New York City - On Tuesday, February 6, Swann Galleries will conduct the first auction ever devoted entirely to African-American Fine Art.  This is the first time that a major auction house has organized an entire auction dedicated to this important and rapidly growing field of art.  The sale comprises over 200 prints, drawings, collages, paintings and sculptures by well-known African-American artists presented in a fully illustrated color catalogue.

Nigel Freeman, Swann’s Associate Director of Prints & Drawings, and head of the new African-American Fine Art department, said, “In recent years, we have seen very strong interest in works by important African-American artists that were included in sales of modern art, and we are confident the market will continue to grow.”

Swann Galleries, which has been conducting auctions of Printed & Manuscript African-American for the last 11 years, established the new department of African-American Fine Art in May 2006.  Nicholas D. Lowry, Swann’s President explained, “based on our experience and success selling similar items in the past it was a clear move forward for us to create a new department.  It really seems as if the art world has been waiting for this.”

The auction contains a veritable who’s who of important African-American artists, and includes some of the scarcest and most important examples of their work.  For instance, it is very rare to find complete sets of Jacob Lawrence’s prints.  This sale offers his first and last major series, both based on paintings made by the artist early in his career: The Legend of John Brown, portfolio with complete text, printed folders and 22 color screenprints, 1977, and The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture, a collection of 15 color screenprints, 1986-97 (each series estimated $130,000 to $160,000).

Noteworthy prints by other artists include several scarce examples, such as Dox Thrash’s Old Barns, aquatint, 1937-38 ($5,000 to $8,000); Charles White’s poignant Awaiting His Return, lithograph, 1946 ($15,000 to $25,000); and Elizabeth Catlett’s Negro Woman, lithograph, 1945 ($8,000 to $12,000).

The sale also features works by Romare Bearden, including Untitled (Four Figures), collage on wood panel, circa 1970 ($50,000 to $70,000).  There are a number of fine oils on canvas, including Hale Woodruff’s powerful abstract Totem, circa 1950 ($30,000 to $50,000); Norman Lewis’s Many Faces of Legend #1, 1960, exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1998 ($40,000 to $60,000); and Beauford Delaney’s Untitled (Yellow Painting), from his desirable Paris Yellow Paintings series, 1962 ($70,000 to $100,000).  Recently, four Bearden collages sold for more than $100,000 each at Swann, and paintings by Woodruff and Lewis achieved artists’ records.

Fine sculptures in the sale are Leslie Garland Bolling’s Beautiful Womanhood, 1931 and New Moon, 1933, charming sculptures of nude women formerly in the collection of artist and art historian James A. Porter ($20,000 to $30,000 each).  An exquisite carved mahogany Nude Torso, 1976, is believed to be the first sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett ever to come to auction ($100,000 to $150,000).  Finally, there are many beautiful drawings and watercolors, including Palmer Hayden’s Ocean Point, Maine, watercolor circa 1925-26 ($40,000 to $60,000); and John Wilson’s Untitled (Farm Boy), charcoal portrait, 1944 ($30,000 to $50,000).

The auction will take place on Tuesday, February 6 at 1:30 p.m.  The works of art will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Wednesday, January 31 to Friday, February 2, 10-6; Saturday, February 3, 10-4; Monday, February 5, 10 -6; and Tuesday, February 6, 10-noon.  A fully illustrated catalogue is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, 104 East 25 Street, New York, NY 10010, and can be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.  For further information, please contact Nigel Freeman at (212) 254-4710, extension 33, or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .