Paul Cezanne’s “Les baigneurs (Grande Planche),” a color lithograph on cream laid paper, circa 1897, fetched $43,700.

“Relics (Speakeasy Corner),” a 1928 drypoint by Martin Lewis, realized $25,300.

Prints Break the $2 Million Mark for Swann Galleries

NEW YORK CITY – Swann Galleries offered a selection of Old Master through Contemporary prints at auction on November 5.

Todd Weyman, prints and drawings specialist, said, “Despite economic instability, the print market remains strong, as the sale demonstrated. This is [the gallery’s] fifth auction of Old Master through Contemporary prints to break the $2 million mark.”

Featured Fifteenth to Sixteenth Century prints included Albrecht Dürer’s “The Promenade,” engraving, circa 1496-97, which almost doubled its high estimate at $29,900, and his “Virgin and Child with the Monkey,” engraving, circa 1498, which brought double its estimate at $18,400.

Giulio Campagnola’s scarce “The Old Shepherd,” engraving and dotted work, circa 1507, sold for $13,800. Many works by Rembrandt fetched strong prices, such as “View of Amsterdam from the North West,” etching and drypoint, circa 1640, $17,250; “Portrait of a Boy, in Profile,” etching, 1641, $13,800; and “The Golf Player,” etching, 1654, $17,250.

One of the most significant works in the sale was Paul Cézanne’s “Les Baigneurs (grande planche),” color lithograph on cream laid paper, circa 1897, considered to be his most important print, as well as one of the finest color prints of the Nineteenth Century, which realized $43,700.

Other featured Nineteenth Century prints included James A.M. Whistler’s “The Palaces,” etching and drypoint on antique cream laid paper, 1879-80, $18,400; Odilon Redon’s “Jeune Fille,” lithograph on tan chine appliqué, 1887, which brought a record $23,000; and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Le Chapeau Épinglé,” 2me planche, lithograph on cream laid paper, 1898, $19,550.

Highlights among the modern prints were Emil Nolde’s woodcut, “Unterhaltung,” 1917, which sold for a record $29,900; Paul Klee’s “Hoffmanneske Szene,” color lithograph on heavy cream wove paper, 1921, $13,800; Wassily Kandinsky’s “Kleine Welten VII,” color woodcut, 1922, $17,250; and Henri Matisse’s “Nu sur Chaise de Repos sur fond Moucharabien,” lithograph on chine volant, 1922, $14,950.

Among the many Picassos were Scène Bacchique au Minotaur, etching and drypoint, 1933, $16,100; “Sculpteur et Modèle admirant une Tête sculptée,” etching, 1933, $14,950; and “Femme aux Cheveux flous,” color linoleum cut, 1962, $13,800. Marc Chagall’s “Quai de la Tournelle,” color lithograph, 1960, realized $18,400; and Salvador Dali’s “St George and the Dragon,” etching, 1947, signed and dated, $13,800.

Notable American prints included Martin Lewis’s “Relics (Speakeasy Corner),” drypoint, 1928, $25,300; and Howard Cook’s “Times Square Sector,” etching and drypoint, 1930, a record $14,950.

Finally, the featured contemporary work, David Hockney’s “The Blue Guitar,” portfolio with 20 color etchings with aquatint, 1976-77, brought $43,700.