Swann Galleries News

Thanksgiving weekend was tinged with grief this year as the art world mourned the loss of painter and print-maker Eldzier Cortor. Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1916, his family moved to Chicago where Cortor would attend Englewood High School with fellow future artists Margaret Burroughs, Charles White and Charles Sebree. He went on to study drawing at the Art Institute of Chicago and became a founding member of the South Side Community Arts Center. Cortor's work on the African diaspora was informed by his travels to Sea Island, Georgia on a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, as well as trips to Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti through a Guggenheim Fellowship. He passed away at his son's home in Seaford, NY, at the age of 99.

Eldzier Cortor, Drawing for "Lantern Gate" (Southern Gate), brush, pen and ink, 1942-43. At auction December 15, 2015.

Director of Swann Galleries' African-American Fine Art department Nigel Freeman said, "We are very saddened to learn of the passing of Eldzier Cortor on Thanksgiving Day in his 100th year. Eldzier Cortor was an extraordinary American artist, a uniquely talented painter and printmaker, who rose from the South Side of Chicago during the Depression to have his artwork included in major institutional collections. He captured the beauty of the African-American female figure, and created some of the most evocative images of the 1940s. Cortor's paintings elevated the depiction of the black experience, transforming social realism in order to show the complexity and richness of the diaspora."

Eldzier Cortor, Composition Study III, etching and aquatint, 1974. At auction December 15, 2015.

Eldzier Cortor, Classical Study, No. 36, oil on canvas, circa 1979.

An interview with Cortor, conducted by the New York Times shortly before his death, gives a view into themes in Cortor's work as well as his thoughts on the relationship between painting and viewer. The piece is now stands as a lovely memorial to an insightful artist.

Eldzier Cortor, Tête-à-Tête, oil on canvas, 1934.

More works by Eldzier Cortor can be seen on our website.

Our biannual sale of Old Master Through Modern Prints on November 4 brought robust results for timeless collector and dealer favorites Picasso, Rembrandt, Dürer and Matisse.

Lot 598: Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt et jeune fille de profil, etching, drypoint and grattoir, 1934. Sold November 4, 2015 for $45,000.

Pablo Picasso's Rembrandt et jeune fille de profil, sold for an auction record of $45,000. The print is inscribed to Jacques Frélaut who, along with Roger Lacourière, were the artist's principal intaglio printers.

Left: Lot 365: Rembrandt, Self-Portrait in a Cap and Scarf with the Face Dark: Bust, etching, 1633. Sold November 4, 2015 for $65,000.

Right: Lot 352: Rembrandt, Self Portrait in a Cap, Laughing, etching, 1630. Sold November 4, 2015 for $35,000.

Rembrandt van Rijn etched some 30 self-portraits in his lifetime, 11 impressions of which were included in this sale. One of Rembrandt's more introspective self-portraits, etched just months before he married Saskia van Uylenburgh, sold for an auction record well over its pre-sale estimate at $65,000. Rembrandt's jovial Self Portrait in a Cap, Laughing, sold for a record $35,000.

Lot 379: Rembrandt, Studies of Heads of Saskia and Others, etching, 1636. Sold November 4, 2015 for $37,500.

Lot 391: Rembrandt, Old Man in Meditation, Leaning on a Book, etching, circa 1645. Sold November 4, 2015 for $52,500.

Lot 400: Rembrandt, The Boat House, etching, 1645. Sold November 4, 2015 for $42,500.

Three more etchings by Rembrandt made auction records in this sale. A scarce impression of The Boat House, sold for $42,500. Old Man in Meditation, Leaning on a Book and Studies of Heads of Saskia and Others, sold for records of $52,500 and $37,500, respectively.

Left, Lot 258: Albrecht Dürer, Knot with Oblong Shield, woodcut, 1505-07. Sold November 4, 2015 for $12,500.

Right, Lot 259: Albrecht Dürer, Knot with White Disk, woodcut, 1505-07. Sold November 4, 2015 for $12,500.

Two scarce prints from Albrecht Dürer's series of woodcuts Six Knots, were included in the sale. This impression of Knot with Oblong Shield was the first to appear at auction. It, alongside Knot with White Disk, sold for auction records of $12,500 apiece.

Lot 620: Henri Matisse, Nu au Bracelet, linoleum cut, 1940. Sold November 4, 2015 for $20,000.

Henri Matisse's linoleum cut, Nu au Bracelet, closes out this list of auction records. The print sold to a collector for nearly double its pre-sale estimate, bringing a record price of $20,000.

View full results here.

This two-part November sale began with The Lawrence M. Solomon Collection of Mystery, Detective and Science-Fiction Literature, and concluded with 19th & 20th Century Literature, which brought strong results for titles in the hard-boiled school of detective fiction and rare first editions of genre forerunners.

Left, Lot 160: Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse, first edition, in dust jacket, New York, 1929. Sold November 10, 2015 for $40,000.

Right, Lot 165: Hammett, Red Harvest, first edition, first issue dust jacket, New York, 1929. Sold November 10, 2015 for $65,000.

In the past decade, no other copies of Dashiell Hammett's The Dain Curse have appeared at auction in their original dust jacket. The first edition sold for an auction record of $40,000, doubling its high estimate. Hammett's first novel Red Harvest, in its first issue dust jacket, realized $65,000.

Lot 212: Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera, first American edition, first printing, in original dust jacket, New York, 1911. Sold November 10, 2015 for $35,000.

This first American edition of Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera is the first jacketed variant of its kind to appear at auction, and is one of only two known copies to retain the original jacket. The horror and science-fiction mainstay sold for an auction record of $35,000.

Left, Lot 36: John Dickson Carr, It Walks By Night, first edition, New York, 1930. Sold November 10, 2015 for $5,500.
Right, Lot 284: Mary Roberts Rinehart, The Man in the Lower Ten, first edition, in dust jacket, Indianapolis, (1909). Sold November 10, 2015 for $5,500.

First editions John Dickson Carr’s It Walks By Night, and Mary Roberts Rinehart’s The Man in the Lower Ten, each made auction records of $5,500.

Lot 313: Rex Stout, The League of Frightened Men, advance review copy, New York, (1935). Sold November 10, 2015 for $42,500.

An advance review copy of the Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout came to auction for the first time and realized an $42,500, nearly five times its estimate. The wrappers on this edition were improperly sized during production, and as a result not many survived, the small print run was likely deemed unfit for sale and pulped or otherwise put away, making this edition exceedingly rare.

