NEW YORK, NY.- The Thursday, May 2 auction of Modern & Post War Art at
Swann Galleries will feature a strong contingent of surrealist work including several works by American surrealist artists from the collection of Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller. Works from the collection of gallerists Dorothy and Eugene J. Prakapas will also be featured.
A Max Ernst collage Saint Satyre, Priez pour nouz, 1970 ($20,000-30,000), as well as drawings by André Masson ($1,00-1,500), and Francis Picabia ($8,000-12,000) start off the section of surrealist works. The Schiller collection focuses on Social Commentary by American artists. In 1995 an exhibition and accompanying catalog of the collection titled, In the Eye of the Storm: An Art of Conscience 1930 1970: Selections from the Collection of Philip J. & Suzanne Schiller, opened at the Terra Museum Of Art in Chicago then travelled to several other venues. The majority of the Schiller collection was acquired by the Columbus Museum of Art in 2005. Highlights include Eugene Gustavovitch Bermans Hommage à Lorenzo Bernini, oil on canvasboard, 1940 ($4,000-6,000), Richard Koppes Surreal Instraments in Space, gouache on paper ($2,000-3,000), and Robert Ormerod Preussers Anonymous Creature, ink and charcoal on board, 1947 ($2,000-3,000).
Gallerists Dorothy and Eugene J. Prakapas opened their New York Photography gallery in 1976 though their interests extended well beyond the medium. The house is pleased to offer works from their collection by Japanese sculptors, Minoru Niizuma and Tomihisa Handa, and painter Yoshio Sekine as well as works by German artists Walter Dexel and Karl Peter Röhl, and American modernist artists Paul Kelpe and John Sennhauser.
The sale is led by two sculptures, one a work in steel by John Chamberlain from 1954 ($30,000-50,000), and the other Quadriga, bronze, 1959, by Fritz Koenig ($30,000-50,000). Additional works of note include Janice Bialas Untitled, (Interior with Blue Kettle), oil on canvas, 1957 ($8,000-12,000); Universal Orchestration, Series, 1982, a complete series of 10 paintings by Merton D. Simpson ($15,000-25,000); James Daughertys The Sun is but a Morning Star, acrylic on canvas, circa 1965 ($12,000-18,000); and a circa 1945 ink, gouache and collage work by Judith Rothschild ($4,000-6,000).
Exhibition hours are 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, and Monday, April 29, through Wednesday, May 1. Bidding is available through online platforms, absentee, the phone, and live in-person.