NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries opened the fall 2025 season on Thursday, September 18, with an auction of 19th & 20th Century Art. The sale brought $980,503, with 177 of the 223 lots offered finding buyers. Of the sale, Specialist Meagan Gandolfo noted, "We were very pleased with the enthusiastic response for our first auction of the fall season. We saw high prices for a diverse group of American and European artists. Highlights exceeding their estimates include a modernist oil painting by Arthur Dove, an iconic M.C. Escher woodcut and a nude painting by Philip Pearlstein. There was significant interest in a group of works on paper by the Bloomsbury Group, led by a portrait of Duncan Grant by Vanessa Bell—fetching her highest price for a drawing at auction. High prices were also seen for a scarce watercolor of Bermuda by Edward James and a Jan Matulka watercolor of a native American dance."
The sale was led by Arthur Dove’s Spiral Road, oil on canvas, 1940, at $99,060. Further works on canvas included Philip Pearlstein’s Nude Seated on Chair, oil on canvas, 1963-64 ($50,800); Jean Fautrier’s Vase de fleurs, oil on canvas, circa 1929 ($30,480); Luigi Cima's Village Scene with Washerwomen, oil on canvas, circa 1880 ($22,860); and Eric Sloane's Autumn Sundown, oil on masonite, circa 1960. Of special note was Charles Seliger's Jewelscape, acrylic on canvas, 1976, which earned a record for the artist ($7,112).
Artists from the Bloomsbury Group saw great success with Vanessa Bell’s 1931 pencil drawing, Portrait of Duncan Grant, brought $25, 400, a record for a pencil drawing by the artist. Also of note was Henry Lamb’s 1913 pencil drawing, Portrait of Lytton Strachey ($10,160), his pencil drawing, Portrait of Lady Ottoline Morrell ($5,588), and his circa 1931 watercolor Family Group (Boris Anrep and his Family) ($2,286).
Fine prints brought top prices with M.C. Escher's Day & Night, color woodcut, 1935, leading the group at $63,500. Also of note are Martin Lewis's Which Way?, aquatint, 1932 ($27,940); Pablo Picasso's Compotier, Partition, Bouteille et Guitare devant une Fenêtre, color pochoir, circa 1920 ($10,160); Georges Braque's Nature Morte, color aquatint and etching, 1923, which earned a record for the print ($8,890); and Rufino Tamayo's La Pareja, color lithograph, 1989 ($5,842).
