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A Storied Book with a Fine Association: Henry Roth’s “Call It Sleep”
In the world of book collecting association copies are highly sought after, and our upcoming auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature has some fine examples. One particularly interesting...
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A Rare Manuscript Map from the Dutch East India Company
With an almost two hundred year history, the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC), was the dominate force in European trade and navigation of Asia in...
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Politics & Satire: The Etchings of James Gillray
With the presidential primary election in full swing, we’re all up to our eyeballs in satirical columns and cartoons. In the spirit of the season, we thought we’d look at some punchy political art of...
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Notes from the Catalogue: Two Studies by American Artists
For collectors, a study can be a prized acquisition because it is both a work of art and a source of insight into an artist’s process. Our upcoming auction of American Art includes two studies by...
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Guy C. Wiggins: An Impression of Winter in New York
It will be warm and sunny here in New York for our American Art auction tomorrow, but some of the top lots of the sale feature the Big Apple draped in falling snow. Artist Guy C. Wiggins is best known...
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The Esther Salinas Collection: A Touching Tribute
Lot 15: Arthur Szyk, Le Livre d’Esther, limited edition, with 19 color plates, custom bound by Kerstin Tini Miura, Paris 1925. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000. When it comes to private collections...
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Boydell’s Shakespeare: A Meeting of Art & Literature
Visual art and literature often share a symbiotic relationship, and tomorrow’s auction of The Esther Salinas Collection of Fine Illustrated & Plate Books features two excellent examples of creative...
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Early 20th-Century Cartoons With Familiar Political Content
Normally an editorial cartoon from the early 20th century would not make the threshold for a Swann auction, but we found this pair from the Saturday Globe too timely to pass up. They both deal with...
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J. Mortimer Lichtenauer: The Diary of an American Art Student in Paris
Every now and then we have an item come in that seems tailor-made for a Swann auction. In Tuesday’s sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana we offer the diary kept by J. Mortimer Lichtenauer, an art...
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The Greatest Show on Earth: How Circuses Reused Effective Design
In the summer heat, it’s hard to imagine performing acrobatic feats and superhuman demonstrations. At Swann we get our exercise vicariously by investigating some of the circus posters from our August 3...
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WWI Armistice Signaled Change in Recruitment Posters
One of the most invigorating sections of our 3 August Vintage Posters sale is the tremendous selection of war propaganda. We examine how these posters changed as the first world war came to a close....
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Tadanori Yokoo: Pop Visionary
Among the works representing the second half of the twentieth century in our upcoming August 3 Vintage Posters sale are two works by the graphic artist and designer Tadanori Yokoo, who has been called...
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Records & Results – Vintage Posters
Swann Galleries’ August 3 sale of Vintage Posters finished the 2015-2016 season for the house, breaking three auction records in the process. Lot 2: Alois Hans Schram, Jubilæums – Ausstellung / Wein,...
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2015-16: A Year of Records
Last year Swann Galleries saw 95 records and first appearances across 31 sales with some of our departments even breaking their own records. Treasures ranging from previously unknown works to...
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Braque Birds: A 20th Century Icon
Three examples of Georges Braque’s famous birds will be available in the 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings sale at Swann Galleries on September 22. The artist’s depictions of birds so...
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Rufino Tamayo, Innovative Printmaker
Over one dozen works by innovative Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo will be available in our September 22 sale of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings. Tamayo was an artist of Zapotec descent...
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Identifying Printmaking Techniques
As auctioneers of works on paper, we often get asked about the differences between all the many methods of printmaking and what to look for with each. The following guide is illustrated by examples...
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Tracing Art History Through 19th Century Prints
The September 22 auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings at Swann Galleries features a stunning array of nineteenth-century artworks. Such is the caliber of the selection that it is...
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One Bid, Two Bid, Phone Bid, Floor Bid: Dr. Seuss at Swann
Hold on to your cats in hats– a rare original watercolor of a rediscovered Dr. Seuss story will be available at our September 29 sale of Illustration Art. Lot 95: Dr. Seuss, Tadd and Todd, ink and...
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Nigel Freeman on Al Loving’s Three Solid Questions
Nigel Freeman, the Director of the African American Fine Art department at Swann, talks about a monumental piece in our upcoming October 6 auction. Three Solid Questions is the first work by Al...
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