Lot 344: Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, first edition, Newark, 1869. Sold November 10, 2015 for $22,500.

Also making its auction debut was a first edition of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. With only periodical appearances predating the publication, this was Verne's first book to be published in America. "The black tulip" of first editions by Verne, one of four known copies, realized $22,500.

Lot 450: Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte-Cristo, first English edition in book-form, with a tipped-in ALS in front of each volume, London, 1846. Sold November 10, 2015 for $47,500.

A two-volume set of the first English edition of Alexander Dumas’s classic The Count of Monte Cristo to appear in book-form sold for $47,500, setting an auction record.

Swann 19th & 20th Century Literature specialist John D. Larson said, "The strong prices and records ensure that Dr. Solomon's important collection will be remembered along with other market-defining auctions, including the Goldstone, Ackerman, Neville and Lackritz sales."

View the full results here.

Washington, D.C., with its neoclassical architecture and grand monuments, almost seems as if it arose organically over centuries on the shores of the Potomac. In reality, the Capital City was the result of compromise, a few years of careful planning and committed building. Our upcoming auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History and Color Plate Books Featuring The Mapping of America includes a selection of maps that detail the early days of the District.

The city was officially founded on July 16, 1790. The Congress of the Confederation had been temporarily located in New York City after being rousted from Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, during which a group of soldiers demanded payment for their service in the Revolutionary War. After several relocations, the United States Congress was officially formed in 1789, and set about establishing a home for the government. The Residence Act established the capital on the banks of the Potomac, decreeing that the District should encompass no more than 10 square miles on each side.

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Lot 322: E.G. Arnold, Topographical Map of the Original District of Columbia and Envrions [1902 Reprint], hand-colored photolithographed map after Arnold's 1862 original, New York, 1862. Estimate $600 to $900.

The original square boundary, seen above, was surveyed and marked with boundary stones by Andrew Ellicott, Benjamin Banneker and several other assistants. Several of the boundary stones can still be found in the city today.

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Lot 65: Andrew Ellicott, Thackara and Vallance, Plan of the City of Washington, engraved folding map, Philadelphia, 1792. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.

According to several sources, this is the first printed map of the city of Washington. Thackara and Vallance had been hired by Ellicott to make a larger map of the city, but took longer than expected to complete it, printing this smaller map first (Baynton-Williams).

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Lot 66: Samuel Hill, Plan of the City of Washington, engraved folding map, Boston, 1792. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

The second printed map of the city follows the Thackara and Vallance map closely. Illustrated primarily by Samuel Hill, it was published in The Massachusetts Magazine.

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Lot 67: Andrew Ellicott, Plan of the City of Washington, large engraved map, Philadelphia, Thackara & Vallance, 1792. Estimate $12,000 to $18,000.

The first "official" plan of the city of Washington was finally released several months after the smaller printings. It includes more details than its predecessors, and was the first to be used by the city's commissioners. Detailed explanations as to several aspects of urban planning are given, including the "Breadth of the Streets" which stipulates "The Grand avenues and such streets as lead immediately to public places,... 130 to 160 feet wide, and may be...divided into foot ways, walks of trees, and a carriage way." The location of the Capital and the White House are also clearly visible, as well as several of the major named avenues, making this map easily recognizable as the Washington D.C. we know today.

For more maps and atlases detailing early America and more, check out our complete catalogue.

An accomplished graphic artist and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett was known for her poignant depictions of African-American life, Mexican life (after her relocation to Mexico following a grant from the Rosenwald Foundation) and the female experience. Our December 15 auction of African-American Fine Art features works from Catlett in multiple mediums, providing an excellent tour through the artist's experimentation and shifts over the course of her career.

Born in Washington D.C., Catlett would go on to study at Howard University under Loïs Mailou Jones (whose work is also featured in this auction), and receive an MFA in sculpture from the University of Iowa, where she was encouraged to experiment with medium and form.

Lot 21: Elizabeth Catlett, Friends, tempera on paper, mounted to masonite board, 1944.

Estimate $30,000 to $40,000.

We believe this exciting find is the first painting by Elizabeth Catlett to come to auction. Paintings from Catlett's New York period, prior to her move to Mexico in 1946, are very scarce. We have located or found records of only eight other paintings in private collections. Many are small portraits, similar to Friends.

Melanie Herzog, Art Historian and author of several books on Catlett, illustrates three oils, Pensive Portrait, 1945, Woman, circa 1945, and Trash, oil on canvas, 1946, and describes two other paintings, Protection and Margaret and Gayle that are now presumably lost. Herzog additionally lists Black Worker, 1946, and Woman Playing Guitar, 1947, that were shown with the three illustrated works in Catlett's exhibition at the Caribbean Cultural Center in 1996. In 2011, Sharecropper, oil on canvas, 1946 was exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Other known paintings date from her association with the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Washington, DC, and are found today in the Barnett-Aden Collection and the Margaret and John Gottwald Collection, Richmond, VA. Their 2012 exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, "Making History: 20th Century African-American Art," included a tempera painting Hats by Suzy White, circa 1937, and an oil on canvas portrait, Untitled, 1947.

Friends is a wonderful example of Catlett's work from the period, and displays the different influences on American art in the 1940s. The painting's social realism is seen in the intimate view of a couple, and the attention to the fine details of their working clothes. It also shows Catlett's growing interest in abstraction with the developed sculptural qualities of their faces.

In the early 1940s, Elizabeth Catlett lived in New York between her time in Chicago and teaching at Dillard University. Elizabeth Catlett and her husband Charles White returned to New York in 1943 after he finished a year at Hampton University painting his mural Contribution of the American Negro to Democracy with a Julius Rosenwald grant. Herzog describes how Catlett's teaching at the George Washington Carver School gave her little time to her own artwork but she continued to paint. Teaching children in Harlem gave Catlett an intimate view of the struggles of working class families, and further added to the social and political consciousness of her artwork.

Lot 91: Elizabeth Catlett, Recognition, black marble, mounted on wooden base, 1970.

Estimate $120,000 to $180,000.

Recognition is a striking sculpture that epitomizes Elizabeth Catlett's masterful mid-career work, and makes a powerful figurative statement. By 1970, Catlett had successfully incorporated more abstract qualities and social commentary into her sculpture. Recognition aesthetically speaks to the bonds of relationships and our interdependence. The title reinforces the social and political consciousness of the times. Jeff Donaldson's commentary in the catalogue for Catlett's 1948 solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem strongly reinforces this sentiment, "Black and Third World Peoples need to be made actively conscious of their commonality of heritage and interests."

