Frankfurt, 1750. Sold June 7, 2017 for $27,500. (Pre-sale estimate $10,000 to $15,000)

*ALL PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, DIGITAL IMAGES & COMPLETE PRICES REALIZED ON REQUEST

Top lots                                                                                                                                                                    Prices with buyer’s premium

75             Carte-de-visite album of 48 photographs, including two photos of Harriet Tubman, one previously unrecorded,      $161,000 D

circa 1860s.

80*           Frederick Douglass, Autograph Letter Signed to George Alfred Townsend, “A few friends in England bought       $100,000 D

me and made me a present of myself,” Washington, May 5, 1880.

150*        Benjamin Banneker's Almanac for 1795, Baltimore, 1794.                                                                                                          $55,000 C

306           Collection of 41 letters and a poem to Rebecca Primus, Maryland and New England, 1854-72.                                       $45,000 I

260           Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., My Dear Fellow Clergymen, typed working draft for Letter From Birmingham Jail,    $40,000 I

April 16, 1963.

83*           Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, first edition inscribed, Boston, 1845.                                       $37,500 D

109           Habitation Livaudais, broadside, New Orleans, 1832.                                                                                                                 $27,500 I

256           Collection of papers relating to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, 1955-63.                        $18,750 I

86             Douglass, The North Star, Vol. 1, Number 22, Rochester, July 10, 1851.                                                                                $15,000 I

95             To The Rescue! Three Fugitives About to be Arrested!, broadside, Boston, October 25, 1850.                                      $15,000 C

521           Victor H. Green, The Negro Motorist Green-Book for 1941, New York, 1940.                                                                    $12,500 C

303           William Bess, The Besso System of Beauty Culture, two volumes, Memphis, circa 1930s-40s.                                        $11,875 D

338           Amy Jacques Garvey, original manuscript for the second edition of The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus          $11,875 D

Garvey, circa 1921-25.

325           Abby Fisher, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, first edition, San Francisco, 1881.                                   $11,250 I

239           Group of material relating to the Scottsboro Boys case, 1931-37.                                                                                              $11,250 D

5                Kuduo burial jar, bronze, West Africa, circa eighteenth- to nineteenth century.                                                                    $10,625 I

481           Heroes of the Colored Race, chromolithographic posters, Cleveland, 1881.                                                                         $10,625 D

45             300 Dollars Reward, broadside, Baltimore, 1828.                                                                                                                          $10,000 I

24             West Ford, Autograph Letter Signed to John Augustine Washington III, September 6, 1844.                                         $9,375 I

458           Archive of The Ink Spots, including an Autograph by Ella Fitzgerald, 1930s-60s.                                                             $9,375 I

KEY:       * = Auction Record; C = Collector; D = Dealer; I = Institution

Swann Galleries’ $1M Sale of Printed & Manuscript

African Americana Breaks Multiple Auction Records

Previously Unrecorded Photograph of Harriet Tubman Reaches $161,000

New York— On Thursday, March 30, Swann Galleries’ annual auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana exceeded $1M for the first time in the department’s 20+ year history. The success was largely due to interest surrounding a carte-de-visite album from the 1860s that contained a previously unknown photograph of Harriet Tubman.

The album topped the sale, selling for $161,000, above a pre-sale high estimate of $30,000. Specialist Wyatt Houston Day discovered the photograph of Tubman in the album, compiled by Quaker abolitionist Emily Howland in the 1860s. The album contains 48 photographs, including 44 cartes-de-visite of noted abolitionists, politicians and friends of Howland.

The sale also featured “the strongest selection of Civil Rights material we’ve ever offered,” according to Mr. Day. An archive of documents relating to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, including checks endorsed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., realized $18,750.

Half of the top lots were institutional purchases, including a working draft for Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 ($40,000) and a West African cast bronze Kuduo ritual burial jar, circa eighteenth- to nineteenth century ($10,624).

The sale broke several long-standing records, including $7,800 for an inscribed first edition of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937, which since 1992 had stood at $1,000. Material relating to Frederick Douglass saw new records, including an 1880 Autograph Letter Signed to George Alfred Townsend, in which Douglass writes, “You are wrong in saying I bought my liberty, a few friends in England bought me and made me a present of myself,” which reached $100,000, more than doubling the previous record for a letter by the famed abolitionist. An inscribed first edition of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845, exceeded all expectations by selling for $37,500, above a high estimate of $4,000.

