Prints & Drawings by Dalí, Picasso & Renoir at Swann Galleries

New York—On Tuesday, September 19, Swann Galleries will offer 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings. One of seven auctions the house devotes to prints and drawings annually, this sale is notable for its wealth of original artworks in addition to iconic multiples by great masters from the last 200 years.

A selection of works by the father of surrealism Salvador Dalí is led by the brilliant watercolor Elephant Spatiaux, 1965, with an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000. René Magritte’s Poisson fumé provides comic relief in the form of a flying cigar-fish ($10,000 to $15,000). Additional unique highlights include a pen-and-ink drawing by Paul Klee titled Durch Poseidon, 1940, and Space, 1954, an abstract watercolor by Lyonel Feininger ($25,000 to $35,000 and $20,000 to $30,000, respectively).

Portrait of Ralph Stackpole as a Young Man, 1932, is a pencil portrait by Diego Rivera of his friend, likely drawn from an earlier photograph. It was completed the year after Stackpole helped Rivera secure the commission at the San Francisco Stock Exchange, and is valued between $20,000 and $30,000. Also available are nude sketches by Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and a lively undated oil painting by Jean Dufy of the Place de la Concorde, estimated at $30,000 to $50,000.

Scarce lithographs by Pablo Picasso lead the sale, topped by the dramatic monochrome portrait Françoise sur fond gris, 1950, estimated at $70,000 to $100,000. A fine selection of works by artists of the Barbizon School will be offered, as well as innovative examples of woodcuts by Paul Gauguin, such as Mahna no Varua Ino, 1893-94 ($15,000 to $20,000) and lithography by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Celebrated masters Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Käthe Kollwitz, Fernand Léger and Joan Miró will be represented by prints, drawings and sculptures. A color woodcut by Maurits C. Escher in his iconic style, Day and Night, 1935, is expected to sell between $20,000 and $30,000.

James A. M. Whistler leads an illustrious array of works from the American Etching Revival, with Nocturne, 1878, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000. Regionalist artists are well-represented with important works by Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, providing a pastoral contrast to gritty urban scenes by protagonists of the Ashcan School, George Bellows and John Sloan. A run of prints by Martin Lewis includes his most beloved views, such as Rain on Murray Hill, 1928, as well as scarce works like Which Way?, 1932 ($15,000 to $20,000 and $30,000 to $50,000, respectively). Additional highlights by the visionary include Bedford Street Gang, 1935, which has been seen at auction only three times in the last 30 years ($20,000 to $30,000).

An illustrated auction catalogue is available for $40. For further information and to make arrangements to bid, visit www.swanngalleries.com.

Image: Lot 338: Pablo Picasso, Françoise sur fond gris, lithograph, 1950. Estimate $70,000 to $100,000.