Recognition's beautiful natural material gives it additional meaning. This Mexican marble has deep tonal qualities with densely woven veins throughout, distinguishing it from the two other versions of this subject, a translucent orange onyx, also from 1970, and the later highly polished black marble from 1972. Catlett's work in marble, onyx and mahogany were all chosen to bring out the material's inherent beauty, and relate the work to their historical sources: African and Mexican indigenous art. Here, the exotic material and the curved forms relate to ancient Olmec sculpture.

According to Melanie Herzog, the artist's attention to the natural material was very deliberate; Catlett stated, "I like to finish sculpture to the maximum beauty attainable from the material from which it is created." Elizabeth Catlett later would use Recognition to describe her process to fellow artist Samella Lewis, "When I began my work on Recognition, I knew that I wanted to use a triangular piece of onyx that I had in my studio. Even though I had the stone and could envision the shape of the work, I preferred to make a small model."

Lot 22: Elizabeth Catlett, Mother and Child, lithograph, 1944. Estimate $7,000 to $10,000.

This beautiful print is a very scarce and early example of the artist's work in lithography. Elizabeth Catlett's first foray into printmaking was during 1944-45 when she studied lithography with Harry Sternberg at the Art Students League in New York. More of Catlett's lithographs, screenprints and woodcut works can be seen below.

Lot 93: Elizabeth Catlett, There is a woman in every color, color linoleum cut, screenprint and woodcut, 1975. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Lot 119: Elizabeth Catlett, Blues, color lithograph, 1983. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.

To see more works by Elizabeth Catlett, take a look at the complete catalogue.

This mid-November sale of Rare & Important Travel Posters had an excellent sell-through rate of 77%, bringing multiple auction and artist records for posters of all modes of travel.

Lot 150: Cecil King, LMS / The Merseyside Express, circa 1937. Sold November 19, 2015 for $5,750.

Cecil King was best known for his paintings of naval and maritime subjects, making this industrial locomotive scene entitled A Winter's Evening atypical of his work. LMS / The Merseyside Express, which features the aforementioned painting, set a record of $5,750 for any poster by the artist to come to auction.

Lot 81: James Scrimgeour Mann, White Star Line / R.M.S. Olympic & Titanic, circa 1911.
Sold November 19, 2015 for $10,625.

The above poster promotion for famous sister ships the Olympic and the Titanic, has only appeared once before at auction in its English mat, and this is that same copy. The poster appeared twice before in Europe, with a different exterior mat promoting White Star Line's Swedish ticket agent. The poster realized an auction record with $10,625.

Lot 78: Odin Rosenvinge, Cunard Line / Liverpool • New York • Boston / [Lusitania], circa 1907. Sold November 19, 2015 for $15,600.

Another example of early 20th century transatlantic travel advertisment, Odin Rosenvinge's poster of the legendary Lusitania predates the ship's maiden voyage. Although the ship's name is absent from its hull, the Lusitania can be recognized by her signature four smokestacks and white stripe along the bow. This nocturnal seascape went for an artist record of $15,600, well over its estimate.

Left, Lot 20: Percival Albert (Percy) Trompf, Australia, 1929. Sold November 19, 2015 for $15,000.

Right, Lot 56: Viero Migliorati, Santa • Margherita • Ligure, 1934. Sold November 19, 2015 for $8,450.

Percival Trompf's iconic image of Bondi Beach was one of the first travel posters commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association (ANTA) to promote the nation as a travel destination. The colorful poster brought a record for the artist at $15,000. Viero Migliorati's poster for Santa Margherita Ligure, a popular resort located in the heart of the Italian Riviera between the towns of Portofino and Genoa, made an auction record at $8,450.

Lot 170: Leslie Ragan, The New 20th Century Limited, 1939. Sold November 19, 2015 for $22,500.

The auction highlight was a new artist record for Leslie Ragan. His sleek Art Deco poster, The New 20th Century Limited, brought $22,500, nearly doubling its pre-sale estimate.

Swann President and Director of the Vintage Posters department Nicholas D. Lowry said, "Every auction has its surprises, and in this auction the Internet drove bidding especially high in the Italian posters being offered. Swann has been a market leader in broadening collector awareness about travel posters, and we continue to prove ourselves to be America’s best venue for offering select posters in this category."

View full results here.

Our December 8 Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books auction marked the first million-dollar sale for our flourishing Maps & Atlases department, lead by Specialist Alex Clausen. The sale brought $1.27 million.

Lot 58: William Faden, The North American Atlas, with 42 engraved maps, London,

1777 [circa 1780]. Sold December 8, 2015 for an auction record of $341,000.

The sale was headlined by our featured section The Mapping of America, which included William Faden's The North American Atlas, a historically significant cartographic item concerning the events of the American Revolution. The atlas brought an auction record of $341,000.

Lot 443: Sir William Hamilton, Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities, three volumes with390 etchings and engravings, many hand-colored, Naples, 1766-76 [but approx. ten years later]. Sold December 8, 2015 for $47,500.

A first edition set of texts recording Sir William Hamilton's collection of vases, which were gathered while he served as ambassador to the court of Naples, sold for more than three times its pre-sale estimate with $47,500.

Lot 487: Currier & Ives and Francis “Fanny” Palmer, The “Lightning Express” Trains. “Leaving the Junction,” hand-colored lithograph, New York, 1863. Sold December 8, 2015 for $15,000.

A splendid hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives sold for well over its pre-sale estimate, bringing $15,000. Also selling for over its estimate, John Disturnell's Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico went for $40,000. This map was used to negotiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which aside from the Louisiana Purchase, was the largest land transaction in American History.

Lot 81: John Disturnell, Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Méjico, engraved folding pocket map,

New York, 1847. Sold December 8, 2015 for $40,000.

Maps & Atlases Specialist Alex Clausen commented that this sale "reinforces Swann Galleries’ position as the foremost place to buy and sell atlases and American cartographic material.”

See full results here.

Our November 24 auction of Art, Press & Illustrated books saw particular success for classical and poetic texts. Specialist Christine von der Linn said,"In this auction major artists illustrating classical texts, as well as works pertaining to important historical and worldly, such as biblical texts and Greek and Roman literature, performed particularly well, speaking to collector interest in connecting with classical culture."

Lot 140: Kelmscott Press, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted, first edition, with 87 woodcut illustrations by Sir Edward-Burne-Jones, Hammersmith, 1896. Sold November 24, 2015 for $62,500.

