New York City - On Wednesday, October 31, Swann Galleries will hold their major autumn auction of fine prints. The two-part sale begins with 100 Important Old Master Prints followed by Old Master through Modern Prints. The first session of the auction will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 31 with 100 Important Old Master Prints. Additional Old Master prints and Nineteenth-century prints will follow at about 11:30 a.m. The afternoon session, comprising 20^th-century prints, will begin at 2:30 p.m.

There are stellar works by Old Masters including a circa 1460 engraving of A Lady Holding a Helmet and an Empty Shield, by Master E.S., the unidentified South German engraver of the late Gothic period. There are no listed impressions of this print in any North American public collections. This rare work from the dawn of European printmaking has a pre-auction estimate of $70,000 to $100,000.

Also among the valuable Old Master engravings are Martin Schonegauer’s Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene, circa 1480-90, which has appeared at auction only three times in the last 20 years ($25,000 to $35,000); and several works by Albrecht Dürer, including The Promenade, circa 1496-97 ($8,000 to $12,000); St. Jerome in his Study, 1514 ($30,000 to $50,000); and St. Anthony Reading, 1519 ($7,000 to $10,000).

Also from the 16^th century are Frans Crabbe’s Scenes from the Life of St. John the Baptist, woodcut, circa 1522 ($15,000 to $20,000); and Hendrick Goltzius’s The Great Standard-Bearer, engraving, 1587 ($8,000 to $12,000). And, from the 17^th century are Jacques Bellange’s The Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, etching, circa 1630 ($20,000 to $30,000); and several fine lifetime impressions by Rembrandt Van Rijn, including Self Portrait with Saskia, etching, 1636 ($20,000 to $30,000); Nude Man Seated Before a Curtain, etching and drypoint, 1646 ($35,000 to $50,000); Clement de Jonghe, Printseller, etching and drypoint, 1651 ($40,000 to $60,000); and Negress Lying Down, etching, drypoint and engraving, 1658 ($35,000 to $50,000).

The second session of the auction offers more Old Master Prints, followed by an assortment of 19^th century prints. Highlights include one of only two impressions of the second state of Camille Pissarro’s Église et Ferme d’Éragny, color etching, 1895 ($70,000 to $100,000); Paul Gauguin’s woodcuts Noa Noa and Maruru, circa 1893-94 ($8,000 to $12,000 each); a run of works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, among them Baigneuse debout en Pied, color lithograph ($40,000 to $60,000); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s ever popular Mademoiselle Marcel Lender, en buste, color lithograph, 1895 ($30,000 to $50,000); and Paul Cézanne’s color lithograph Les Baigneurs (Grande planche), circa 1898 ($35,000 to $50,000).

There are several works by Pierre Bonnard, including the 1899 color lithographs Quelques Aspects de la Vie de Paris (Couvrture), and Rue vue d’en haut ($5,000 to $8,000 each); Paul César Helleu’s portrait of Madame Helleu, drypoint ($7,000 to $10,000); Claude Monet and George W. Thornley’s Tempête à Belle-Île, lithograph printed in blue, circa 1908 ($12,000 to $18,000).

A selection of American Prints includes George Bellows’s Dance in a Madhouse, 1917 ($7,000 to $10,000); Martin Lewis’s Passing Storm, mezzotint printed in sepia, 1919 ($8,000 to $12,000); John Sloan’s Snowstorm in the Village, etching, 1925 ($7,000 to $10,000); Louis Lozowick’s Allen Street (Under the El), lithograph, 1929 ($7,000 to $10,000); Thomas Hart Benton’s lithographs Jesse James, 1936 ($8,000 to $12,000), and Huck Finn, 1936 ($7,000 to $10,000); Paul Cadmus’s Coney Island, etching, circa 1935 ($10,000 to $15,000); Grant Wood’s Approaching Storm, lithograph, 1940 ($6,000 to $9,000); and Jacob Lawrence’s Workshop, color lithographs, 1972 ($7,000 to $10,000).

The final portion of the auction is devoted to Modern European prints, including a rich selection of color lithographs by Marc Chagall such as Le Paysage Bleu, 1958 ($25,000 to $35,000); Arrivée de Dionyophane, 1961 ($30,000 to $50,000); Le Couple au Crépuscule, 1980 ($40,000 to $60,000); and La Parade, 1980 ($30,000 to $50,000).

Among a large run of works by Pablo Picasso are Famille de Saltimbanques, etching, Paris, 1933 ($15,000 to $20,000); Le Columbe Volant (á l’Arc-en-Ciel), color lithograph, 1952 ($12,000 to $18,000); examples of faïence ware, such as a Gray Engraved Pitcher, 1954 ($10,000 to $15,000); and desirable after prints including Interior Rouge avec un Transatlantique bleu, color aquatint, circa 1960 ($12,000 to $18,000); Nature Morte, color lithograph with stencil coloring ($7,000 to $10,000); and Grande Maternité, color lithograph, New York, 1963 ($12,000 to $18,000).

A two-volume illustrated auction catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $40 in the U.S. / $50 elsewhere from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online at www.swanngalleries.com . For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Todd Weyman at (212) 254-4710, extension 32, or via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .