Old Master Through Modern Prints Sale at Swann on May 2 

New York - Swann Galleries’ sale of Old Master Through Modern Prints, which offers the most comprehensive range of Old Master prints found in North America, as well as the house’s largest offering of Latin American prints and originals to date, comes across the block Thursday, May 2. 

A comprehensive selection of Latin American prints and originals is set to come across the block. Compiled into a separate catalogue, the material includes scarce Rufino Tamayo Mixografía prints: Dos Personajes atacados por Perros, 1983, an ambitious and large-scale print offered at $15,000 to $20,000, and Sandias con Manzana, 1985, is present at $7,000 to $10,000. Also of note is Tamayo’s 1973 portfolio Los Signos Existen, with six colored lithographs ($10,000-15,000). Diego Rivera is represented by a 1949 conte crayon drawing Bailarina Enmascarada en la Carnival Huejozzingo ($15,000-20,000), and his 1922 lithograph El sueño (La noche de los pobres) ($30,000-50,000). Ángel Botello’s expressive landscape Paisaje, a circa 1955-60 oil on board ($12,000-18,000), and Robert Burle Marx’s acylic on cloth Sem Título, 1988 ($25,000-35,000), round out the offering. 

The morning session will feature an array of Old Master works including Rembrandt’s 1645 etching The Omval, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000, and Albrecht Dürer’s engraving The Sea Monster, circa 1500, which is expected to bring $40,000 to $60,000. Iconic engravings from Dürer’s predecessor Martin Schongauer, includes The Tribulations of St. Anthony, circa 1469-73, which leads the sale at $100,000 to $150,000, and Christ Carrying the Cross: the Large Plate, engraving, circa 1480, at $40,000 to $60,000. Virtuoso etchings by Giovanni B. Piranesi and Francisco José de Goya and a scarce, monumental woodcut from the circle of Titian ensure a stand-out selection. 

Nineteenth-century prints on offer include etchings by James A. M. Whistler, The Two Doorways, 1879-80, and Long Venice, 1879-80, each at $20,000 to $30,000. Meules, circa 1892, and Trois Barques sur la Grève, 1892, two color lithographs of haystacks in reddish orange and docked sail boats in blues, yellows and greens, by Claude Monet and George W. Thornley are present at $10,000 to $20,000 apiece. Paul Gaugin’s 1893-93 woodcut Mahna no Varua Ino, which predates the Jacques Beltrand and Pola Gauguin impressions, is expected to bring $10,000 to $15,000. 

Picasso is well represented with a run of prints from the early- and mid-twentieth century. One of the 100 etchings produced for the Vollard Suite, Garçon et Dormeuse à la Chandelle, 1934, comes across the block estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. The etching portrays a tranquil scene of a sleeping woman, Marie-Thérèse, as a young man watches. Additional works by the artist include the 1934 portfolio Lysistrata, with a complete set of six etchings depicting scenes from the Greek comedy ($20,000-30,000); Femme couchée, a 1924 lithograph, of which only eight other impressions have been found at auction in the past 30 years ($10,000-15,000), and L’?treinte II, 1963, a lincoleum cut featuring Picasso’s rinsing process-épreuves rincées-developed in the early 1960s ($12,000-18,000).

Additional Modern masters include Maurits C. Escher’s classic woodcut, Sky and Water I, 1938, which carries an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. Natura morta a grandi segni, 1931, a still life etching by Giorgio Morandi is expected to bring $15,000 to $20,000. Also of note is Salvador Dalí’s color lithograph Cosmic Rays Resuscitating Soft Watches, 1965, at $7,000 to $10,000.

Exhibition opening in New York City April 27. The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at swanngalleries.com and on the Swann Galleries App.

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