The top lot of the sale was a resplendent first edition copy of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer from William Morris's Kelmscott Press, largely considered the most famous book of the modern private press movement. Among the works included is Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, detailing the travels of religious pilgrims journeying to the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett. The text sold for $62,500.

Lot 60: Marc Chagall, Psaumes de David, 30 etchings with aquatint, signed by Chagall, Geneva, 1979. Sold November 24, 2015 for $11,250.

Other texts pertaining to religious themes included Marc Chagall's Psaumes de David, which realized $11,250, and Odilon Redon's illustrated edition of Gustave Flaubert's La Tentation de Saint Antoine, a text Flaubert labored over for much of his career. La Tentation de Saint Antoine brought $6,250.

Lot 232: Odilon Redon, Gustave Flaubert's La Tentation de Saint Antoine, with 22 lithographs by Redon, Paris, 1933-38. Sold November 24, 2015 for $6,250.

Books of stories and poetry also performed well, led by George Barbier's personal copy of his collaboration with François-Louis Schmied on Marcel Schwob's Vies Imaginaires, a collection of biographical fiction. Vies Imaginaires brought $20,000.

Lot 36: George Barbier, Marcel Schwob's Vies Imaginaires, with 60 illustrations by Barbier and F.L. Schmied, Barbier's own copy, signed by the artist and others, in binding by Cretté, Paris, 1929. Sold November 24, 2015 for $20,000.

Lot 259: Tiber Press, set of four collaborative books between poets and artists, Permanently, The Poems, Odes, and Salute, New York, 1960. Sold November 24, 2015 for $14,300.

Among the poetry books was a set of four collaborative texts from Tiber Press. Each book was created by self-chosen collaboration between New York School poets Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery and artists Alfred Leslie, Grace Hartigan, Michael Goldberg and Joan Mitchell. The set sold for $14,300.

Full results here.

Our fourth annual auction of Illustration Art features the auction debut of Howard Chandler Christy's large and masterly drawing for the poster I Am an American!, created for the 1941 Mayor's Committee Celebration of "I Am an American Day."

Lot 148: Howard Chandler Christy, I Am an American!, charcoal and pastel on board, 1941. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000.

This original study for the iconic "I Am an American" billboard poster was donated by Howard Chandler Christy to PS. 60, the Ottilia M. Beha Junior High School, 420 East 12th Street, New York City. It was created to celebrate "I Am an American Day" on May 18th, 1941. The event took place in Central Park, where native-born Americans and those who had attained citizenship through naturalization gathered and recited an oath of allegiance to the United States. Congress eventually moved the holiday to September and renamed it "Constitution and Citizenship Day."

The determined, spirited "Columbia" in the maquette was based on model Elise Ford; she is seen here donning a traditional laurel wreath, bearing a torch and a volume of Constitutional Law. The Chairman for the Mayor's rally committee, Federal Judge Murray Hulbert, was quoted in the New York Times on May 4, 1941, suggesting that if Hitler could see the poster it would "stop him in his tracks." Billboard-sized versions of the poster were hung in Times Square to publicize the Central Park celebrations in the 1940s. Both Christy and Ford were in attendance at the Times Square unveiling in 1942 with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

Robert Frank, Untitled-I am an American Day sign, in the permanent collection of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University.

For more original illustrations from important artists, check out our full catalogue.

The December 15 sale of African-American Fine Art ended the 2015 season here at Swann with record-smashing success.

Lot 49: Norman Lewis, Untitled, oil on canvas, circa 1958.

Sold December 15, 2015 for an auction record of $965,000.

With the sale of Norman Lewis's previously unrecorded, Untitled, 1958, for $965,000, we broke our previous record for the artist, which rested at $581,000. The sale of this painting is demonstrative of Lewis's continued rise in stature and value as wider recognition is brought to the work of this important American artist.

Lot 104: Barkley L. Hendricks, Tuff Tony, oil and acrylic on canvas, 1978.

Sold December 15, 2015 for $365,000.

Additionally, with the sale of Tuff Tony by Barkley Hendricks, we tied our previous auction record for the artist at $365,000. The painting was one of Hendricks's most widely exhibited works.

Lot 21: Elizabeth Catlett, Friends, tempera on paper, mounted to masonite board, 1944.

Sold December 15, 2015 for $81,250

Elizabeth Catlett's Friends sold for over twice its estimate, bringing $81,250. Paintings from before Catlett's move to Mexico in 1946 are exceptionally scarce. This is the first painting by Catlett to appear at auction, and the price it achieved is the highest for a non-sculpture work by the artist at auction.

Lot 86: Sam Gilliam, Scatter Pisces, acrylic and flocking on canvas, 1973.

Sold December 15, 2015 for $67,500.

Scatter Pisces, a sublime acrylic painting by Sam Gilliam sold for well over its pre-sale estimate at $67,500.

Lot 36: Haywood “Bill” Rivers, Still Life, oil on canvas, circa 1946-49. Sold December 15, 2015 for an auction record of $23,750.

An example of Haywood "Bill" Rivers's brief but celebrated figurative period in the late 1940s, Still Life, sold for an auction record of $23,750. The largest painting by Hughie-Lee Smith to be offered at auction, Performers, brought $143,000.

Lot 125: Hughie Lee-Smith, Performers, oil on canvas, 1990. Sold December 15, 2015 for $143,000.

Additional records were set for contemporary artist Titus Kaphar, whose Passage, oil and asphalt tart on canvas, 2000, sold for $12,500; and Lloyd G. McNiell, whose Untitled (Family), oil on canvas, 1962, realized $18,750.

See full results here.

Our annual sale of Illustration Art is about to get underway, and with it we see the return of one of our favorite pet genres, "Man-Cave-iana." Unsure of exactly what this category entails? Specialist John D. Larson provides the following insight:

"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 Girls, Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Bodice-Rippers, Weird Americana, Beefcake and Sports, Comix and so on. In the interest of consolidating all of these in a pithy catch-all, we propose a new collecting category for the illustration art enthusiast: “Man-Cave-iana.”

We charitably chalk this phenomenon up to reinvigorated contact with our idyllic youth rather than the celebration of the increasing infantilization of the American male. For the specialist and amateur alike, Man-Cave-iana is both impossible to define and easy to spot. Just as Justice Potter Stewart said regarding the criteria for identifying pornography, “I know it when I see it,” so too will you know Man-Cave-iana."

Here's a look at some of our favorite examples of "Man-cave-iana" from our upcoming auction.