Another record price went to Benjamin Banneker's Almanac for 1795 at $55,000, the second highest price ever paid for an American almanac at auction.

Swann Galleries is the oldest continually operating specialist auction house in New York, and the world’s largest auctioneer of Works on Paper. This month, the house celebrated the diamond anniversary of its first sale, an auction of books and literary properties, held March 27, 1942. The Printed & Manuscript African Americana department at Swann Galleries, the only one of its kind, has been holding sales since 1996.

            The next sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana at Swann Galleries will be held in Spring 2018. For more information, or to consign works to future auctions, contact Swann Book Department Administrator David Rivera at drivera@swanngalleries.com or (212) 254-4710 ext. 13.

Attached images are:

Lot 75

Carte-de-visite album of 48 photographs, including two photos of Harriet Tubman, one previously unrecorded, circa 1860s. Sold March 30, 2017 for $161,000. (Pre-sale estimate: $20,000 to $30,000.)

Lot 80

Frederick Douglass, Autograph Letter Signed to George Alfred Townsend, “A few friends in England bought me and made me a present of myself,” Washington, May 5, 1880. Sold March 30, 2017 for $100,000. (Pre-sale estimate: $40,000 to $60,000.)

*ALL PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, DIGITAL IMAGES & COMPLETE PRICES REALIZED ON REQUEST

Catalogue Now Online • Online Catalogue • 3D Catalogue Auction Thursday March 30, 2017 10:30 am & 2:30 pm Wyatt Houston Day, Specialist Printed & Manuscript African Americana 212 254 4710 ext. 300 wyatthday@swanngalleries.com Clockwise from top left: Sojourner Truth, c. 1870s - Lot 77 Martin Luther King Jr., 1963 - Lot 267 Support Selma Negroes, c. 1965 - Lot 273 Malcolm X, 1957 - Lot 343

104 East 25th St, New York, NY 10010 • 212 254 4710 swanngalleries.com/75th

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L.A. Assemblage Artists Featured

in Swann African-American Fine Art Auction

New York— On Thursday, April 6, Swann Galleries will hold an auction of African-American Fine Art, featuring originals and multiples from the last 200 years.

            The highlight of the sale is an outstanding selection of paintings and collage by the assemblage artists working in Los Angeles in the 1960s and ‘70s. David Hammons leads the sale with a large 1976 untitled double body print collage, estimated at $200,000 to $300,000. Timothy Washington, represented here by his 1970 assemblage Raw Truth ($15,000 to $25,000), is joined by sculptural pieces by John Outterbridge and Noah Purifoy.

            The sale will feature artworks from the estate of Miriam Matthews, the first professionally-trained African-American librarian in California and an avid proponent of Black history and art. Offerings from Matthews’s California-focused collection include fine sculptures by Richmond Barthé, Priscilla “P’lla” Mills, John T. Riddle, Jr. and Beulah Woodard, as well as prints and drawings by female artists Marion Epting, Suzanne Jackson, Yvonne Cole Meo and Betye Saar.

            A cornerstone of African-American Fine Art auctions at Swann is a strong section of Abstract Expressionist paintings with a special focus on works by Norman Lewis. An untitled 1947-48 oil painting, with a personal holiday inscription by Lewis, is valued at $80,000 to $120,000, while the ochre-toned Untitled (Urban Composition), 1946, is expected to sell between $75,000 and $100,000. A rare early example of Lewis’s first experimentations with abstraction, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction), 1946, and the later oil on paper Untitled (Circle Composition), 1964, each carry an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000.

A spectrum of works by Sam Gilliam begins with one of his earliest works ever to come to auction: Think So, 1967, is expected to sell between $20,000 and $30,000. A fine example of the artist’s 1982 “D” paintings, Muse #1, marks a heightened physicality in his abstraction; it is valued at $50,000 to $75,000. Gilliam’s ethereal 1968 canvas Mess of Greens is one of the earliest examples of his use of a beveled-edge stretcher; the canvas is stained and folded, creating a slight transparency that encourages the viewer to question the work’s relationship with the wall ($35,000 to $50,000).

Fine examples of geometric abstraction by Alvin D. Loving, Jr. are led by a monumental untitled diptych, 1968, valued at $80,000 to $120,000. Loving is also represented by works on a more intimate scale, including Untitled (Geometric Composition), 1968, and the 1970 colored pencil Sketch for Wall ($8,000 to $12,000 and $3,000 to $5,000, respectively). Abstraction continues with Morning Light, 1974, a bright canvas by Frank Bowling, expected to sell between $60,000 and $90,000.

