Arcibald Motley: A Stroll, Parts 1 and 2

Premier Modernist       Improvising       Break with Academic Tradition

 

Transgressive Elements       Modern Artistic Statement    

Bronzeville       Black Urban Living       Urban Nocturnes

Painter Laureate of the Black Modern Cityscape  

Exhibition: 
Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist on view June 14 through September 7, 2014 @ Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist on view October 19, 2014 through February 1, 2015 @ LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist

Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist

Swann Galleries: African-American Fine Art Sale 2353

Swann Auction Galleries will feature its latest African-American Fine Art sale on June 10, 2014. Sale 2353, which is entitled Shape of Things to Come, focuses on the rapid social and political changes in both the art world and the nation during the 1960s and 1970s. African American artists adapted to the times in the era of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Nationalism and a strong selection of works from those decades are represented in Sale 2353. Many of the artists included in this sale have been included in recent major museum exhibitions, representing a re-examination and study of their works.

The Shape of Things to Come consists of 158 lots and features works by Elizabeth Catlett, Barkley L. Hendricks, Noah Purifoy, William T. Williams, Norman Lewis, Faith Ringgold, Melvin Edwards, Bettye Saar, Charles White, Romare Bearden, Lorna Simpson, Richard Mayhew, Hughie Lee-Smith, and others.

A number of works in this sale have been in private collections, unseen by the general public, from 20 to over 50 years. The documentation of these works via photographs, established provenance, and identifying them as having been in major museum exhibitions add to their value. 

Selected highlights from Sale 2353 follow:

Hughie Lee-Smith, Rooftops, Oil on linen canvas, 1961, 24"x 18". Image: Swann Auction Galleries 

Lot 22 Hughie Lee-Smith, Rooftops
 
Rooftops is a fascinating example of Hughie Lee-Smith's early 1960s work in New York in which he continued to paint rooftop scenes as he had in Detroit. Rooftops shows Lee-Smith interest in portraying the changing urban environment, showing the deterioration of America's urban areas during periods of great growth and prosperity.  Lot 22 has an estimate of $25,000 - $35,000. 

Faith Ringgold, The American People Series #15: Hide Little Children, Oil on canvas, 1966, 26"x 48". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 35 Faith Ringgold, The American People Series #15: Hide Little Children

This painting is from Faith Ringgold's The American People Series that included approximately twenty paintings completed between 1963 and 1967. This was her first mature series of paintings and they displayed her pointed observations on race relations during the Civil Rights era. In the publication, Faith Ringgold, The David C. Driskell Series, author Lisa Farrington notes "despite their apparent playfulness, Ringgold used these charming faces as a smokescreen to obfuscate, but not completely veil, a vastly profound message- the shielding of America's youth from racial hatred." Lot 35 has an estimate of $35,000 - $50,000.  

Noah Purifoy, Untitled: Standing Figure, Assemblage construction, circa 1968-70, 51½"x 15"x 12". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 45 Noah Purifoy, Untitled: Standing Figure  

The figurative sculpture, Standing Figure, is an outstanding example of Noah Purifoy's important work in assemblage, and is the first significant work of the artist to come to auction. "By 1970, Purifoy had expanded his range of assemblage material to include diverse, organic materials such as leather, feathers, brass and copper. The enigmatic female figure, with leather breasts mounted on her flanks, and a dense decorative surface, reflects both the assemblage aesthetic and early Surrealist sculpture."

Lot 45, which was acquired directly from Purifoy by sculptor Artis Lane, has an estimate of $60,000 - $90,000.

William T. Williams, Truckin, Acrylic 0n cotton canvas, 1969, 84"x 60". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 61 William T. Williams, Truckin 

Truckin, a significant early painting by William T. Williams, is his earliest painting to date to come to auction. "It is an excellent example of Williams' first year of painting after completing his MFA from Yale University, with the imagery that quickly gained him an international recognition as an abstract painter in the late 1960s and early 1970s."

Lot 61 has an estimate of $75,000 - $100,000.

Barkley L. Hendricks, Sergio, Oil and acrylic on linen canvas, 1972, 60"x 44". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

 Lot 80 Barkley L. Hendricks, Sergio

Sergio has an extensive museum exhibition history, extending from early 1970s through 2010. This is a bold portrait by Barkley Hendricks that was painted at the beginning of his career, and is an excellent example of his trailblazing work in portraiture.  Sergio was executed during the time, spring of 1972, that Hendricks was finishing his MFA studies at Yale University.

Lot 80 has an estimate of $80,000 - $120,000.

 

Elizabeth Catlett, Standing Figure, Carved tropical wood and black enamel, 1986, 18"x 7"x 4¼". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

 

Elizabeth Catlett, Reclining Figure, Black marble, 2005, 32"x 15"x 11½". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

 Lot 119 Elizabeth Catlett, Standing Figure and Lot 144 Reclined Figure

There are two important late-career sculptures by Elizabeth Catlett, one, Standing Figure, in tropical wood and black enamel, 1986 (estimate $150,000 to $200,000); the other, Reclined Figure, in black marble, 2005 (estimate $60,000 to $90,000). These works embody Catlett’s expression of the female form found within the natural beauty of her materials.

The works will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries, to check dates, see Preview Dates.  An illustrated auction catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online.

For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Nigel Freeman at 212-254-4710, extension 33, or via email at nfreeman@swanngalleries.com.                                                     

Live online bidding is also available via invaluable.com.

 

Results of Swann's Printed and Manuscript African Americana Sale 2342

The Printed and Manuscript African Americana Sale 2342 was held on March 27, 2014 at Swann Auction Galleries. This was the 19th annual Printed and Manuscript African Americana Sale, and it included the largest number of lots (596) over the past decade, topping last year's auction which previously had the highest number of lots with 561. This demonstrates that there is still a strong and growing market of available African American historical items. Sale 2342 attracted many institutional bidders and saw record results for rare books and other publications. Wyatt Houston Day, Swann's African Americana specialist said, "We were very pleased to see so many of the top lots purchased by institutions, including a number of research-oriented lots. Among record-setting books were a Banneker Almanack, a rebound copy of Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and an inscribed copy of Anna Julia Cooper's A Voice from the South."

Some highlights of Printed and Manuscript African Americana Sale 2342 follow: 
Lot 140:  Banneker's Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of our Lord, 1793

Banneker's Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of our Lord, 1793, Image: Swann Auction Galleries

This publication by self-taught astronomer, mathematician, surveyor and author Benjamin Banneker had not appeared in auction in the past 25 years; it contained a portion of a poem by Phillis Wheatley. Banneker helped with the survey of the Federal Territory that was to become the grid of Washington, D.C. Lot 140 exceeded its high estimate of $15,000 and sold for $52,500, including buyer premium.

Lot 98: Cooper, Anna Julia. A Voice from the South by a Woman of the South

Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South by a Woman of the South. Image: Swann Auction Galleries

This was a first edition, presentation copy of a rare book, with a fine association. Loosely laid in was a pencil note in Cooper's hand presenting the book to an officer of the 29th Ohio Volunteers.  In addition, it was inscribed on the title-page. With an estimate of $6,000 - $8,000, the book almost doubled its high estimate when it sold for $15,000 with buyer's premium.

Lot 164: Richard McCrary's I am a Black Woman! Poster depicting Angela Davis

Poster depicting Angela Davis. Image: Swann Auction Galleries

 

This poster depicting Angela Davis with Richard McCrary's I am a Black Woman! poem had an estimate of $600 - $800; it sold with buyer's premium for $7,500.

Lot 339A: Randolph, A. Philip. Collection of material relative to the Pullman Porters

Collection of material relative to the Pullman Porters. Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 339A consisted of a large collection of rare Pullman Porter material, including virtually all the equipment needed by a porter, plus personal identification, etc. It had an estimate of $15,000 - $25,000, and sold for $17,500 with buyer's premium.

Lot 589: Peacock, Eulace. Personal archive of this great African American track and field star

Eulace Peacock's personal archive. Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Eulace Peacock, often referred to as "The Fastest Man of Earth" was an American track and field athlete of the 1930s. Lot 589 consisted of over 100 gold, silver and bronze medals; correspondence, newspaper clippings, programs, and ephemera; a few photos, and other items. Although Lot 589 did not reach its low estimate of $10,000, it sold for $8,750 with buyer's premium.

For complete results of the Printed and Manuscript African Americana Sale 2342, SEE online: Sale 2342. Also, an illustrated catalogue with prices realized (by request) is available for $35.00 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010.