Swann Auction Galleries Announces Inaugural Pride Sale to be Held in June
New York - On Thursday, June 20, Swann Auction Galleries will hold their first Pride Sale, an exploration and celebration of the art, influence, history, and experience of the LGBTQ+ community. In the week following, the largest LGBTQ+ pride celebration his history will happen in New York City, with both WorldPride (for the first time in the United States) and events marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
The auction will be a landmark event, featuring archives, literature, autographs, art and photography, including works James Baldwin, Tom of Finland, Gertrude Stein, Alice Walker, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many more.
“Swann is thrilled to be hosting its inaugural Pride Sale auction and proud to continue supporting the community through a fundraising effort alongside the auction,” says President of Swann Auction Galleries, Nicholas D. Lowry. “We see this as an important and unique event among the many happening this June, recognizing the historical, literary and artistic achievements of LGBTQ+ writers, artists and activists,” Lowry continued. “This auction will celebrate the community and give collectors, connoisseurs and the curious an opportunity to observe and bid on a range of material from the last two centuries, with manuscripts, autographs, literature, art, photography, posters and more.”
Among the many items up for auction included are: an autograph letter signed by Harvey Milk as Acting mayor of San Francisco, March 7, 1978 (Estimate: $4,000-6,000); the iconic 1987 poster, Silence = Death, published by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) ($800-$1,200); Peter Hujar’s silver-print portrait, David Wojnarowicz: Manhattan-Night (III), 1985 ($15,000-25,000); and Sisterhood Feels Good, 1971, a cheeky poster by Donna Gottschalk published by Times Change Press ($400-600). Literary highlights feature a first edition of James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On The Mountain, 1953, ($800-1,200); a signed extra-limited first edition of The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, 1899, by Oscar Wilde ($40,000-60,000); and a remembrance copy of Walt Whitman’s Memoranda During the War, 1875-76, inscribed by the author, “with his love,” to Pete Doyle ($50,000-75,000).
