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Auction Highlights: Fine Photographs — October 31, 2024
At Auction Thursday, October 31 at 10:30 AM ET The October Fine Photographs auction opens with a selection of 45 lots from a California Collection. Examining photography as an element of the story of...
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Leslie Ragan Calendars for the New York Central Railway: A Unique Pictorial...
For an artist with such a prominent place in the American pantheon of poster designers, very little biographical information exists about the life of Leslie Ragan. He is best known for his exceptional...
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Sarah McMillan’s Specialist Picks: 5 Lots to Watch in Old Master Through...
Ahead of her first sale as the head specialist for Old Master Through Modern Prints, Sarah McMillan shares five works to watch in the October 17 auction. Hendrick Goltzius, Icarus from The Four...
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Records & Results: African American Art — October 3, 2024
African American Art Sets Six Artist Records The Thursday, October 3, 2024, sale of African American Art at Swann brought $3M and saw top prices for artists, with six records being set. Nigel Freeman,...
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Specialists in the Field: James Baldwin’s Century
Anthony Barboza, James Baldwin – Writer, silver print, 1975. Sold October 2016 for $11,250. Swann autographs specialist Marco Tomaschett visited the Schomburg Center to view their display celebrating...
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Auction Highlights: Modern & Post-War Art — November 12, 2024
Working on canvas and wooden support, Bernard Réquichot danced the fine line between figurative and abstract forms to produce surrealist compositions with an allure of familiarity. His paintings...
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Photographers Who Captured the Changing Landscape of the American West
America was, in some ways, founded on the idea of land. A restless push West, a desire to “discover,” to claim, and to shape, has formed the American identity. Here, land is a political, romantic, and...
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Auction Highlights: Autographs — November 14, 2024
Timed Auction — Lots begin closing Thursday, November 14 at 12:00 PM ET Lots 1-25: Popular Culture Lot 8 illuminates this section like a film projector on the silver screen. It contains a 1964...
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Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana — November 21, 2024
At Auction Thursday, November 21 at 10:30 AM ET Catalogue & Bidding This sale strikes a particularly rich vein of western mining material from Alaska, California, Colorado, and Nevada. Highlights...
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Auction Highlights: Contemporary Art — November 26, 2024
At Auction Tuesday, November 26 at 12:00 PM ET Catalogue & Bidding We are in the middle of an exciting fall season here in New York and we would like to share some of the upcoming highlights in...
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Artist Profile: Roberto Kazuya Sakai
Picking a favorite work of art in our season’s auction lineup is kind of like picking a favorite puppy in a litter. I love them all in different ways, and if I could, I would take each lot home with...
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Collecting 101: Estimating a George Washington Autograph for Auction
A question I am frequently asked by non-collectors or people new to collecting is, “How do you estimate the value of an autograph?” The question is not easy to answer because there are so many factors...
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Auction Highlights: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books —...
At Auction Tuesday, December 10 at 12:00 PM ET In this December auction we are offering a range of collectible material including nineteenth-century illustrated ship logbooks, Jacques le Moyne’s...
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Swann in Profile: Lisa Crescenzo
After 10 years with Swann and the reorganization of the house’s fine art offerings, Lisa Crescenzo is now the Managing Director of Fine Art. As she transitions into her new role we asked a few...
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Auction Highlights: Illustration Art — December 12, 2024
At Auction Thursday, December 12 at 12:00 PM ET Catalogue & Bidding The December Illustration Art auction offers an array of iconic works spanning magazine illustrations, book art, animation, and...
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Barkley Hendricks Still Life Paintings
Swann Galleries is very proud to have been the first auction house to sell the paintings of the great late Barkley Hendricks beginning in 2009. We were also the first auction house to sell his...
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Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana — November 21, 2024
Swann’s Thursday, November 21 auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana brought $608,036, landing squarely in the pre-sale estimates, with 234 of the 320 lots offered finding buyers. Of the...
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Auction Highlights: Fine Photographs — December 17, 2024
Timed Auction — Bidding Now Open!Lots Begin Closing December 17, 2024 Catalogue & Bidding This December, we are pleased to offer more than 100 lots from the Collection of Neil Robert Berzak. Rich...
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Records & Results: Contemporary Art — November 26, 2024
The November 26, 2024, Contemporary Art auction served as the first with Nigel Freeman as Swann’s head of fine art. “High prices for excellent examples of Pop art prints by Andy Warhol and Roy...
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Iconic Cover Artists for The Saturday Evening Post
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but magazines are an entirely different story. A magazine cover is a visual embodiment of the publication’s identity. The name, layout, logo, and graphic...
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California Modernism: Photography from Group f/64
The perpetual sunshine and endless summer enjoyed by California natives has traditionally been linked to the glamor and film industries. But in the 1920s and thirties, a community of...
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2024: Year in Review
2024 was an eventful year for Swann that brought about exciting changes, including the reorganization of our Fine Art Department, which saw Nigel Freeman step in as the head of the department and Lisa...
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View from The Podium: A Look Back At 2024
Swann has been called many things over the years: Swann Galleries; Swann Auction Galleries; Swann’s [sic], sometimes New York’s oldest specialty auction house. But in the fall of 2024, writing for...
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Auction Highlights: Abstract Beauty: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim —...
At Auction Thursday, February 6 at 2:00 PM ET On Thursday, February 6, Swann Galleries proudly presents “Abstract Beauty: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim” to honor the legacy and enterprise of...
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Abstract Beauty: Nigel Freeman on the Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim
Patricia Scipio-Brim (1947 – 2023) was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, the first of six siblings. She immigrated to New York in the 1970s after she graduated from Bishop Anstey High School....
