Prints by Rembrandt, Durer & Chagall Led Swann Galleries’ April 29 Auction
New York—Swann Galleries’ April 29 auction of Old Master Through Modern Prints saw robust results, with several new auction records set and strong prices for works by Rembrandt van Rijn and Albrecht Dürer, reflecting enduring interest in prints by the Old Masters.
The sale’s top lot was a brilliant, richly inked impression of Rembrandt van Rijn’s Christ Healing the Sick (The Hundred Guilder Print), etching, engraving and drypoint, with abundant burr, circa 1643-49, which brought $81,250*.
Additional top lots by Rembrandt were Ephraim Bonus, Jewish Physician, etching and drypoint, 1647, which is not often seen at auction, $78,125; Beggar Seated on a Bank, etching and drypoint, 1630, $37,500 and Landscape with a Milkman, etching and drypoint, circa 1650, $35,000.
Other Old Master prints of note included two that set new auction records: Patience, engraving after Pieter Bruegel, 1557, at $42,500 and Hans Baldung Grien’s Group of Seven Wild Horses, woodcut, 1534, at $23,750; while Albrecht Dürer’s St. Anthony Reading, engraving, 1519, brought $55,000.
A complete set of Marc Chagall’s Bible portfolio, with 105 etchings, 1931-39, was the sale’s highest priced Modern work at $76,800.
Record-setting Modern prints included James D. Smillie (after Albert Bierstadt), The Rocky Mountains (Lander’s Peak), set of 12 engravings, progressive proofs, 1865-66, $27,500; Oskar Kokoschka’s Die Träumenden Knaben, volume with complete text and eight color lithographs, 1906-08, $32,500; Giorgio Morandi’s Paesaggio di Grizzana, etching, 1932, $22,500; Ben Shahn’s Seward Park (New York), color lithograph, 1936, $30,000 and Maurits C. Escher’s Swans, wood engraving, 1956, $32,500.
Another etching by Morandi, Natura Morta con Tazzina e Caraffa, 1929, achieved $42,500.
Additional 20th-century highlights were Henri Matisse’s Odalisque sur la Terrasse, color aquatint, 1922-23, $20,000; Martin Lewis’s Shadow Dance, drypoint, 1930, $37,500; Raphael Soyer’s The Mission, lithograph, 1933, $20,000; Escher’s Puddle, color woodcut, 1952, $20,000 and Bernard Buffet’s Mon Cirque, portfolio with 44 color lithographs and an additional suite of 44 pencil-signed and numbered lithographs, 1968, $32,500.
For complete results, an illustrated catalogue with prices realized (on request) is available from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to propose consignments to Swann’s upcoming auctions of Works of Art on paper, 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: Pieter Bruegel (after), Patience, engraving, 1557. Sold for a record $42,500 (including buyer's premium).
Second image: Giorgio Morandi, Natura Morta con Tazzina e Caraffa, etching, 1929. Sold for $42,500 (including buyer's premium).
