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Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature
Our auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature on November 14 offered a veritable library of scarce first editions and inscriptions by authors from the last two centuries. More than two thirds of...
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Records & Results: Contemporary Art
In our most encyclopedic offering of Contemporary Art to date, the November 16 auction saw active bidding, with works by Josef Albers, Jean Arp and Christo exceeding their estimates and setting new...
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Records & Results: Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
Maps were so plentiful at our December 5 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books that one could be forgiven for getting lost. Many buyers chose to bid in person,...
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Records & Results: Illustration Art
The grand finale of our 2017 roster was a successful auction of Illustration Art on December 14. Highlights of the sale ranged from large-scale oil paintings to sentimental children’s characters to wry...
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2017: Year in Review
In our diamond anniversary year, we offered a star-studded roster of 30 auctions, setting nearly 100 records and introducing countless items to the market, including a previously unknown photograph of...
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The Top Five Fahrenheit 451s
According to our Literature specialist John D. Larson, there are five first editions of Fahrenheit 451 of interest to collectors. As with all important modern first editions, a set of criteria should...
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Bertha Trujillo: Matadora in Photographs
On May 30, 1968, Bertha Trujillo became the first woman awarded a doctorate of matadorship, the highest technical level achieved in bullfighting. The photographs appearing in our February 15 auction of...
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What Sets A Chart Apart?
We asked specialist Caleb Kiffer to reminisce about some of the most interesting and important charts we’ve handled in the last few years. Why charts? We wanted to explore (pun intended) the...
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Lewis Hine’s Legacy
Scarce and important prints spanning the career of pioneering photojournalist Lewis W. Hine crown our February 15 auction of Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks. Here are some notes from...
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Black and White All Over: The Riddle of Classical Photography
The following was written by Vice President and Director of Photographs & Photobooks, Daile Kaplan: I love looking at photographs in both black-and-white and color iterations. Long before...
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Cataloguing History’s Darker Moments
In advance of our February 15 auction of Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks, we asked Associate Director Deborah Rogal to talk about the planning that goes into a successful auction...
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Specialists in the Field: The New Museum
Specialists at Swann keep up with the cultural heartbeat by frequenting museum exhibitions. Over the summer, we’ll be sharing some of their experiences, beginning with Diana Flatto and Jessica Feldman...
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American War Posters, 100 Years Later
Our August 2 auction of Vintage Posters will feature an exceptionally wide array of World War I imagery, honoring the centennial anniversary of the U.S.’s entry into the fray. More than 100 propaganda...
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Specialists in the Field: Summer Reading List
Specialists in the Field is an informal summer segment of the blog in which we speak to specialists at Swann about their extracurricular activities. Unsurprisingly, their interests are generally...
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Daile Kaplan on The Thrill of Photographic Discovery
With the recent NPR coverage questioning whether an anonymous photograph actually depicts Amelia Earhart on a wharf in Jaluit Atoll, photography’s role as historic evidence is once again in the news....
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Abram Games’s Sultry Poster Causes a Stir
Our August 2 auction of Vintage Posters features the largest — and best — selection of war posters we have ever offered. As England prepared to enter World War Two, the government launched a poster...
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Isle Adam: Timeless & Inspiring
Shrewd perusers of our sales may notice a familiar eave lurking in the catalogue for our upcoming auction of Vintage Posters: the iconic orange roof of the beach house at Isle Adam, a popular resort...
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The Symbiotic Relationship Between Tattoos & Posters
An unusual lot in our upcoming auction of Vintage Posters features a colorful individual: Captain Costentenus, a Greek Albanian man tattooed from head to foot. Lot 2: Captain Costentenus, 1876....
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Specialists in the Field: Nigel Freeman at the Tate
Nigel Freeman, founder and director of our African-American Fine Art department, is in London this week visiting some familiar images. Two of the works in the Tate Modern’s latest exhibition, Soul of a...
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Records & Results: Vintage Posters
More than 600 colorful advertisements and announcements crossed the block at our sale of Vintage Posters on Wednesday, August 2. The encyclopedic selection represented a century’s worth of development...
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