Art News

Swann Galleries American & Contemporary Art Auction in New York

artwork: Red Grooms - "Nervous City", 1973 - Color lithograph - 56.5 x 76.5 cm. - Courtesy Swann Galleries, New York, where the work will be auctioned on November 17th. Estimate $1,000-1,500.


New York City.- Swann Galleries’ November 17th auction of American Art & Contemporary Art offers outstanding unique works and prints by choice American artists and those working in the late 20th century. The Contemporary Art portion of the auction features some highly desirable prints by Andy Warhol, including his 1967 color screenprint of Marilyn Monroe, his earliest print of the blonde icon, who is depicted in shades of gray and black (estimate: $100,000 to $150,000). Also by Warhol are Flowers, offset color lithograph, 1964 ($10,000 to $15,000); New England Clam Chowder, color screenprint, 1969 ($10,000 to $15,000); Cow, color screenprint in purple and black on wallpaper, 1976 ($12,000 to $18,000); and Untitled (Sex Parts), unique screenprint in black on green cloth cut from a man’s work shirt, circa 1980—the proceeds from this lot will benefit the non-profit Lifelong AIDS Alliance ($15,000 to $20,000). The works will be on public exhibition Saturday, November 12th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Monday, November 14th through Wednesday, November 16th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other pop art highlights are Roy Lichtenstein’s Moonscape, color screenprint on blue Rowlux, 1965 ($10,000 to $15,000), and Brushstroke, offset color lithograph, 1965 ($12,000 to $18,000); Jasper Johns’s Cicada, color lithograph on Arches 88 paper, 1981 ($20,000 to $30,000); Keith Haring’s Art Attack on AIDS, unique screenprint in black with hand coloring in yellow gouache, 1988 ($15,000 to $20,000); and Tom Wesselmann’s Monica Sitting with Mondrian, color screenprint, 1989 ($12,000 to $18,000). There is a selection of fine color lithographs by Alexander Calder as well as a 1971 gouache, At Last a Yellow Saucer, which reflects much of the playfulness and color of his well-known mobiles ($20,000 to $30,000). Other unique works of note include an oil on board painting by Wayne Thiebaud, from early in his career—before he began depicting sweets—called Blighted Area ($30,000 to $50,000); Red Grooms’s Artist on the Beach, color pastels on paper, 1970 ($30,000 to $50,000); a set of four color pencil drawings by Robert Mangold, Arc Studies: 4 Drawings, 1974 ($20,000 to $30,000); and David Hockney’s For Riggs and John, watercolor and gouache on the back of a double-page fold from a Hockney catalogue, 1988 ($15,000 to $20,000).

Desirable portfolios are Josef Albers’s Homage to the Square, with 10 color screenprints, 1962 ($12,000 to $18,000); Sol Lewitt’s Composite Series, set of five screenprints, 1970, and Stars, set of eight color aquatints, 1993 ($10,000 to $15,000 each); and Robert Indiana’s Decade, with 10 color screenprints, 1971 ($18,000 to $22,000).

artwork: Robert Gwathmey - "Prologue II", 1962 - Oil on canvas - 118 x 91.5 cm. Courtesy Swann Galleries, New York, where the work will be auctioned on November 17th. Estimate: $60000 - $90000.

The American Art section of the sale features two paintings by Robert Gawthmey, who is best known for his unromanticized depictions of African-American life in the rural South, from the estate of noted black business leader J. Bruce Llewellyn. Prologue II, a 1962 oil on canvas, depicts churchgoers and farmers; Southern Farmer, oil on canvas, 1966, in which the subject’s face is mostly obscured, may be a nod to Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man ($60,000 to $90,000 and $40,000 to $60,00 respectively). There are three other Gwathmey works in the sale, two watercolors with pen and ink, Picking Cotton and Picking Cotton II ($4,000 to $6,000 each); and a pencil drawing, Tin of Lard, which has the same subject as the Southern Farmer painting ($1,000 to $1,500).

Other paintings of note are Carl Brandien’s View of Toledo, oil on canvas, 1931 ($4,000 to $6,000); Robert Bliss, Provincetown Beach, oil on board, 1962 ($3,000 to $5,00); David Burliuk’s Still Life with Roses, Daffodils and Iris, oil on canvas ($20,000 to $30,000); and several landscapes by Hayley Lever. Rounding out the American art are Elie Nadelman’s Mother and Child, pen and ink, circa 1905 ($5,000 to $8,000); Blanche Lazzell’s Mosquito Wharf, gouache on card, 1934 ($8,000 to $12,000); William Zorach’s The Family, bronze sculpture, 1957 ($10,000 to $15,000); Francisco Zuñiga’s Descansado, watercolor and chalk, 1968 ($5,000 to $8,000); and one of Ludwig Bemelmans’s illustrations of the beloved children’s book protagonist Madeline, gouache and watercolor, 1939 ($8,000 to $12,000).

artwork: Andy Warhol - "Northwest Coast Mask", 1986 Color screenprint on Lenox Museum Board - 91.4 x 91.4 cm. Courtesy Swann Galleries, New York, Estimate $10,000-15,000.

Swann Galleries was founded in New York in 1941 by antiquarian book dealer Benjamin Swann as an auction house specializing in rare and antiquarian books. George Lowry acquired the business and became president in 1970 upon Mr. Swann`s retirement. At that time, a staff of four organized and conducted book auctions for a customer-base composed mainly of dealers. As the auction world opened to the general public, separate departments were established for different fields of collecting: first photographs, then autographs, and in the late 1980s-early 90s, prints and drawings and vintage posters. Swann is now a world leader in the auction market for works of art on paper. Nicholas Lowry joined Swann in 1995 as head of the Poster department. He was named Principal Auctioneer in 1998 and Vice-President in 2000. In January 2001, he assumed the title of President and took over day-to-day management of the company, which now has a staff of 30; George Lowry stepped up to the new title of Chairman. For over 25 years, Swann has been located on East 25th Street, just one block east of Madison Square Park, adjacent to the historic Murray Hill, Gramercy Park, and Flatiron districts, and right across town from Chelsea. The premises doubled in size in 1999 with the addition of a second gallery and salesroom. Visit the auction house’s website at … http://www.swanngalleries.com