NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries’ Spring offering of African American Art on April 2 brought a solid $2.6M, with seven auction records being set. Of the sale, Nigel Freeman, department director, noted, "We were thrilled to see a very active audience of bidders engaged throughout this large auction. There was excitement across modern, post-war and contemporary artists with strong results and high levels of participation."
Richard Mayhew's Scarlet Journey, oil on canvas, 2006, led the sale. Scarlet Journey is a high-toned composition and a stunning example of Mayhew's later landscapes, pushing the limits of the genre to the edge of abstraction with colorful, atmospheric swaths of color. The work garnered back-and-forth bidding across several phones and online bidders, with the hammer dropping on the painting at $249,000.
Geoffrey Holder's Carmen, circa 1960, generated excitement, bringing $120,650 against a $15,000 to $25,000 estimate and setting a record for the artist. Actress, choreographer, and dancer Carmen de Lavallade was married to Geoffrey Holder until his death in 2014. The portrait is emblematic of the couple's personal and professional relationship. Also, by Holder was The Family, oil on board, 1958, which brought $35,560, the second highest price for Holder.
Additional artist records included Willie Birch with The Future Home, Cross Road Baptist Church, gouache on paper in an artist-made frame, 1986, at $25,400, besting the record previously set by Swann in 2025; Richard Yarde's Savory Series: Heel and Toe, watercolor on paper, 1995, at $19,050; Adebunmi Gbadebo's 2023 mixed-media work-on-paper earned a record at $13,970; Melvin Clark's Power Trio, oil on canvas, 1996, at $12,700; and Black Joe Jackson's Dog and Waiting for the Bus, both enamel on board, circa 1980, at $12,700. Calvin B. Jones made his auction debut with I Always Dress Up When I Go Out To Dance, acrylic and collage on canvas, 1988, at $10,795.
The selection of 24 works from the Estate of Dr. J. Eugene Grigsby Jr. garnered $170,942, with Hale Woodruff's Desert Rocks, oil on board, circa 1949, leading the offering at $120,650. Of the relationship between Dr. Grigsby and Woodruff, Freeman remarked, “Woodruff was an important mentor and friend to Dr. Grigsby, who was an undergraduate student of Woodruff's at Morehouse College in the early 1940s and then a graduate student of his at New York University in the 1960s.” Also of note from the estate were prints by Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett and John Biggers.
Additional highlights included Charles White's Woman in Blue (Woman with Folded Arms), oil on canvas, 1956-66, which brought $114,300; Al Loving's July 15, 1981 (Wild Goose Lake Series), acrylic on cotton canvas, 1981, at $88,900; Beauford Delaney's Ibiza, watercolor on paper, 1965, at $69,850; Romare Bearden's Jazz Men, collage of papers, acrylic and pencil on board, 1971, at $63,500; and Hughie Lee-Smith's Untitled, oil on board, 1953, at $63,500.
Sculpture and mixed media works of note included Elizabeth Catlett's Olmec Bather (Olmec Bather #1), cast bronze with green patina, 1966, sold for $88,900; Simone Leigh's Untitled, glazed terra cotta stoneware cowrie shell, 2012, at $69,850; Glenn Ligon's Skin Tight (Muhammad Ali Text), screenprint on canvas punching bag, 1995, at $48,260; and David Hammons's African American Flag, printed fabric on a painted wooden pole, 2003, at $38,100.
