Old Master Through Modern Prints

Swann Auction Galleries Sale #2754: Swann’s premiere print sale will showcase a carefully considered selection of works that reflect the breadth and timelessness of the printmaking practice—from refined impressions by early masters such as Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn, to trailblazing modern artists like Maurits C. Escher and Marc Chagall.

Outstanding offerings include works by Pablo Picasso, including the complete deluxe portfolio of "Lysistrata," an important 1934 work that contains six etchings depicting Aristophanes’ ancient comedy. Examples from his later career include a color linocut from 1962, "Petite Tête de Femme Couronnée," which represents the artist’s late mastery of the medium through bold form and expressive portraiture. Another modern highlight is Escher’s Rind, a 1955 wood engraving and woodcut that explores the artist’s unmistakable sense of spatial invention and psychological intrigue.

Martin Lewis’s "Relics (Speakeasy Corner)," a 1928 drypoint evoking the nocturnal atmosphere of Greenwich Village, stands out among the American highlights. Works by Regionalist masters such as Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton are well represented, including "The Race," Benton’s iconic 1942 lithograph that captures a lone horse racing a steam engine across a barren midwestern prairie.

The sale will also feature old master and nineteenth-century art, including unique and interesting compositions from artists such as Hendrick Goltzius, Francisco Goya, Édouard Manet and Suzanne Valadon, granting opportunities to acquire works of artistic significance and enduring interest.