Swann Galleries' November 3, American Prints from a Private Collection saw numerous auction and artist records made, particularly for artists like Gustave Baumann and Martin Lewis, who built careers making fine prints. Todd Weyman, Swann Vice President and Director of Prints & Drawings, commented "that both new and seasoned collectors alike flock to the eclectic and historically-rich 20th century American print field."
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Lot 65: Gustave Baumann, Summer Shadows, color woodcut, 1917.
Sold November 3, 2015 for $42,500, an auction record for any work by the artist.
Sold November 3, 2015 for $42,500, an auction record for any work by the artist.
Collectors came out in force for works by Baumann, with two prints selling at record prices. Summer Shadows had only been seen once at auction in the past 30 years, and sold for more than four times its high estimate at $42,500–not only a record for the print, but for the artist overall. Superstition Mountain also sold for an auction record of more than twice its pre-sale estimate, ultimately realizing $23,750.
Lot 67: Baumann, Superstition Mountain, color woodcut, 1949. Sold November 3, 2015 for an auction record of $23,750.
Lot 172: Thomas Hart Benton, The Race, lithograph, 1942. Sold November 3, 2015 for an auction record of $37,500.
Thomas Hart Benton's lithograph based on his oil painting of the same name, The Race, sold for an auction record of $37,500. Fellow regionalist John Steuart Curry's lithograph John Brown brought a record price for any print by the artist, selling for $11,875.
Lot 180: John Steuart Curry, John Brown, lithograph, 1939. Sold November 3, 2015 for $11,875, an auction record for any work by the artist.
Lot 135: Howard Cook, Chrysler Building, wood engraving, 1930. Sold November 3, 2015 for an auction record of $17,500.
A wood engraving of New York's famous landmark, Chrysler Building by Howard Cook brought a record price at $17,500.
Lot 108: Martin Lewis, Wet Night, Route 6, drypoint, 1933. Sold November 3, 2015 for $72,500, an auction record for any work by the artist.
For some, the most exciting result from this sale was a new auction record for Martin Lewis's luminous print, Wet Night, Route 6, which sold to a collector for $72,500. The previous artist record for Lewis was also held by Swann at $52,500 for his gritty drypointGlow of the City.
View full results here.