The second annual offering of a specializes sale of LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History is set to come across the block at Swann Galleries on August 13. The auction will feature fine art and ephemera from notable figures across genres including artists, writers and activists. Ephemera from the downtown New York scene from the 1960s through the 1990s forms a cornerstone of the sale, which had initially been scheduled for June but was postponed to August as a result of New York City’s PAUSE. A portion of the sale will benefit NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.
Photography features throughout the sale with images of and by prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community. Images of women from the gay liberation and feminist movements by Joan E. Biren (JEB) include Audre Lorde in her home study, Staten Island, NY, RC print, 1981, printed later ($1,000-1,500), and Barbara Love, Ti-Grace Atkinson, and Kate Millett at The Forum on the Future, NYC, RC print, 1978, printed later ($800-1,200). A small group of five intimate silver prints of writer and activist James Baldwin, circa 1965, by John Paignton, are available at $2,000 to $3,000. Fine art photography features Peter Hujar’s silver print portrait of Ethyl Eichelberger, 1981 ($10,000-15,000); a 1971 mixed-media silver print by Robert Mapplethorpe ($10,000-15,000); and Horst P. Horst with Noël Coward, Paris, silver print, 1936 ($5,000-7,500).
Limited previewing (by appointment only) will be available from August 10 through August 12, to be scheduled directly with a specialist in advance and conforming to strict safety guidelines. Swann Galleries staff will prepare condition reports and provide additional photographs of material on request. Advance order bids can be placed with a specialist for the sale or on Swann’s website, and phone bidding will be available. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries App, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers.
The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com and on the Swann Galleries App.
Swann Auction Galleries
104 E 25th St #6
New York, NY 10010
