NEW YORK, NY.- Bidders were drawn to an assortment of drawings and other unique works at
Swann Galleries November 18 auction of American Art & Contemporary Art. The sales top lot was a Sketchbook with 52 drawings in pencil, ball-point pen and ink and crayon by Joan Mitchell, circa 1954-55, which brought $144,000*. The book had been inscribed and dedicated, on the occasion of Mitchells 29th birthday, by fellow artists Paul Brach, Mike Goldberg and Miriam Schapiro.
Other unique highlights offered in the Contemporary Art section were Jim Dines Visiting with Charcoal I, charcoal on paper, 1980, one of the artists signature depictions of a bathrobe, this one nearly five feet tall, $24,000; Karel Appels Deux Oiseaux, gouache and crayon on paper, 1958, $22,800; and Paul Jenkinss Phenomena Sufi Veil, watercolor on paper, 1982, $13,200.
Featured contemporary prints included Keith Harings Pop Shop III, set of 4 color screenprints on paper, 1989, which sold for a record price of $19,200; as well as the Josef Albers portfolio Homage to the Square, Soft EdgeHard Edge, with 10 color screenprints, 1965, $14,400; two Willem de Kooning lithographs, Woman with Corset and Long Hair, 1970, and Minnie Mouse, 1971, $9,600 each; David Hockneys The Artist and Model, etching, 1974, $14,400; and Chuck Closes Self Portrait, color lithograph and screenprint, 2007, $13,200.
There were also several screenprints by Andy Warhol, such as Jacqueline Kennedy II, printed in black and metallic purple on paper, 1966, $15,600; Electric Chair, 1971, $11,400; and Paramount, the recognizable movie studio logo, on board, 1985, $19,200.
Notable drawings from the American Art section of the sale were Winslow Homers Spring: The Shepherdess of Houghton Farm, pen and ink on paper, 1906, $20,400; Marsden Hartleys Mountain Landscape, crayon on tracing paper, 1933, $10,200; Hans Hofmanns Untitled, color crayons and black ink on paper, 1943, $11,400; and Andrew Wyeths Study of Hands, pencil on paper mounted on card stock, 1955, $22,800.
American paintings and watercolors included Hayley Levers River Exe, Exmouth, oil on canvas, 1903, $12,000; David Bregas Pears Soap, oil on wood panel, $10,800; Jack Levines Judy, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 1954, $9,600; and Dong Kingmans The Coliseum, New York, watercolor on board, 1956, $9,600.
*All prices include buyers premium.