Contemporary Art on tap at Swann Galleries June 25

Contemporary Art

Roy Lichtenstein, ‘Reverie,’ color screen print, 1965. Estimate $100,000-$150,000. Swann Galleries image

NEW YORK – Swann Galleries will offer a sale of Contemporary Art on Thursday, June 25, with a standout selection of paintings and works on paper from notable Abstract Expressionists, Pop Artists, street artists of the 1980s, alongside contemporary multiples. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

Leading the sale is Roy Lichtenstein’s celebrated color-screenprint Reverie, 1965—one of the artist’s first pop prints, expected to sell for $100,000 to $150,000. Additional pop art features by Robert Indiana’s The American Dream, a 1997 portfolio with complete text and 30 color screen prints ($10,000-$15,000); James Rosenquist’s Horse Blinders (East), color lithograph and screen print with pressure-sensitive bright silver foil, 1972 ($4,000-$6,000); and one Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s soup can color screen prints, Consommé (Beef), 1968 ($20,000-$30,000).

A stellar group of works by Abstract Expressionist artists of the New York school includes a run of prints and drawings by Louise Nevelson from the ex-collection of Albert Argentieri, who often photographed Nevelson’s works. Highlights from the offering include Circus Wagon, aquatint and etching, circa 1955 ($3,000-$5,000) and Two Seated Women, pen and ink, 1930s ($4,000-$6,000). Further notable works feature Willem de Kooning’s 1980 color lithograph Figures in Landscape #6 ($12,000-$18,000); Helen Frankenthaler’s vibrant 2005 color screen print Southern Exposure ($8,000-$12,000); Joan Mitchell’s 1972 color aquatint Sunflower VI ($4,000-$6,000); Jackson Pollock’s bronze sculpture of a head, modeled circa 1930-33, cast in 1963 ($15,000-$20,000); and Robert Motherwell’s 1989 color lithograph Wave ($15,000-$20,000).

Contemporary Art

Helen Frankenthaler, ‘Southern Exposure,’ color screen print, 2005. Estimate $8,000-$12,000. Swann Galleries image

Further notable works in abstraction include Richard Diebenkorn’s 1986 color aquatint Folsom Street Variation III (Primaries) ($25,000-$35,000); Sam Gilliam’s 1990 color screenprint For Xavier ($4,000-$6,000); and Julie Mehretu’s 2013 color lithograph Untitled (Pulse) ($4,000-$6,000).

Contemporary Art

Richard Diebenkorn, ‘Folsom Street Variation III (Primaries),’ color aquatint and drypoint on Rives BFK, 1986. Estimate: $25,000-$35,000. Swann Galleries image

Works from the British school of artists include Barbara Hepworth’s Clinic #3, a 1947 pencil on cardstock sketch of a doctor and patient scene ($70,000-$100,000); Lucian Freud’s Head and Shoulders, etching, 1982 ($10,000-$15,000); David Hockney’s 2019 eight-color inkjet print from an iPad drawing Spring (No. 778, 17th April, 2011-2019) of a view looking outside a window ($8,000-$12,000); and Damien Hirst’s Manganese Chloride, color woodcut, 2011 ($2,000-$3,000).

Contemporary Art

Barbara Hepworth, ‘Clinic #3,’ pencil on cardstock, 1947. Estimate $70,000 to $100,000. Swann Galleries image

Paintings by Richard Hambleton make up some of the top lots in the sale. Known for painting hundreds of the figure silhouettes around New York in the 1980s, he later transformed this motif to canvas and works on paper, broadening his reach. Acrylic on canvas works include Rodeo, 2003 ($50,000-$80,000) and Shadow Head, 2007 ($20,000-$30,000), and Shadowman, a 1994 acrylic on paper ($10,000-$15,000) also features.

Contemporary Art

Richard Hambleton, ‘Rodeo,’ acrylic on canvas, 2003. Estimate: $50,000-$80,000. Swann Galleries image

Other works by postwar and contemporary icons include Richard Anuszkiewicz’s Masked Triad, oil on three-dimensional wood construction, 1993 ($30,000-$50,000); George Condo’s Jazz Edge, acrylic on canvas, 1999 ($30,000-$50,000); and Jeff Koons’s Balloon Monkey (Blue), porcelain with chromatic coating, 2017 ($12,000-$18,000).

While current restrictions will not allow for in-person examination of the material, Swann Galleries staff will prepare condition reports and provide additional photographs of material on request. Additional highlights can be found here.

For details contact Swann Galleries specialist Todd Weyman at tweyman@swanngalleries.com or 212-254-4710 ext. 32.

View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/