Swann held it’s African American sales last week and it did well totaling $1.24 million with 118 of the 162 works finding buyers for a 73% sell-through rate. The sale had been estimated at between $1.3-1.9m without the auction house premium. So Swann’s $1.24m is a little light.
ArtInfo.com ran the results:
- Barkley Hendricks, Jackie Sha-La-La (Jackie Cameron), sold at $48,000, squarely within its $40,000–60,000 estimate.
- Jacob Lawrence’s circa 1941-42 gouache on board, Untitled (Two Card Players), went for $42,600
- David Hammons print from 1977, Untitled (Body Print), which earned a sporty $114,000, beating its $80,000–100,000 estimate with the addition of the buyer’s premium. […] Hammons also scored big with Untitled (Fly Swatter), which was valued at $66,000 when the hammer dropped. It earned the third-place spot for the evening.
- Malvin Gray Johnson, a member of the Harlem Renaissance, had a striking auction debut, as a collector paid $228,000 for his Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, 1928-29,
Swann’s African American Art Auction Soars (ArtInfo.com)