The earliest material in the sale is an 1863 oil on canvas riverscape by Robert S. Duncanson ($50,000 to $75,000). Early twentieth century highlights include James VanDerZee’s Eighteen Photographs portfolio of silver prints, 1905-28 and Sargent Johnson’s sublime painted copper mask Untitled (Negro Mother), 1935-36, only the second of its kind to come to auction ($40,000 to $60,000 and $80,000 to $120,000, respectively).

A newly discovered oil painting by Walter Williams will be crossing the block for the first time: Untitled (Boy on a Porch), circa 1965, is the largest work from the artist’s Southern Landscape series to come to auction. It is expected to sell for $35,000 to $50,000.

A cast bronze sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett, Rebozo IV, 1965 ($12,000 to $18,000), makes a rare appearance, along with the 1975 color linoleum cut, There is a woman in every color, valued at $3,000 to $5,000. Five watercolors by Alma W. Thomas from a private collection are each valued at $6,000 to $9,000, while her homage to Pearl Bailey as the titular character in Hello Dolly, 1967, is expected to fetch $12,000 to $18,000.

An important early painting from Hughie Lee-Smith’s Detroit period—Untitled (Cityscape), 1954 ($60,000 to $90,000)—is joined by two of the artist’s later works. Counterpoise, 1988, is expected to sell between $15,000 and $25,000, while the striking 1995 oil painting Silhouette, is valued at $60,000 to $90,000.

Contemporary works include Boo Hoo, a 2000 linoleum cut by Kara Walker ($5,000 to $7,000) and Faith Ringgold’s 2007 portfolio of eight color screenprints, Letter From Birmingham City Jail, here valued at $5,000 to $7,000. Also available are recent works by Columbus Knox, James Little and Carrie Mae Weems.

The auction will be held Thursday, April 6, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The auction preview will be open to the public Saturday, April 1 from noon to 5 p.m.; Monday, April 3 through Wednesday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Thursday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to noon.

An illustrated auction catalogue is available for $35 at www.swanngalleries.com.

For further information or to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Nigel Freeman at 212-254-4710, extension 33 or nfreeman@swanngalleries.com.

Attached images are:

Lot 13

Sargent Johnson, Untitled (Negro Mother), copper with paint, 1935-36. Estimate $80,000 to $120,000.

Lot 102

David Hammons, Untitled (Double Body Print Collage), pigment, ink and paper collage, 1976. Estimate $200,000 to $300,000.

Complete Auction Catalogue

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF SALE 2436, February 14, 2017:

ICONS & IMAGES: PHOTOGRAPHS & PHOTOBOOKS

Sale total: $1,582,851 with Buyer’s Premium

Hammer total: $1,260,000

Estimates for sale as a whole: $1,382,800 to $2,047,300

We offered 321 lots; 237 sold (74% sell-through rate by lot)

Top lots                                   Prices with buyer’s premium

13         Eadweard Muybridge, 50 plates from Animal Locomotion, collotypes, 1887.     $62,500 C

285      Group of 22 photographs from NASA missions, 1965-84, printed circa 1985.     $43,750 C

144      Roy DeCarava, Dancers, silver print, 1981.      $40,000 D

6           Sixth-plate tintype after a daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe, circa 1849-50s.      $37,500 C

56         Lewis W. Hine, Empire State Building, silver print, circa 1930, printed 1950s.     $37,500 C

61         Ansel Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, silver print, 1944, printed 1970s.     $32,500 C

97         Leni Riefenstahl, 32 photographs relating to the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, silver prints, 1936.     $30,000 D

32         Edward S. Curtis, Chief of the Desert, Navajo, orotone, in original frame, 1904.     $23,750 D

306      Adams, Yosemite and the Range of Light, deluxe edition, Boston, 1979.     $21,250 D

145*    DeCarava, Graduation, silver print, 1949, printed 1982.     $21,250 C

141      Robert Frank, Trolley – New Orleans, silver print, 1955, printed 1970s.     $21,250 C

158      Ormond Gigli, Girls in the Windows, New York City, oversized archival print, 1960, printed later.     $20,800 D

31         Curtis, The Rush Gatherer, orotone, in original frame,      $20,000 D

140      Frank, Hearse, London, silver print, 1951, printed       $20,000 C

75         Alfred Stieglitz, Portrait of Dorothy Norman, silver print, 1930-36.     $20,000 C

118      André Kertész, Washington Square Park at Night, oversize silver print, 1954, printed circa 1980.     $20,000 C

135*    W. Eugene Smith, Pittsburgh: Dance of the Flaming Coke, silver print, 1955-56, printed 1970s.     $18,750 C

