NEW YORK, NY.- The Thursday, August 17 LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History auction at Swann Galleries is a testament to the growing interest in the newly defined area of collecting. In keeping with previous years, the material represents a broad and exciting swath of nineteenth and twentieth-century political, social, and sexual culture.

Fine art leads the sale with Hugh Steers’ moving 1989 oil-on-canvas In the Paper, at $40,000 to $60,000. Also by Steers are two 1988 oil-on-paper works: Pink Skirt and Red Flower ($5,000-8,000, each).

A selection of works by Keith Haring includes Silence = Death, color screenprint, 1989 ($30,000-40,000), and Figure with Cape, felt-tip pen and ink, 1989 ($20,000-30,000), as well as a run of posters related to the gay rights movement and the fight against AIDS. Original works of art by Tom of Finland and artists associated with or influenced by him feature throughout the auction. Highlights include preparatory drawings by Finland ($8,000-12,000); original works by Sadao Hasegawa with Gon Gu Edo II (Joyfilly Seeking the Impure Lande II), pencil, acrylic and gouache on paper, 1981, and a 1970s acrylic-on-canvas work ($12,000-18,000, apiece); and drawings and photography by Jim French, notably Sailors, pencil on paper, 1968 ($6,000-9,000), and John Pruitt, Studio, silver print, 1984 ($2,000-3,000). The sale will also offer a rare, original illustration by Rex, Leather Boy, pen, ink and collage, circa 1970s ($4,000-6,000).

Photographs, an enduring favorite for the auction, are well represented by highly regarded artists such as David Wojnarowicz, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Peter Hujar. Works of note include Wojnarowicz’s Untitled (Buffaloes), platinum print, 1988, printed 1994 ($12,000-18,000); Arbus’s Two men dancing at a drag ball, NYC, silver print, 1970, printed 1972 ($10,000-15,000); a collection of five 1967 portraits of the Beat Generation poet Kirby Congdon by Hujar ($7,000-10,000); and Mapplethorpe’s Roger Koch, silver print, 1983 ($5,000-7,500). Color images include a suite of five Cibachrome photographs from Jimmy Desana’s Suburban series, 1979-82, printed 1982 ($6,000-9,000), and Richard Lohr’s Deck of Cards / MAC [Cosmetics], a group of 54 oversize C-Prints, 2003 ($6,000-9,000).




Standouts among imagery celebrating and documenting the lesbian and sapphic community include a run of images by JEB (Joan E. Biren) anchored by her silver print of Barbara Smith and Beverly Smith, Roxbury Massachusetts, 1978 ($2,000-3,000); and pictures made by Shelby Sharie Cohen with Hot and Sexy at Amelia’s (featuring Susie Bright, Rainbow, and Cerage), digital print, 1988, printed later ($1,500-2,500). Susie Bright contributed to the founding of On Our Backs, the first women-run erotic magazine and the first magazine to feature lesbian erotica for a lesbian audience in the United States.

Vernacular images include an archive of approximately 40 sets of photographs from Colt and Target studios showcasing the male physique from the 1970s ($8,000-12,000); a suite of four real photo postcards of the iconic figure François “Féral” Benga, circa 1930 ($3,000-4,500); a small group of 11 photographs documenting early Pride Marches in New York City, including the first ever in 1970 ($800-1,200); and a selection of 18 publicity photographs from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975 ($700-1,000).

Ephemera on offer includes a range of material spanning decades. Items include campaign material from Harvey Milk, including a flyer from his only campaign for state office ($400-600); an offset lithograph poster celebrating the 10th anniversary of Mothertongue, a feminist and lesbian writing and performing collective founded in 1976 ($300-400); a long run of Abercrombie & Fitch’s A & F Quarterly, as well as several catalogs (together, $600-900); and a wide range of material dating from the early 1900s to the modern era celebrating drag culture and promoting drag clubs, queens and performances.

On offer will be scarce material from the early years of the gay liberation movement in the United States and the AIDs activism era of the 1980s. Pinback button and set of “Vote Gay” fliers in four languages by Gay Activists Alliance, circa 1970 ($1,200-1,800); a 1973 poster by Delia Davis, Women for Freedom…Stars & Dykes Forever; A Manhattan Gay Scene Guide from 1970 ($700-1,000), as well as material and booklets from the Mattachine Society, including a long run of the Mattachine Review ($2,500-3,500); material from ACT UP and other activist groups also feature.

Exhibition hours are August 12 through August 16 from 12 p.m to 5 p.m. Bidding is available through online platforms, absentee, the phone, and live in-person. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries App, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers. The complete catalogue and bidding information will be available at www.swanngalleries.com and the Swann Galleries App a month prior to the sale.