Rivera and Stubbs Set Records at Swann’s Prints Sale
Lot 132: George Stubbs, Two Tygers (or A Tiger and a Sleeping Leopard), etching, 1788. Sold for $45,000, a record for the subject.
New York – With seven records and a standout selection of Latin American art, Swann Galleries’ sale of Old Master Through Modern Prints on Thursday, May 2 offered works by the greatest innovators in the field.
The house’s largest-ever offering of Latin American prints and originals proved to be popular. Of the selection Todd Weyman, Vice President and Director of Prints & Drawings, remarked “While bidding on our multiple platforms was spirited as usual in this auction, with many international buyers, it was especially heightened during our first-ever focused, standalone catalogue of Latin American Art, where we set a record for any lithograph by Diego Rivera, and records for color Mixografia prints by Rufino Tamayo.”
Highlights included two 1932 lithographs by Diego Rivera: Zapata, which brought $45,000, a record for any print by the artist, and El Sueño (La Noche de los Pobres), which earned $27,500. Mixografia prints by Rufino Tamayo found success with Dos Personajes atacados por Perros, 1983, selling for $23,400, and a record was set for Sandias con Manzana, 1985, at $22,100.
A run of works by Pablo Picasso included the 1934 aquatint Garçon et Dormeuse à la Chandelle ($35,000), the 1934 portfolio, Lysistrata, with a complete set of six etchings ($31,200), Tête de Femme, lithograph, 1954 ($21,250, a record for the print), and Sueño y Mentira de Franco, 1937, a pair of etchings representing the artist’s earliest political work ($18,750).
Records for Joan Miró color aquatints included Danseuse Créole, 1978, at $35,000 and L’Etranglé, 1974, at $27,500. The 1947 color pochoir print L’Enterrement de Pierrot by Henri Matisse set a record at $27,500, and Escher’s classic woodcut, Sky and Water I, 1938 earned $31,200.
The top lot in the sale was George Stubbs’ Two Tygers (or A Tiger and a Sleeping Leopard), etching, 1788, which garnered a record for the subject at $45,000. Also of note was James A. M. Whistler’s etching Long Venice, 1879-80, which brought $20,000.
The next auction from Swann Galleries’ Prints & Drawings department will be held in September 2019. The house is currently accepting quality consignments. Visit swanngalleries.com for information on selling at Swann.
