Swann Galleries’ Auction of 19th and 20th Century Prints offers important works

NEW YORK, NY.- On Thursday, March 7, Swann Galleries will conduct an auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings that features an excellent selection of works by American and European masters.

The sale opens with nearly 200 lots of 19th century European prints and drawings, including scarce etchings by James A.M. Whistler, among them Fruit Stall, 1879-80 (estimate: $8,000 to $12,000); a richly inked and dark ninth-state impression of Nocturne, 1879-80 ($40,000 to $60,000); Two Doorways, 1879-80 ($25,000 to $35,000); as well as the lithographs Nude Model, Reclining, 1893 ($15,000 to $20,000) and La Fruitière de la Rue de Grenelle, 1894 ($10,000 to $15,000).

Exceedingly rare are Paul Gauguin’s Les Cigales et les Fourmis—Souvenir de la Martinique, zincograph on yellow paper, 1889 ($15,000 to $20,000); James Ensor’s Les Patineurs, etching, 1889 ($10,000 to $18,000); Mary Cassatt’s Peasant Mother and Child, drypoint, circa 1894 ($15,000 to $20,000); Camille Pissarro’s Église et Ferme d’Éragny, etching, 1895 ($15,000 to $20,000); and Claude Monet and George W. Thornley’s circa 1908 color lithographs on Chine appliqué, Meules ($15,000 to $20,000) and Femme au Chevalet ($20,000 to $30,000).

James A.M. Whistler, Nocturne, etching and drypoint, 1879-80. Estimate $40,000 to $60,000

Among the drawings are Berthe Morisot’s Pecheurs au bord du Lac du Bois de Boulogne, watercolor and pencil, 1893 ($4,000 to $6,000); Tête de enfant by Paul César Helleu in black, rend and white crayon, circa 1900 ($8,000 to $12,000); and Auguste Rodin’s Deux Femmes Nues, pencil, 1900 ($8,000 to $12,000). There is also an Honoré Daumier bronze, Laurent Cunin-Gridaine (Le Mauvais), circa 1832-35 ($10,000 to $15,000).

A section of American and Latin American prints offers attractive color woodcuts by Bror J.O. Nordfeldt, such as The Piano, on Japan paper, 1906 ($20,000 to $30,000); sporting scenes by George Bellows, including Preliminaries, lithograph, 1916 ($20,000 to $30,000) and The White Hope, lithograph, 1921 ($8,000 to $12,000); Edward Hopper’s well known Night Shadows, etching, 1921 ($30,000 to $50,000); Martin Lewis’s charming city views, including Snow on the “El,” drypoint, 1931 ($20,000 to $30,000) and Chance Meeting, drypoint, 1940-41 ($10,000 to $15,000); Benton Spruance’s WWII-era Riders of the Apocalypse, lithograph, 1943 ($25,000 to $35,000); and a run of works by Thomas Hart Benton, among them Wreck of the Ol ’97, lithograph, 1944 ($10,000 to $15,000).

Among the Latin American highlights are two 1930 lithographs by Diego Rivera, Self-Portrait and Desnudo de Dolores Olmedo ($7,000 to $10,000 each); two portfolios by Rufino Tamayo, Apocalypse de Saint Jean, deluxe edition on velin de Rives paper, 1959 ($8,000 to $12,000) and Los signos existen, 1974 ($10,000 to $15,000); and works by Miguel Covarrubias, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Francisco Zúñiga.

An impressive selection of modern European prints and drawings features notable works by Pablo Picasso including Les Trois Amies, etching on Japan paper, 1927 ($15,000 to $20,000); Marie-Thérèse en Femme Torero, II, etching, 1934 ($15,000 to $20,000); Homards et Poissons, lithograph, 1949 ($20,000 to $30,000); Nature Morte à la Pastèque, color linoleum cut, 1962 ($30,000 to $50,000); and examples of the faïnce ware he designed, including Woman’s Face, oval dish in blue, green, black and white, 1953 ($20,000 to $30,000).

Picasso after prints of note are Les Saltimbanques, color etching and aquatint, 1922 ($10,000 to $15,000); Maternité, color aquatint and etching, 1930 ($15,000 to $20,000).

There are also many fine examples by Georges Braque, among them Fox, drypoint, 1911 and Feuilles, Couleur Lumière, color lithograph on Arches paper, 1953-54 (each $20,000 to $30,000); and examples by Henri Matisse range from Jeune Femme le Visage enfoui dans les Bras, etching 1929 ($15,000 to $20,000) to Le SIeste, linoleum cut, 1938 ($25,000 to $35,000) to Jazz: Le Cheval, L’Écuyère et le Clown, color pochoir, 1947 ($10,000 to $15,000).

Chagall highlights include Le Grande Corniche, 1967 and L’Age d’Or, 1968, color lithographs on Japan paper ($20,000 to $30,000 and $25,000 to $35,000 respectively); and by Joan Miró are Cahiers d’Art, color pochoir, 1934 and Centenaure pour l’Imprimèrie Mourlot, color lithograph, 1953, which appears on the cover of the auction catalogue ($20,000 to $30,000 each).

There are also Christian Rohlfs’s Zwei Tanzende, woodcut with hand coloring, 1913 ($10,000 to $15,000); Max Beckmann’s Selbstbildnis von vorn, im Hintergrund Hausgiebel, drypoint, 1918 ($20,000 to $30,000); Fernand Léger’s Le Vase, color lithograph, 1927 ($25,000 to $35,000); and M.C. Escher’s Spirals, color woodcut on Japan paper, 1953 ($8,000 to $12,000) and Rippled Surface, color linoleum cut on Japan paper, 1950 ($10,000 to $15,000).

The first session of the auction will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 7. The sale will continue after a lunch break at 2:30 p.m. The works will be on public exhibition on Sat., March 2, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.; and Mon., March 4 to Wed., March 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

An illustrated 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.