Left: Lot 159 - George Petty, Army vs Navy, watercolor and gouache on board, advertisement and calendar image for Old Gold Cigarettes. Estimate $7,000 to $10,000.

Right: Lot 20 - Elmer Simms Campbell, I used to know her - four checkbooks ago, watercolor, gouache and pencil on board, 1936. Estimate $1,200 to $1,800.

Lot 27: Charles Copeland, The Big Wet Kill, acrylic on board, published September 1958 in Swank Magazine. Estimate $800 to $1,200.

Left: Lot 95 - Lou Marchetti, Intimate Affairs of a French Nurse, gouache on board, cover for pulp novel of the same name by Florence Stonebraker, New York, 1953. Estimate $600 to $900.

Right: Lot 97 - Lou Marchetti, The Smuggler #4 - Mother Luck, acrylic on board, cover art for book of the same name by Paul Petersen, 1974. Estimate $600 to $900.

Lot 177: DC Comics, Bat Girl, pencil and blue crayon drawing and finished animation cel with background. Estimate $400 to $600.

Lot 69: Richard Harvey, Tatiana, chalk and airbrush on paper, illustration for Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love published by The Reader's Digest in the 1980s. Estimate $250 to $350.

Lot 200: William Steig, The New York Mets (with Opera-goers), ink and wash on paper, circa1969-1973. Estimate $700 to $1,000.

Lot 232: Abner Dean, Contented Man Sleeping with His Golf Trophy, ink and was on paper, possibly an unused cover design for The New Yorker, circa 1950s. Estimate $600 to $900.

Lot 164: Howard Scott, That's My Meat!, Kingan's Reliable Sausages billboard artwork, gouache on board with collage, 1949. Estimate $600 to $900.

For more thrilling Man-Cave-iana, as well as many other genres of illustration, take a look at our complete catalogue.

Our Printed & Manuscript Americana sales feature historic materials, and occasionally items that come to auction shed new light on historical objects, periods and people. Our upcoming February 4 auction contains a excellent example of an object that sheds new light on history: a previously unknown seventh edition of the famed Bay Psalm Book. In the video below, Specialist Rick Stattler contextualizes the dual importance of this book.

Previously Unknown Edition of the Bay Psalm Book At Swann from Swann Galleries on Vimeo.

Lot 84: The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs or The Bay Psalm Book, the previously unknown seventh edition of the first book printed in North America, Boston, 1693. Estimate $30,000 to $40,000.

For a look at more significant historical pieces, take a look at the full catalogue.

The piece below was written by Nicholas D. Lowry, Swann President and Director of our Vintage Posters Department.

As a skier (in all fairness I was an avid skier in my youth and now fondly recall those carefree winter excursions, as I sit behind my desk with my aging knees), a fervent poster connoisseur and specialist, it is always thrilling to come across wonderful ski posters – images that so appealingly combine two of my life interests. A fair amount has been written about the best European ski posters, but there were also a lot of really wonderful American posters, and the following represent my 12 all-time favorites. They are not necessarily the most expensive, nor the rarest, but posters that in one way or another really caught my professional and personal fancy.

1. Ernest Haskell, Truth, 1896.

This small poster (it measures only 20 inches high by 14 inches wide) isn’t advertising a ski resort or any form of tourism, it is promoting a popular magazine of the time. It is, in my opinion, the earliest American poster to depict skiing. It may in fact be the earliest ski poster from anywhere in the world. Every aspect of the woman’s ski outfit is amusing in its impracticality. The single pole was used in the early days of the sport.

2. Sascha Maurer, Ski at Lake Placid, 1938.

This is one of the great American ski posters. The motif of skiers spelling out the names of resorts or other messages in the snow has been often used, but Sascha Maurer, who was born in and studied in Germany, brings much of the European design sensibility to this image.

3. Sascha Maurer, Ski The New Haven Railroad, 1938.

In addition to being a world class designer, Maurer was also an avid skier. His love for the sport is apparent in many of his posters. Maurer spent many years working for the New Haven Railroad and designed more than a dozen posters for them, many of which advertised using the railroad to go skiing. Personally I find the dynamism of this poster so strong that it keeps the viewer from noticing that the man is skiing in a tie.

4. T. N. Joanethis, Dartmouth Winter Carnival, 1938.

The Dartmouth Winter Carnival may well be the longest standing winter celebration in America. It is certainly the event which has produced the largest and most important legacy of ski posters in the United States. I love the similarity between this poster and the previous example. And while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I really am not sure which one of these came first.

5. Sascha Maurer, Winter Sports / The New Haven R.R., circa 1937.

This image, another in the series designed by the artist for the railroad, is almost like a painting and yet still has all of the graphic appeal of a strong poster. It is tranquil and compelling.

6. Witold Gordon, III Winter Olympic Games, Lake Placid, 1932.

The 1932 games in Lake Placid, NY were the first time the Winter Olympics had been held in America. Unfortunately it was held during the Depression, and not every country was able to send a full (and fully equipped) team. Posters quite often dovetail fascinatingly with history and I am always excited to discover interesting historical information that helps me appreciate posters not just as attractive images, but as important historical documents.

7. William Welsh, Travel at Reduced Rates to your Favorite Winter Resort in Pullman Safety, circa 1935.

This poster holds a very warm place in my heart. Not only is it an exquisite Art Deco image, but one of the first times I was broadcast on Antiques Roadshow was when the artist’s granddaughter came in with a collection of his works, including this poster.

8. Lou Hechenberger, New Hampshire, 1941.

One of two posters the artist designed to promote winter sports in New Hampshire. This poster not only boasts a very dramatic angle, but also the charming detail of the designs on the woman’s vest. It should be pointed out that people collect ski posters for a number of reasons: not only for the locations being advertised but also for the equipment and fashions that are depicted. This poster is also the sister-image to another ski poster in our upcoming auction.

9. Dwight Shepler, Sun Valley, circa 1940.

Ski posters were by no means only relegated to the American Northeast. Out West, the resort that relied the most heavily on poster advertising was Sun Valley. This is no surprise as the resort was built by the railroad company (it opened in 1936) as a place for travelers to stop on their way out West. Railroad companies have used posters for promotion since the 1880s, so they would naturally gravitate towards that medium to promote the newest jewel in their crown.

10. Augustus Moser, Sun Valley, Idaho, circa 1936.

Posters for Sun Valley were produced by the Union Pacific Railroad, which would imply that quite a number would have been printed to hang in stations and ticket offices all up and down their line. However, in many cases only a very small handful of each poster exists. Such is the case with this image, and the other two Sun Valleyposters featured here. Their beauty and rarity ensure that they are always very popular among both collectors and institutions seeking to acquire them. Another copy of this poster is available in our upcoming auction.