215      Larry Clark, Tulsa Portfolio, complete set with 10 photographs, silver prints, 1968-71, printed 1972.     $17,500 C

54*      Bill Brandt, Rainswept Roofs, silver print, 1933, printed      $16,250 D

131      O. Winston Link, Hotshot Eastbound, Iaeger, West Virginia, silver print, 1956, printed 1987.     $16,250 C

KEY:  * = Auction Record; C = Collector; D = Dealer

Swann Galleries’ Historic Photographs Sale Clears $1.5M

New York— On Tuesday, February 14, Swann Galleries offered Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks, an auction featuring masterworks spanning the lifetime of the medium. The Valentine’s Day auction was well-timed, precisely 65 years to the day after Swann held the first U.S. auction dedicated to photographs, The Marshall Sale, on February 14, 1952.

         The auction house, which is also celebrating its diamond anniversary this year, has continued to honor that historical pedigree with such innovations as the first auction dedicated to vernacular photography, a field that Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan has helped to bring into the main stream. Tuesday’s sale offered premier examples of both vernacular and fine art photography, earning more than $1.5M in an auction that lasted nearly five hours.

         The sale featured a run of lots related to the moon landing and space exploration in the second half of the twentieth century. There was heated bidding for a group of 22 large cibachrome prints from NASA missions, 1965-84, leading to a final price of $43,750*, above a high estimate of $25,000. A related archive of approximately 280 photographs of various Apollo missions, 1969-72, earned $5,460, while a set of ten contemporary assemblages depicting the moon was sold for $6,250.

         Though twentieth century works commanded most of the highest prices, the top lot of the sale was a collection of 50 plates from Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion, 1887, which sold to a private collector for $62,500. All five offered lots by Muybridge sold.

One highlight of the sale was a rare sixth-plate tintype of Edgar Allan Poe, taken after a daguerreotype captured just three weeks before this death, which more than doubled its high estimate of $15,000 to sell to a collector after competitive bidding for $37,500.

A run of nine works by Edward S. Curtis all found buyers, led by Chief of the Desert, Navajo, a 1904 orotone portrait in its original frame, which sold for $23,750. Bidding moved swiftly, especially for rare scenes such as The Rush Gatherer, a 1910 orotone also in its original frame ($20,000).

Both offered lots by Roy DeCarava sold above their estimates, with the 1956 silver print Dancers earning $40,000, above a high estimate of $25,000, and setting a new auction record for the image. Empire State Building, circa 1930, a dramatic silver print by Lewis W. Hine, sold for $37,500, above a high estimate of $18,000.

An album of approximately 265 photographs depicting the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was purchased by an institution for $13,750, more than twice its high estimate of $6,000.

The sale closed with a selection of photobooks. A maquette by Lucien Clergue for his unpublished book Picasso en Provence, featuring 150 candid, intimate and rarely seen photographs of Pablo Picasso, was purchased for $15,000. An early travelogue by Scottish photographer John Thomson, titled Illustrations of China and its People, Volumes I and II, 1873, went to a collector for $15,000. Several editions of Camera Work, the photograph magazine published by Alfred Sieglitz at the dawn of the twentieth century, were offered with a 100% sell-through rate.

         Swann Galleries Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks Daile Kaplan said, “Our Valentine's Day auction was a sweet success, with an impressive roster of new buyers actively bidding.  The relationship between science and art told a fascinating story, given the success of the Muybridge and NASA sets. Overall, the sale featured a selection of fine art and vernacular photographs that offered choice opportunities to better understand photography's growing role in visual culture."

         The next photographs sale at Swann Galleries will be held April 20, 2017. For more information, contact Daile Kaplan at dkaplan@swanngalleries.com.