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Auction Highlights: The Artist’s of the WPA — January 30, 2025
Timed Sale — Bidding Now Open! Lots begin closing Tuesday, January 30 at 12:00 PM ET Works in photography, cartography, printmaking, posters, and painting are all represented in this reflection on how...
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A Collecting Journey: Patricia Scipio-Brim
Jennifer Stewart, art collector, advisor, and friend of Patricia Scipio-Brim, recounts her friendship with Patricia, their shared love of art, and Patricia’s sharp eye for collecting. Jennifer Stewart...
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Auctions 101: Consigning Your Rare Book Collection At Auction
How do you assess your rare book collection and know if it’s right for sale at auction? At Swann Galleries, we receive many inquiries from folks wondering what to do with shelves and shelves of books....
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Auction Highlights: Fine Photographs — February 13, 2025
At Auction Thursday, February 13 at 12:00 PM ET Catalogue & Bidding The February Fine Photographs auction brings together twentieth-century masters in a curated selection of diverse and rare...
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Auction Highlights: Vintage Posters & Graphic Design — February 20, 2025
At Auction Thursday, February 20 at 10:30 AM ET Catalogue & Bidding Swann’s upcoming auction presents a diverse collection of vintage posters spanning winter sports and travel, Art Nouveau,...
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What Is Subculture?
Punks, goths, mods, beatniks, club kids, and hippies: a shortlist of an endless supply of social factions that make up the fabled “underground.” In the grander societal context, they are known as...
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Auction Highlights: 19th & 20th Century Art — March 6, 2025
At Auction Thursday, March 6 at 12:00 PM ET An eclectic and engaging dialogue between several European, American, and Latin American artistic traditions and movements, this auction will include...
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An Overview of Secessionist Posters
The German and Austro-Hungarian answer to the growing Art Nouveau movement of the 1890s was first dubbed the Jugendstil, or “Youth Style” movement, characterized by its stylized graphics. More broadly...
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Artist Profile: Edward Weston
A Weston by Any Name: Identifying Photographic Prints by Edward, Brett & Cole Weston Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Carmel Highlands, California, silver print, 1945, printed 1974. Sold December 17,...
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Records & Results: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim – February 2025
Swann Galleries offered the single-owner collection of African American art, Abstract Beauty: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim, on Thursday, February 6. The auction was an overall success, with...
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Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript African Americana — March 20, 2025
At Auction Thursday, March 20 at 10:30 AM ET Highlights of this March auction include material related to many of the nation’s most important civil rights leaders, including a manuscript recollection...
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Mexican Muralists & Their Impact on the WPA
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s recent exhibition, Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945, was a comprehensive evaluation of post-revolution art in Mexico and the...
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Auction Highlights: African American Art — April 3, 2025
At Auction Thursday, April 3 at 12:00 PM ET Swann Galleries’ Spring 2025 auction of African American Art will be held on Thursday, April 3. The auction will feature a standout selection of artworks...
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Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Art — March 2025
Excellence Across Continents: Johnson, Lam & Costa Bring $700k Auction Triumph The Thursday, March 6 auction of 19th & 20th Century Art brought $723k, with 81% of lots finding buyers. Of the...
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Rosa Parks Material At Auction March 20, 2025
“I was amazed & astonished at the youthful appearance and the profound and eloquent speech. . . . I knew I would never forget him.” Featured in the March 20, 2025, auction of Printed &...
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Consigning A Collection: The Story of Reba W. & Dave H. Williams Collection...
One of the aspects that I love most about working at an auction house is the daily chance of unexpected objects or artworks being presented. This unpredictability keeps you on your toes and constantly...
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Auction Highlights: Old Master Through Modern Prints ft. The Williams...
At Auction Tuesday, April 15 at 10:30 AM ET Catalogue & Bidding The Reba W. & Dave H. Williams Collection of Color Woodcuts Lot 59: Blanche Lazzell, Petunia Planes, color woodcut, 1952....
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Sarah McMillan on the Reba W. & Dave H. Williams Collection of Color Woodcuts
“Collecting is a series of small victories, making discoveries, acquiring objects over time and learning their histories, and then sharing these objects and their stories with others of similar...
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Auction Highlights Part 2: Autographs & Subculture — April 10, 2025
Auction Closing April 10 at 12 PM ET Browse the Catalogue: Subculture Lots 143 – 276 Browse Highlights from the Autographs Section This two-part auction continues with a selection that explores the...
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Auction Highlights Part 1: Autographs & Subculture — April 10, 2025
Auction Closing April 10 at 12 PM ET Browse the Catalogue: Autographs Lots 1 – 142 Browse Highlgihts from the Subculture Section The autographs portion of the April 10 Autographs & Subculture...
View ArticleWhat’s In My Auction: Bella Savignano on the Spring 2025 Subculture Sale
The upcoming Autographs & Subculture sale on Thursday, April 10, will feature an array of pop-culture icons. While prepping for the auction, Bella Savignano, whose background specializes in...
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Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana — March 2025
Swann’s Thursday, March 20 auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana finished at $1,116,969, one of the best sales of the year so far and one of the best since this annual auction was...
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Auction Highlights: Fine Photographs — May 8, 2025
Roy DeCarava, Roy DeCarava, portfolio, with 11 of 12 hand-printed dust-grain photogravures, 1950-79, printed 1991. Estimate $50,000 to $75,000. Our Spring Fine Photographs auction is rich in masters...
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Auction Highlights — Art Deco at 100: Iconic Posters from the William W....
Catalogue & Bidding Lot 63: Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet. Triptych, 1932. Estimate $400,000 to $600,000. On the centennial of the famous Exposition Internationale des Arts...
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Artist Profile: Walter H. Williams
“I am often asked, everywhere I’ve been, what is the symbolism of my butterflies? Why Butterflies? The only thing I can say of them is that they are the spirits of my ancestors. The Chinese believe...
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