NEW YORK, NY.- On Thursday, September 24,
Swann Galleries Prints & Drawings department will offer a two-part sale of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings, featuring works by the Viennese Modern masters Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, as well as 19th-Century prints led by works from James A.M. Whistler and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 20th-Century American and Latin American pieces by Modern European masters like Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger and Henri Matisse.
The top lot of the sale is Egon Schieles Schlafender Mann, 1910. Done in watercolor, pencil and black crayon, the piece is an excellent example of Schieles experimentation with color and line and has not appeared at auction since 1965 (estimate $200,000 to $300,000). The auction also features a pencil drawing of nudes by Schieles mentor, Gustav Klimt, entitled Umarmen Akte, 1908 ($40,000 to $60,000) and work by another significant Viennese Modernist, Oskar Kokoschka, whose Stehender Akt einer alten Frau, 1907 ($4,000 to $6,000), relates stylistically to Klimts line drawings.
Among the 19th-Century works is a run of prints by Gilded Age painter and printmaker James A. M. Whistler, including the nautical images Dordrecht, 1884-86 ($30,000 to $50,000), and Two Ships, 1875 ($15,000 to $20,000). Contrasting the quiet of Whistlers scenes are vibrant works by the celebrated French Post-Impressionist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, including his action-packed color lithographs Le Jockey, 1899 ($30,000 to $50,000) and the dancing May Milton, 1895 ($20,000 to $30,000). Other highlights in this section of the sale include works by Mary Cassatt, Pierre-August Renoir, and a scarce early edition of a color woodcut by Paul Gauguin, Maruru, 1893-94 ($30,000 to $50,000) an evenly-printed, dark impression with a yellow-green tint in the sky.
The 20th-Century prints are headlined by works from American and Latin American artists, including George Bellowss festive lithograph Preliminaries, 1916 ($10,000 to $15,000); Martin Lewiss entrancing drypoint and sand-ground image Shadow Dance, 1930 ($30,000 to $50,000); Stuart Daviss scarce lithograph Theatre on the Beach, 1931 ($20,000 to $30,000); and Benton M. Spruances dynamic lithograph, Riders of the Apocalypse, 1943 ($30,000 to $50,000).
Latin American artists are represented in a run of works from Mexican painter and printmaker Rufino Tamayo, such as the color lithograph Cabeza en Verde, 1973 ($3,000 to $5,000), as well as pieces by Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias, including Covarrubiass 1942 lithograph Rumba ($1,500 to $2,500) and Riveras El Niño del Taco, lithograph, 1932, from the artists brief foray into lithography encouraged by Weyhe Gallery director Carl Zigrosser ($7,000 to $10,000).
The sale will round out in the afternoon with Modern European prints and drawings, including Pablo Picassos 1962 color linoleum cuts Jacqueline au Bandeau de Face (Grand Tête de Femme ($100,000 to $150,000), and Femme assise au Chignon ($40,000 to $60,000). A run of works from Henri Matisse includes his early drypoint self-portrait Henri Matisse gravant, 1900-03 ($30,000 to $50,000), as well as the bright color aquatint Petit Intérieur Bleu, circa 1952 ($30,000 to $50,000). Vibrant works include Marc Chagalls color lithograph Le Cirque, 1967 ($30,000 to $50,000), and Joan Mirós color aquatint and etching Le Permissionaire, 1974 ($40,000 to $60,000).
The auction will be split into two parts on Thursday, September 24, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The auction preview will be open to the public, with an exhibition opening Saturday, September 19 from noon to 5 p.m. and Monday, September 21 through Wednesday, September 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.