11. Phil von Phul, Sun Valley / Let’s Go!, circa 1940.

Another of the very rare Sun Valley posters. True railroad buffs will recognize that the logo which appears on all three of these Sun Valley posters is the logo the Union Pacific used in the mid to late 1930s.

12. Herbert Bayer, Ski in Aspen, 1946.

The great Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer immigrated to America and ultimately settled in Aspen, Colorado. He designed two posters for the resort. He is one of the most famous artists to have ever designed a ski poster in America and this poster beautifully showcases the photomontage technique that he mastered in Europe.

For a look at more chic ski posters, peruse the catalogue for our February 11, 2016 auction of Vintage Posters.

Whether they are humorous or heartfelt, simple or striking, the cover image chosen for each issue of The New Yorker bears the heavy burden; the cover must not only grab the viewers attention but hold it, perhaps a moment longer than one would often think to glance at a magazine cover. From festive seasonal imagery to poignant depictions of the current zeitgeist, these illustrations represent a particular type of artistic skill. It's only fitting then, that original cover art for The New Yorker in our annual auction of Illustration Art continues to increase in popularity. Below are some favorites from our upcoming auction on Thursday, January 28.

Lot 235: Arthur Getz, The Cotton Candy Circus, casein tempera, cover illustration for The New Yorker, April 6, 1957. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000.

Illustrator Arthur Getz is best known for best known for his 50-year career as a cover artist for The New Yorker. Over the course of his career two hundred and thirteen of his illustrations graced the cover.

Lot 234: Arthur Getz, Camp Cook, casein tempera, cover illustration for The New Yorker, August 22, 1953. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000.

Lot 236: Arthur Getz, Sunset Lookout, casein tempera, proposed cover for The New Yorker. Estimate $700 to $1,000.

It's hard to know what may change an editor's mind. Getz's notes on the back of Sunset Lookout indicate that it was created and bought for the January 1962 issue but later "killed" by editor Bob Gottlieb.

Lot 240: Bud Handelsman, Canterbury Pilgrims, watercolor and ink on paper mounted to watercolored backing, cover art for The New Yorker, September 3, 1990. Estimate $1,200 to $1,800.

Cartoonist and illustrator Bud Handelsman was another New Yorker regular, producing both cover illustrations and iconic cartoons for the magazine for many years.

Lot 242: Ilonka Karasz, Autumn Chairs, gouache, pen and pencil, cover art for The New Yorker, October 17, 1964. Estimate $1,500 to $2,500.

This tranquil autumn scene is one of many cover illustrations done by Hungarian-born designer and illustrator Ilonka Karasz. Beyond her cover designs, Karasz created wallpaper, textiles, and even furniture and silverware.

For more original artwork for New Yorker covers, as well as New Yorker cartoons, take a look at our full catalogue.

Everyone loves a good spy thriller, and in the case of British Army officer Major John André, it seems everyone loved a spy. Our upcoming auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana features a storied engraving with a history of intrigue, conspiracy and death behind it.

Major John André is famous for his collusion with the notorious traitor Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War. The two met in secret on September 20, 1780 near West Point, the fort Arnold held, and negotiated its surrender. André was arrested days later under a false name, carrying documents and the map of West Point Arnold had provided him.

Lot 29: John André, A Representation of Major John André...going from the Vulture Sloop of War, aquatint, circa 1781. Estimate $15,000 to $25,000.

After being tried by a court of fourteen generals organized by George Washington, André was sentenced to death for espionage. This engraving was done from a sketch drawn by André on the morning of his execution. It depicts him being rowed across the Hudson River to his fateful meeting with Benedict Arnold. The caption reads in part:

"A representation of Major John André, Adjutant General to the Kings Forces in North America, going from the Vulture Sloop of War to the shore of Haverstraw Bay in Hudsons River the Night of the 23d. of September 1780, in a Boat which was sent for him . . . under the Sanction of a Flag of Truce, by Major General Arnold, who then commanded the Rebel Forces in that district. The above is an exact Copy of a Drawing sketch'd with a Pen by Major André himself, the Morning on which he was to have been executed . . . and found on his Table with other Papers the next day (being that of his Death) by his servant, and delivered by him on his arrival at New York to Lieut. Colonel Crosbie of the 22d. Regiment, who has caused this Engraving to be taken from the Original in his Possession, as a small Mark of his Friendship for that very valuable and unfortunate officer."

Self-portrait of Major John André drawn on the eve of his execution, from the George Dudley Seymour papers at the Yale University Library.

During André's time as a prisoner prior to his execution, he managed to make quite an impression on his captors. Many of the generals in the court that tried him seemed to regret sending the 30-year-old officer to his death. The Marquis de Lafayette noted, "All the court ... were filled with sentiments of admiration and compassion for him. He behaved with so much frankness, courage and delicacy that I could not help lamenting his unhappy fate. This was one of the most painful duties I ever had to perform."

John André, Contemporary Copy of the British spy's final letter from an American prison, Tappan, NY, 29 September, 1780. Sold September 17, 2015 for $2,750.

In his final letter from prison, André informed his superior officer General Henry Clinton, "I am perfectly tranquil in my mind, and prepared for any fate." General Washington noted, after André walked to the gallows and fitted the noose around his own neck, "André has met his fate, which we could not but lament, with that fortitude which was to be expected from an accomplished man and a gallant officer."

For a look at more thrilling Revolutionary War items, check out the complete catalogue.

In August of 1862 Jeanette DeCamp Sweet, a young mother who had settled in Minnesota the year before with her husband, was taken prisoner during the Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Outbreak. Tensions in the area had been escalating for some time, following treaty violations on the part of the US government. Jeanette (who was several months pregnant) and her three boys, ages nine, four and an infant, were held captive for a month before escaping with the help of several Indians.

Lot 1: Tintype depicting Jeanette DeCamp and her recently born son Benjamin, 1863, from the Family Papers of Escaped Indian Captive Jeanette DeCamp Sweet, more than 100 items, 1862-1999. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Ton-wan-I-ton (who also went by the name Lorenzo Lawrence) and his wife aided Jeanette in her escape, transporting her and the children, along with another family they encountered on the journey, safely to the nearest fort. According to her narrative, held in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, the escape party paused briefly at her former home on their way to Fort Ridgley. She found the house in chaos, with "Everything which could not be taken away ... torn up and thrown about, feather beds emptied, furniture hacked to pieces and otherwise destroyed," which lead her to fear for her husband's life. Mr. DeCamp had been away at the time of the families capture.

