African-American Fine Art

The top lot is an early masterpiece of American painting, and one of the most celebrated African-American paintings of the first half of the 20th century: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Malvin Gray Johnson, oil on canvas, 1928-29. It is the artist's best known painting, and also the first painting by Johnson to come to auction (estimate: $200,000 to $250,000). Due to the artist’s untimely death at age 44, his paintings are very scarce. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was the first painting by an African American to receive both public and critical acclaim in the United States when it won the Harmon Foundation prize in 1929. It was recently rediscovered and shown in the artist’s first retrospective at North Carolina Central University Museum in Durham, NC in 2002 and at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2003.

Another scarce work from the first half of the 20th century is Untitled (Standing Woman) by Sargent Johnson, painted terra cotta, circa 1933-35 ($30,000 to $50,000). The piece is one of few known Johnson works from the early 1930s. It was a gift from the artist and has remained in a private collection until now.

Other featured early works include Edward Bannister’s Untitled (Rhode Island Landscape), oil on canvas, circa 1895, which is the largest Bannister oil painting to come to auction and an excellent example of his late painting ($20,000 to $30,000); Richard L. Brown’s An Indian Mound, watercolor, circa 1914, only the second artwork by the painter, who died at 24, to come to auction ($5,000 to $7,000); William Edouard Scott’s Dr. Ulysses Grant Dailey, oil on canvas, circa 1930-35, the portrait of successful Chicago surgeon, writer, and teacher, is the first known portrait by Scott to come to auction ($15,000 to $25,000); and several photographs by James VanDerZee, among them Untitled (Harlem Backyard Banquet), silver print, 1920s ($3,000 to $5,000).

Scarce examples of early modern sculpture include Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller’s Peeping Tom of Coventry, plaster, painted gold, 1899, the first important sculpture and the earliest work by Fuller to come to auction ($10,000 to $15,000); Selma Burke’s Untitled (Head of Asadata Dafora), sandstone, circa 1935-40, a representation of Dafora, a drummer, singer, dancer, composer and choreographer from Sierra Leone ($30,000 to $50,000); and Hayward Oubre’s Kneeling Mother (Mother and Child), cast bronze, 1957, from the estate of the artist ($20,000 to $30,000).

Modern masters are also well represented, with excellent examples in both painting and works on paper. Jacob Lawrence’s Untitled (Two Card Players), gouache on brown composition board, circa 1941-42, is a recently discovered work from the early New Orleans period when the artist made his acclaimed The Legend of John Brown series ($20,000 to $30,000).

There is a double-sided painting by Hughie Lee-Smith, with the dramatic Untitled (Couple on a Rooftop) oil on canvas, circa 1953-57—one of the most recognizable of Lee-Smith’s subjects, created during his most desirable mid-1950s Detroit period—on one side, and an earlier scene on the reverse ($50,000 to $75,000).

From the same era are Norman Lewis’s Midnight Carnaval, watercolor, pen and ink on paper, 1960, in the artist’s most sought-after style ($50,000 to $75,000); and Charles White’s Children's Hour, conte crayon and charcoal on illustration board, 1960, which explores themes of childhood innocence and discovery ($60,000 to $90,000).

Contemporary highlights include the impressive Jackie Sha-La-La (Jackie Cameron) by Barkley L. Hendricks, oil and acrylic on canvas, 1975, artist’s second significant figurative work to come to auction, and a great example of his 1970s life-sized representations of young, hip models and friends ($40,000 to $60,000); and David Hammons’s Untitled (Body Print), pigment, ink and colored pencils on wove paper, 1977, an excellent, colorful example of Hammons’s early, unique body prints ($80,000 to $100,000).

The auction also includes a survey of scarce paintings and works on paper from the WPA era, including works by Allan R. Crite, Roy DeCarava, Allan Freelon and Hughie Lee-Smith, and other striking post-war paintings by artists such as Romare Bearden, Beauford Delaney, Betty Blayton, Haywood “Bill” Rivers and Charles Searles.

The auction will take place on Tuesday, February 23 at 2:30 p.m.

The works of art will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Thursday, February 18 and Friday, February 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, February 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, February 22, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Tuesday, February 23, 10 a.m. to noon.

A full-color illustrated catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, 104 East 25 Street, New York, NY 10010, and can also be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com. Bids can also be submitted by e-mail via the website.

For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Nigel Freeman at (212) 254-4710, extension 33, or via email at nfreeman@swanngalleries.com.