Swann Galleries auction of American Art and Contemporary Art on June 8, top lots, were Louise Nevelson’s Maquette for Monumental Sculpture II, welded black steel, 1977, which sold for $78,000*, and Willem de Kooning’s The Devil at the Keyboard, lithograph with hand coloring in watercolor and gouache, 1976, $40,800.
Highlights of the American Art section included Landscape, oil on canvas, 1883, by African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister, $21,600; Childe Hassam’sLandscape with a Bridge, watercolor, $28,800; and Guy Carlton Wiggins’s Winter at the Plaza, oil on canvas board, circa 1950s, $31,200.
Among choice drawings by Paul Cadmus was Standing Nude, color pastel, $26,400. Topping a selection of works by Jared French was a watercolor Self Portrait, quite possibly created during French’s stay with Cadmus in Mallorca in the 1930s, $14,400.
Other American drawings of note were Arshile Gorky’s circa 1930s pencil sketches Untitled (Studio Still Life), $10,200, and Still Life with Table and Pitcher, $13,200; and Will Barnet’s Woman on Stairs, gouache and pencil, 1987, $18,000.
Works by artists known for their illustrations included Rockwell Kent’s Landscape, pen and ink and wash with white gouache heightening, 1943, $6,240; a watercolor and pastel Design for Hansi by Ludwig Bemelmans, best known as the author and artist behind the Madeline children’s book series, $10,200; and a watercolor and ink costume design by Edward Gorey for the character Jonathan Harker in the 1977 stage production of Dracula, $7,800. The drawing was formerly in the collection of Alan Coates, who played the role of Harker, and Gorey won a Tony Award for the costume designs he created for the show.
Rounding out the first session were Ben Shahn’s Landscape with River and Trees, watercolor, circa 1930, $6,720; Hans Hofmann’s Untitled abstract gouache on paper, $7,200; $10,200; and Dong Moy Chu Kingman’s 128th and Fulton, watercolor, 1964, $7,200.
Diverse highlights of the Contemporary Art section included two late 1950s drawings of Gold Shoes by Andy Warhol, brush and black ink and white gouache and gold leaf, $14,400 each; and the Warhol prints Flowers, offset color lithograph, 1964, $19,200; Muhammad Ali, color screenprint, 1978, a record $12,000; and After the Party, color screenprint, 1979, $13,800.
Other notable prints were Robert Rauschenberg’s Core, color screenprint, 1965, $9,000; and a run of four pieces by Shepard Fairey for the Obama for Americacampaign, 2008, that exceeded expectations and sold for between $2,160 and $5,520 each.
Image: Louise Nevelson’s Maquette for Monumental Sculpture II, welded black steel, 1977, which sold for $78,000.