Lot 1: Albumen carte-de-visite depicting the two eldest DeCamp sons, from the Family Papers of Escaped Indian Captive Jeanette DeCamp Sweet, more than 100 items, 1862-1999. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Upon arriving at Fort Ridgely, Jeanette was greeted by "a gentleman ... who proved to be Rev. Joshua Sweet, the chaplain of the post." Rev. Sweet would inform her that her husband had been killed, buried just ten days before the escape party's arrival. She would give birth to their last son, Benjamin, a few weeks later, and return to Fort Ridgley in 1866 as the wife of Rev. Sweet, the very man that welcomed her back to safety.

Lot 1: From the Family Papers of Escaped Indian Captive Jeanette DeCamp Sweet, more than 100 items, 1862-1999. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Jeanette Decamp Sweet's entire narrative, rife with her complicated feelings toward the Sioux, can be read here.

A different perspective on this historical period can be found in this episode of WBEZ's The American Life from 2012.

For a look at more historical items in our Printed & Manuscript Americana auction, take a look at the complete catalogue.

Our upcoming Printed & Manuscript Americana auction features materials from The Arctic Collection of Ray Edinger. Mr. Edinger wrote the piece below, outlining his collection from its inception.

Lot 41: George Back, Narrative of an Expedition in H.M.S. Terror ... to Geographical Discovery on the Arctic Shores, first edition, with folding map and 12 tinted lithograph plates, London, 1838. Estimate $1,200 to $1,800.

After growing up on Long Island, I studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology where I earned my bachelors degree. Following graduation, I spent the next thirty-six years as a scientist in the field of photographic and imaging science with the Eastman Kodak Company.

I have always had a morbid curiosity about adventures in cold, icy regions–the more tragic, the better. As a young boy sixty years ago, I remember reading Maurice Herzog’s tale of his disastrous experience climbing Mount Annapurna. Lying on the living room floor, warm and dry, I was mesmerized by the pictures and narrative. There he was, his gloves skittering down the mountainside, forever lost to him, and his horribly frostbitten hands, their frozen flesh hanging in shreds!

Lot 44: Frederick W. Beechey, Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait..., second octavo edition, London, 1831. Estimate $800 to $1,200.

Over the years Herzog became just a dim memory. Then one wintry afternoon I

visited my local library in search of a book about the Arctic. It had to be something special, I told the librarian. She returned from the stacks with a musty, stained, and frayed two-volume set, its loosened leather covers held in place by neatly tied satin ribbons: Elisha Kent Kane’s Arctic Explorations. As I read the wonderful narrative I began to dream of having my very own copy, and I knew it just had to be an edition that was published while the long-forgotten explorer was still alive.

Over the next thirty years I learned much about book collecting as one Arctic book inexorably lead to another, and this succession of purchases in the polar genre continued to define my collection. My interest ultimately expanded to speaking engagements and authorship, with articles published in Mercator’s World, Western New York Heritage, Biblio, and Journal of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, plus having written two non-fiction, Arctic-themed books, Fury Beach (Berkley, 2003) and Love and Ice (Frederic C. Beil, 2015).

Lot 42: John Barrow, A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions, first edition, London, 1818. Estimate $1,200 to $1,800.

Now that I am fully retired, my Arctic mania has mellowed and the time has come to disperse my collection. My new passion is travel. My wife Yvonne and I have already visited more than fifty countries around the globe. Perhaps not surprisingly, my library shelves are beginning to groan under the weight of antiquarian travel books.

-Ray Edinger

More items from The Arctic Collection of Ray Edinger can be seen in our catalogue, lots 40 through 79.

Left, Lot 160: Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse, first edition, in dust jacket, New York, 1929. Sold November 10, 2015 for $40,000.

Right, Lot 165: Hammett, Red Harvest, first edition, first issue dust jacket, New York, 1929. Sold November 10, 2015 for $65,000.

In the past decade, no other copies of Dashiell Hammett’s The Dain Curse have appeared at auction in their original dust jacket. The first edition sold for an auction record of $40,000, doubling its high estimate. Hammett’s first novel Red Harvest, in its first issue dust jacket, realized $65,000.

Lot 212: Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera, first American edition, first printing, in original dust jacket, New York, 1911. Sold November 10, 2015 for $35,000.

This first American edition of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera is the first jacketed variant of its kind to appear at auction, and is one of only two known copies to retain the original jacket. The horror and science-fiction mainstay sold for an auction record of $35,000.

First editions John Dickson Carr’s It Walks By Night, and Mary Roberts Rinehart’s The Man in the Lower Ten, each made auction records of $5,500.

Lot 313: Rex Stout, The League of Frightened Men, advance review copy, New York, (1935). Sold November 10, 2015 for $42,500.

Lot 344: Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, first edition, Newark, 1869. Sold November 10, 2015 for $22,500.

Also making its auction debut was a first edition of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon. With only periodical appearances predating the publication, this was Verne’s first book to be published in America. “The black tulip” of first editions by Verne, one of four known copies, realized $22,500.

Lot 450: Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte-Cristo, first English edition in book-form, with a tipped-in ALS in front of each volume, London, 1846. Sold November 10, 2015 for $47,500.

A two-volume set of the first English edition of Alexander Dumas’s classic The Count of Monte Cristo to appear in book-form sold for $47,500, setting an auction record.

Swann 19th & 20th Century Literature specialist John D. Larson said, “The strong prices and records ensure that Dr. Solomon’s important collection will be remembered along with other market-defining auctions, including the Goldstone, Ackerman, Neville and Lackritz sales.”

View the full results here.

Lot 322: E.G. Arnold, Topographical Map of the Original District of Columbia and Envrions [1902 Reprint], hand-colored photolithographed map after Arnold’s 1862 original, New York, 1862. Estimate $600 to $900.

Lot 65: Andrew Ellicott, Thackara and Vallance, Plan of the City of Washington, engraved folding map, Philadelphia, 1792. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.

Lot 66: Samuel Hill, Plan of the City of Washington, engraved folding map, Boston, 1792. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

The second printed map of the city follows the Thackara and Vallance map closely. Illustrated primarily by Samuel Hill, it was published in The Massachusetts Magazine.

Lot 67: Andrew Ellicott, Plan of the City of Washington, large engraved map, Philadelphia, Thackara & Vallance, 1792. Estimate $12,000 to $18,000.

