Auction Record for George Bellows Print at Swann Galleries
New York—Swann Galleries’ May 1 auction of Old Master through Modern Prints saw strong prices for etchings by Rembrandt, prints by Matisse and Picasso, and set a new print record for George Bellows at $168,000*.
Todd Weyman, Swann Galleries Vice President and Director of Prints & Drawings, said, “We are very pleased to set a new auction record for George Bellows’s classic boxing scene, A Stag at Sharkey’s. This is the second world record for a Bellows fight scene recently at Swann, as we sold Dempsey and Firpo for $108,000 in April 2012, and it is also the top price for any print by Bellows at auction.”
Other featured American prints were Edward Hopper’s dystopian Night Shadows, etching, 1921, $38,400; Martin Lewis’s luminous view of three young women strolling at Two A.M., drypoint, 1932, $21,600; and Grant Wood’s male nude Sultry Night, lithograph, 1939, $18,000.
Among the many excellent examples of Rembrandt’s prints were works on religious subjects, such as Christ Healing the Sick (The Hundred Guilder Print), etching, engraving and drypoint, circa 1643-49, $90,000; Christ Before Pilate: Large Plate, etching, engraving and drypoint, 1635-36, $48,000; and Christ Preaching (La Petite Tombe), etching and drypoint, circa 1652, $18,000; as well as secular images including Landscape with a Cottage and a Large Tree, etching, 1641, $57,600; Self Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, etching and drypoint, 1639, $45,600; and The Small Lion Hunt, etching, circa 1629, $24,000.
Additional Old Master highlights were Albrecht Dürer’s The Prodigal Son, engraving, circa 1496, $14,400 and Hercules, or the Effects of Jealousy, engraving, 1498, $10,800; a chiaroscuro woodcut by Ugo da Carpi after Parmigianino, Diogenes, circa 1525, $12,000 and Hendrick Goltzius’s The Adoration of the Shepherds, engraving, circa 1598-1600, $11,400.
Among the Modern European prints were two record-setting works by Pablo Picasso, L’Atelier du Vieux Peintre, color lithograph, 1954, at $24,000 and Faune aux Branchages, lithograph, 1948, at $20,400; while other featured pieces by the artist included Femme couchée et Homme à la Guitarre, color linoleum cut, 1959, $26,400; and the after print Tête de Femme au Chapeau, color lithograph, 1956, $26,400.
Desirable works by Henri Matisse in a range of media included Nu, ?tude de torsion du corps, lithograph, 1926, $33,600; Bédouine au grand voile, aquatint, 1947, $25,200; and Jazz: Le Cheval, L’?cuyère et le Clown, color pochoir, 1947, $24,000.
From the 19th century were James A.M. Whistler’s The Rialto, etching and drypoint, 1879-80, $12,000; James Jacques Tissot’s Promenade dans la Neige, etching and drypoint, 1880, $6,000; and James Ensor’s Le Cortège Infernal, etching, 1886, $10,200.
For complete results, illustrated catalogues with prices realized on request are available from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or may be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to propose consignments to Swann’s upcoming auctions of Prints & Drawings, please contact Todd Weyman at (212) 254-4710, extension 32, or via e-mail at tweyman@swanngalleries.com.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
First image: George Bellows, A Stag at Sharkey's, lithograph, 1917, a record $168,000.
Second image: Christ Healing the Sick (The Hundred Guilder Print), etching, engraving and drypoint, circa 1643-49, $90,000.