Attached images are:

Lot 13

Eadweard Muybridge, 50 plates from Animal Locomotion, collotypes, 1887. Sold February 14, 2017 for $62,500. (Pre-sale estimate: $30,000 to $45,000)

Lot 285

Group of 22 photographs from NASA missions, 1965-84, cibachrome prints, printed circa 1985. Sold February 14, 2017 for $43,750. (Pre-sale estimate: $15,000 to $25,000)

*ALL PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, DIGITAL IMAGES & COMPLETE PRICES REALIZED ON REQUEST

                                                                          Image Courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

From Edgar Allan Poe to NASA, Swann Galleries’

Winter Photographs Sale Offers Historic Images

New York— On Thursday, February 14, Swann Galleries will offer Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks, with spectacular examples of the medium representing a range of styles and technological advances, from mid-nineteenth century portraiture to contemporary photocollages.

            The sale is led by a selection of 50 plates from Eadweard Muybridge’s groundbreaking series, Animal Locomotion, 1887. This collection of motion studies largely features the human form, as well as a menagerie of exotic animals. This precursor to film is estimated to sell between $30,000 and $45,000.

Among early photographs is a sixth-plate tintype of Edgar Allan Poe, after the “Traylor” daguerreotype, taken in 1849 just three weeks before the author’s death. The original daguerreotype was damaged and then lost; this rare tintype is expected to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000. Further highlights include an albumen print of General George A. Custer, taken in 1872 by J.A. Scholten ($4,000 to $6,000); a portrait of Walt Whitman in Brooklyn, attributed to painter Thomas Eakins in 1887, valued at $4,000 to $6,000; and a selection of stunning landscapes by Carleton E. Watkins and silver print microphotographs of snowflakes by Wilson A. Bentley.

Image Courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries 

 Revolutionary Americana & Historic Mormon Materials Dominate

Swann Galleries’ November Printed & Manuscript Auction

     Revolutionary Americana & Historic Mormon Materials Dominate Swann Galleries’ November Printed & Manuscript Auction New York–Swann Galleries’ November 17 sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana brought more than $770,000, exceeding the high estimate for the sale. The top lot was an 1830 first edition of the Book of Mormon, which sold to a private collector for $67,500*. This was more than the last 17 copies on the auction market, going back to a 2008 sale at Swann where it sold for $75,000. Swann holds the record for this rare true first edition, set in 2007 at $180,000. What makes this edition unusual is that it is the only one to list Joseph Smith as the “author and proprietor” rather than the translator.

Lot 22 Manuscript orderly book of Captain John Schenck, detailing New York's defenses in the first year of the Revolution, including passwords and countersigns, 1776. Sold November 17, 2016 for $40,000. (Pre-sale estimate: $6,000 to $9,000)

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF SALE 2413, November 1, 2016:

AUTOGRAPHS

Sale total: $583,949 with Buyer’s Premium

Hammer total: $462,830

Estimates for sale as a whole: $363,340 to $542,060

We offered 285 lots; 255 sold (89% sell-through rate by lot)

Top lots                                                                                                                                                  Prices with buyer’s premium

118      Album with more than 130 Civil War-era signatures, including Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet,                               $60,000 C

and signed by 18 presidents, 1864-2010.                                                                                                                                         

26*      Samuel Huntington, Letter Signed, as Governor, to NJ Gov. William Livingston, informing him that CT ratified     $36,400 D

the U.S. Constitution, 23 January 1788.              

143      Andrew Jackson, Autograph Note Signed to Secretary of War regarding Cherokee Nation, circa 1837.                        $18,750 C

10         George Washington, Partly-printed Document Signed as Commander-In-Chief, 8 June 1783.                                          $13,750 C

35         Joseph Smith, clipped signature with the fragmentary closing “Your Friend,” undated.                                                    $13,750 C

119      John Quincy Adams, Letter Signed as Secretary of State, on the constitutional convention, 22 October 1818.          $11,250 D

146      Thomas Jefferson, Printed Document Signed as Secretary of State, the first Act in which VT is referred to   $11,250 C

 as a state, 2 March 1791.                                          

1           Album containing more than 200 signatures, including most of the 38th Congress, 1850-74.                                         $9,750 D

22         Benjamin Franklin, Document Signed as President of the Executive Council of PA, 1785.                                               $8,750 C

108      Raoul Wallenberg, Partly Printed Letter Signed, verifying that Jenö Radványi is released from wearing                     $8,125 C

the yellow star, Budapest, August 1944.                                                                  

276      Claude Monet, Autograph Letter Signed to Gustave Geffroy, inviting him to Giverny, 14 July 1891.                          $8,125 C

52         Muhammad Ali, Photograph Signed and Inscribed and Typed Letter Signed, 4 August 1967.                                         $7,500 C

189      Washington, Partly-printed Document Signed, Virginia lottery ticket, 1768.                                                                                         $7,250 D