The first “official” plan of the city of Washington was finally released several months after the smaller printings. It includes more details than its predecessors, and was the first to be used by the city’s commissioners. Detailed explanations as to several aspects of urban planning are given, including the “Breadth of the Streets” which stipulates “The Grand avenues and such streets as lead immediately to public places, are from 130 to 160 feet wide, and may be conveniently divided into foot ways, walks of trees, and a carriage way.” The location of the Capital and the White House are also clearly visible, as well as several of the major named avenues, making this map easily recognizable as the Washington D.C. we know today.

For more maps and atlases detailing early America and more, check out our complete catalogue.

An accomplished graphic artist and sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett was known for her poignant depictions of African-American life, Mexican life (after her relocation to Mexico following a grant from the Rosenwald Foundation) and the female experience. Our December 15 auction of African-American Fine Art features works from Catlett in multiple mediums, providing an excellent tour through the artist’s experimentation and shifts over the course of her career.

Lot 21: Elizabeth Catlett, Friends, tempera on paper, mounted to masonite board, 1944.

Estimate $30,000 to $40,000.

We believe this exciting find is the first painting by Elizabeth Catlett to come to auction. Paintings from Catlett’s New York period, prior to her move to Mexico in 1946, are very scarce. We have located or found records of only eight other paintings in private collections. Many are small portraits, similar to Friends.

Melanie Herzog, Art Historian and author of several books on Catlett, illustrates three oils, Pensive Portrait, 1945, Woman, circa 1945, and Trash, oil on canvas, 1946, and describes two other paintings, Protection and Margaret and Gayle that are now presumably lost. Herzog additionally lists Black Worker, 1946, and Woman Playing Guitar, 1947, that were shown with the three illustrated works in Catlett’s exhibition at the Caribbean Cultural Center in 1996. In 2011, Sharecropper, oil on canvas, 1946 was exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Other known paintings date from her association with the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Washington, DC, and are found today in the Barnett-Aden Collection and the Margaret and John Gottwald Collection, Richmond, VA. Their 2012 exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, “Making History: 20th Century African-American Art,” included a tempera painting Hats by Suzy White, circa 1937, and an oil on canvas portrait, Untitled, 1947.

Friends is a wonderful example of Catlett’s work from the period, and displays the different influences on American art in the 1940s. The painting’s social realism is seen in the intimate view of a couple, and the attention to the fine details of their working clothes. It also shows Catlett’s growing interest in abstraction with the developed sculptural qualities of their faces.

In the early 1940s, Elizabeth Catlett lived in New York between her time in Chicago and teaching at Dillard University. Elizabeth Catlett and her husband Charles White returned to New York in 1943 after he finished a year at Hampton University painting his mural Contribution of the American Negro to Democracy with a Julius Rosenwald grant. Herzog describes how Catlett’s teaching at the George Washington Carver School gave her little time to her own artwork but she continued to paint. Teaching children in Harlem gave Catlett an intimate view of the struggles of working class families, and further added to the social and political consciousness of her artwork.

Lot 91: Elizabeth Catlett, Recognition, black marble, mounted on wooden base, 1970.

Estimate $120,000 to $180,000.

Recognition is a striking sculpture that epitomizes Elizabeth Catlett’s masterful mid-career work, and makes a powerful figurative statement. By 1970, Catlett had successfully incorporated more abstract qualities and social commentary into her sculpture. Recognition aesthetically speaks to the bonds of relationships and our interdependence. The title reinforces the social and political consciousness of the times. Jeff Donaldson’s commentary in the catalogue for Catlett’s 1948 solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem strongly reinforces this sentiment, “Black and Third World Peoples need to be made actively conscious of their commonality of heritage and interests.”

Recognition‘s beautiful natural material gives it additional meaning. This Mexican marble has deep tonal qualities with densely woven veins throughout, distinguishing it from the two other versions of this subject, a translucent orange onyx, also from 1970, and the later highly polished black marble from 1972. Catlett’s work in marble, onyx and mahogany were all chosen to bring out the material’s inherent beauty, and relate the work to their historical sources: African and Mexican indigenous art. Here, the exotic material and the curved forms relate to ancient Olmec sculpture.

According to Melanie Herzog, the artist’s attention to the natural material was very deliberate; Catlett stated, “I like to finish sculpture to the maximum beauty attainable from the material from which it is created.” Elizabeth Catlett later would use Recognition to describe her process to fellow artist Samella Lewis, “When I began my work on Recognition, I knew that I wanted to use a triangular piece of onyx that I had in my studio. Even though I had the stone and could envision the shape of the work, I preferred to make a small model.”

Lot 22: Elizabeth Catlett, Mother and Child, lithograph, 1944. Estimate $7,000 to $10,000.

This beautiful print is a very scarce and early example of the artist’s work in lithography. Elizabeth Catlett’s first foray into printmaking was during 1944-45 when she studied lithography with Harry Sternberg at the Art Students League in New York. More of Catlett’s lithographs, screenprints and woodcut works can be seen below.

Lot 93: Elizabeth Catlett, There is a woman in every color, color linoleum cut, screenprint and woodcut, 1975. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

Lot 119: Elizabeth Catlett, Blues, color lithograph, 1983. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.

To see more works by Elizabeth Catlett, take a look at the complete catalogue.

Remembering Eldzier Cortor

Records & Results: Old Master Through Modern Prints

Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature Featuring The Lawrence M. Solomon Collection

The Foundation of a Capital: Early Maps of Washington D.C.

Notes from the Catalogue: Elizabeth Catlett's Varied Mediums

Records & Results: Rare & Important Travel Posters

Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books

Records & Results: Art, Press & Illustrated Books

Notes from the Catalogue: Howard Chandler Christy's "I Am An American!"

Records & Results: African-American Fine Art

Man-Cave-iana: You'll Know It When You See It

Previously Unknown Edition of the Bay Psalm Book at Swann

Specialist Selections: Nicholas Lowry's Favorite American Ski Posters

Grabbing a Glance and Holding It: A Look at Original Cover Art From The New Yorker

Art & Intrigue: A Work By Revolutionary War Spy John André

A Tale of Captivity and Daring Escape: Jeanette DeCamp Sweet and the Dakota War of 1862

The Arctic Collection of Ray Edinger

Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature Featuring The Lawrence M. Solomon Collection

The Foundation of a Capital: Early Maps of Washington D.C.

Notes from the Catalogue: Elizabeth Catlett’s Varied Mediums