Swann Galleries to Auction Fine Prints & Drawings in New York

Written by Kenneth Dreher Saturday, 31 March 2012 21:43

New York City -Two back-to-back sales from Swann Galleries’ prints and drawings department offer the widest array of works on paper this September.  On Thursday, September 18, a full-day sale will feature 100 Fine Works on Paper, followed by 19^th & 20^th Century Prints & Drawings.  The following Tuesday, September 23, Swann is offering a stellar private collection of American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank W. Benson, with a survey of fine American printmaking in the first half of the 20^th century, including the largest collection of Frank W. Benson prints ever offered in a single auction.

The first section of the September 18th sale of 100 Fine Works on Paper contains an embarass de richesses, including Blake’s Illustrations of the Book of Job, bound volume with 22 engravings, 1826 ($40,000 to $60,000); a lifetime impression of Whistler’s scarce lithograph, The Little Nude Model, Reading, 1889-90 ($20,000 to $30,000); and Pissarro and Thornley’s 25 Lithographies, complete portfolio, Paris, circa 1900 ($25,000 to $35,000).  Other notable works include Lautrec’s Confetti, color lithograph, 1894 ($25,000 to $35,000); many Picassos including his scarce etching, En la Taberna, Pêcheurs Catalans en bordée (Au Cabaret) on Montval paper, before steel-facing of the plate, 1934 ($40,000 to $60,000); Feininger’s Das Schiff, Abend, am Meer, watercolor and black ink, 1946 ($40,000 to $60,000); Chagall’s scarce color lithograph, Bonjour sur Paris, 1952 ($30,000 to $50,000), and the cancelled copper plate for his etching, Les Amoreux dans le ciel de Saint-Paul, 1968 ($30,000 to $50,000).  A most unusual offering for Swann is Grandma Moses’s Snow Roller of Vermont, oil on artist’s board, 1944 ($30,000 to $50,000).

The second session follows these standouts with another 571 lots of desirable European and American works on paper.          

Tuesday, September 23, the prints and drawings department hosts a sale comprised of two private collections dedicated to American printmaking from the first half of the 20^th century. The sale features the largest selection of prints by Frank W. Benson ever offered in a single auction, including his etchings of Old Tom, 1926 ($8,000 to $12,000) and Dory Fisherman, 1927 ($4,000 to $6,000), shore birds and camping scenes galore, and, in a different vein, his only still life print, and one of only 7 lithographs in his oeuvre. Other highlights include John Taylor Arms’s West Forty-Second Street, Night ($7,000 to $10,000) and The Gates of the City, color aquatints, 1922 ($10,000 to $15,000); Gustave Baumann’s Cholla and Sahuaro, color woodcut, 1924 ($10,000 to $15,000); four major prints by Martin Lewis including Rainy Day Queens, drypoint, 1931 ($15,000 to $20,000); and many examples by Stow Wengenroth, including Manhattan Gateway, lithograph, 1948 ($6,000 to $9,000).

The first section of the auction on Thursday, September 18, will begin at 10:30 a.m. with 100 Fine Works on Paper.  19^th and 20^th Century Prints & Drawings will follow at about 11:30 a.m.  The afternoon session will begin at 2:30 p.m. 

The American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank W. Benson sale will take place on Tuesday, September 23, and will begin at 1:30 p.m.

The works of art will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Saturday, September 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, September 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, September 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday, September 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The American prints will continue to be on exhibition from Friday, September 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, September 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, September 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to noon.

A two-volume illustrated auction catalogue for the 100 Fine Works on Paper and 19^th & 20^th Century Prints & Drawings sale, 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. An illustrated auction catalogue for the American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank Benson is available for $35.

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 tweyman-at-swanngalleries.com.

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