225      Sergei Rachmaninoff, Autograph Musical Quotation dated and Signed, 1 February 1919.                                                 $7,000 C

257      J.D. Salinger, Autograph Letter Signed, offering consolation, Denver, November 1972.                                                    $7,000 D

23         Franklin, Partly-printed vellum Document Signed, granting 200 acres of land, 28 February 1787.                                 $6,760 C

29         John Jay, Autograph Letter Signed, to his son, discussing financial matters, Bedford, 29 November 1815.                  $6,240 C

216      Gustav Mahler, Autograph Note Signed, undated.                                                                                                                         $6,240 C

260      Mark Twain, Autograph Manuscript Signed, draft title-page for Appendix to ‘A Connecticut Yankee                            $6,000 D

in King Arthur’s Court,’ circa 1889.                                                                                                                                                  

11         Anthony Wayne, Autograph Letter Signed to Benjamin Rush, 20 September 1779.                                                            $5,750 C

KEY: * = Auction record; C = Collector; D = Dealer

Days Before Election, Presidential Signatures in High Demand

at Swann Galleries’ Autographs Auction

New York—On November 1, a mere nine days before the American Presidential election, Swann Auction Galleries offered an autograph album signed by 18 presidents, starting with Abraham Lincoln and ending with Barack Obama. Fourteen presidents signed the album on a single page, to make for a head-spinning who’s-who of powerful Americans. The album, which sold to a collector for $60,000*, was the centerpiece of an eclectic and well-attended Autographs auction.

         Presidents and historic political superstars performed exceptionally well in the sale. A Letter Signed by Samuel Huntington as Governor, informing the Governor of New Jersey that Connecticut had ratified the Constitution, sold for $36,400—over ten times the high estimate and an auction record for a letter signed by Huntington. Various Partly-printed Documents Signed by George Washington achieved high prices, including a 1768 Virginia lottery ticket, which sold for $7,250, and the 1783 military discharge of Edward Keyser from the Second New York Regiment, which brought $13,750.

         One outstanding lot was a Clipped Signature by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion. The fragment was cut from a letter that closed, “your friend” and on the verso mentioned the town of Plymouth, a site of spiritual relevance to Mormons. Bidders over the phone, online and in attendance pushed the price to nearly twenty times the estimate–it eventually went to a collector for $13,750.

         Also in the sale was an Autograph Letter Signed by Claude Monet to his friend, the artist and art critic Gustave Geffroy, inviting him to visit the garden “resplendent with flowers” in Giverny, where Monet painted his famous water lilies. The letter, dated July 14, 1891 and still in the original envelope, sold for $8,125. An Autograph Letter Signed by Edvard Munch to Judge J. Roede stated that his handyman will continue to assist in his painting, though he will no longer be able to garden or grow asparagus. The undated letter, in Danish, went for $3,250.

         There was no shortage of musicians’ signatures in the sale, led by Sergei Rachmininoff’s Autograph Musical Quotation dated and Signed, which sold to a collector for $7,000. Meanwhile, an Autograph Note Signed by Gustav Mahler with the salutation “Dear Director” in German sold above its estimate at $6,240. A poster featuring inkblots, each signed by a member of the Beatles with Ringo, the shortest Beatle, signing the shortest inkblot and inscribing his height, sold for $5,750 after frenzied bidding.

Swann Galleries’ Autographs Specialist Marco Tomaschett said, “Presidential autographs performed well, demonstrating that this election season has not diminished enthusiasm for the presidency. We are also seeing collectors bid enthusiastically for popular culture icons, while autographs of fine artists and classical musicians continue to increase in value.”

*All prices include Buyer’s Premium

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE, DIGITAL IMAGES & COMPLETE PRICES REALIZED ON REQUEST

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Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

New Auction Records for Bannister, Jarrell, Knox

in Oct 6 African-American Fine Art Auction

New York—Swann Auction Galleries held their sale of African-American Fine Art on Thursday, October 6. The room was packed for the duration of the sale, as private collectors, dealers and institutions competed over the phone, online and on the floor for rare works by traditionally underrecognized artists. The $2.1 million auction set eight new artist records and tied one of Swann Galleries’ previous records.

              Many works eclipsed their high estimates to applause in the room, including Wadsworth Jarrell’s Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage), 1973, which more than doubled its high estimate at $97,500*, an auction record for the artist. The work was won by an institution after fierce bidding.