Beauford Delaney captured the early 1940s Greenwich Village jazz club scene in this untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York) work, which realized $629,000 against a $250/350,000 presale estimate.
Review by W.A. Demers
NEW YORK CITY — On October 3, Swann Auction Galleries’ sale of African American art totaled $3,154,557 and posted six auction records. “We are very happy with the robust sales from the fall sale,” said Nigel Freeman, head of fine art and director of African American art at Swann. “With a diverse sale spanning 100 years, we saw auction price records and competitive bidding across a wide range of artists — from Albert Alexander Smith to Suzanne Jackson. Now in its 17th year, our African American art department continues to bring to auction extraordinary examples of works by sought-after artists.”
The top lot was untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York), a newly discovered work by Beauford Delaney (1901-1979), which realized $629,000 against a $250/350,000 presale estimate, with much bidding activity on the phones.
The painting was oil on linen canvas, dated circa 1945-46 and measured 18 by 21½ inches. It was indistinctly signed and dated in oil, lower right recto, and inscribed “181 Greene St” (twice) and “NY” on the stretcher bars, verso. Provenance indicated that the painting had been acquired directly from the artist by Professor Kenneth Lash (1918-1985) and descended in his family. Lash was a poet, essayist, university professor and chair of art and humanities departments at the University of Northern Iowa. Before his service in the US Navy, Lash lived in New York in the early 1940s where he frequented many jazz clubs and after-hours sessions at trumpeter Frankie Newton’s Greenwich Village loft, blocks away from Beauford Delaney’s studio. Lash was part of a support network of friends and patrons who assisted Delaney both before and after his trip to Paris.
Patron of African American art, Bill Russell (1934-2022), who was widely considered one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game, acquired at one time Suzanne Jackson’s “There is Something Between Us.” It reached $281,000 in the sale.
Another patron of African American art was basketball player Bill Russell (1934-2022), who was widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of basketball. From his estate came Suzanne Jackson’s (b 1944) “There is Something Between Us,” which reached $281,000, an auction record for the artist. The 1972 acrylic wash on cotton canvas measured 49 by 42 inches in the original artist frame. The painting was acquired from Ankrum Gallery in Los Angeles by Russell in 1972. Jackson, a painter, poet, costume and scenic designer and dancer, imbues her work with figures and recurring symbols built up through multiple layers of acrylic wash on canvas, “creating ethereal paintings in which any firm distinction between depicted elements is dissolved,” according to her website.
A sculpture highlight was Elizabeth Catlett’s (1915-2012) 2005 “Reclined Figure” in black marble, mounted on a stained-wood base. It had been acquired directly from the artist and kept in two private collections. According to the catalog note, “‘Reclined Figure’ embodied Catlett’s late sculptural work in a beautiful, highly polished black marble.” Catlett stated, “I like to finish sculpture to the maximum beauty attainable from the material from which it is created.”
Alma Thomas’ “Atmosphere (Atmospheric Effect No. 4),” which she did in 1971 in acrylic and watercolor on Arches paper, realized $149,000. The painting, shown in a 1971 solo exhibition “Recent Paintings by Alma W. Thomas, Earth and Space Series, 1961-71,” at Fisk University, was acquired from the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, DC.
Alma Thomas’s 1971 “Atmosphere (Atmospheric Effect No.4),” acrylic and watercolor on Arches paper, realized $149,000. It was shown in a 1971 solo exhibition “Recent Paintings by Alma W. Thomas, Earth and Space Series, 1961-71,” at Fisk University.
Bid to $125,00 was “Earth Mother (Woman and Two Sons),” by Charles Henry Alston (1907-1977). The painting was a striking, Modernist depiction of a Black family, with the abstracted group centered around a maternal figure who represents strength and protection. The oil on linen canvas from 1967, measuring 50 by 40 inches and signed and dated in oil, had provenance to the estate of the artist; Randall Galleries, New York; G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York; and a private collection in Illinois. It also had an impressive exhibition history.
From a California collection came a 1940s figurative painting by Hughie Lee-Smith (1915-1999), an untitled depiction of a resting ballet dancer, which settled at $100,000. Catalog notes stated that the image’s austere space, cool palette and subtle tonal brushwork showed Lee-Smith’s growing sophistication and suggest the stylization and surrealism that characterize his mature work. Lee-Smith involved himself in dance and theater while working at the Playhouse Settlement during the WPA period in Cleveland. Lee-Smith taught art at Karamu House in the late 1930s in return for the full scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (now the Art Institute of Cleveland) that the Gilpin Players awarded him in 1935. Inspired by the Gilpin Players, a black acting troupe, Lee-Smith also co-founded an inter-racial modern dance troupe there.
A historical piece of note was Albert Alexander Smith’s (1896-1940) “My Bunk,” a circa 1930 oil on linen canvas, measuring 21¼ by 25½ inches, that was inscribed “Sketched in Meuse-Argonne near Clermont, Nov. 4, 1918;” the painting earned $87,500, which was also an artist record. Among a trove of artworks by Smith recently discovered in a large steamer trunk, it depicted Smith’s World War I bunk, recalling his military service in France during the war. According to catalog notes, the trunk belonged to his father, Alfred R. Smith, who worked as his son’s agent in New York. In the 1950s, Alfred Smith shipped this trunk to the Reverend Frederick R. Meyers of Detroit, a fellow World War I veteran and friend of Albert Alexander Smith who had become a minister. The undisturbed trunk was recently purchased from a storage facility and unpacked for the first time 70 years later.
Albert Alexander Smith’s “My Bunk,” a circa 1930 oil on linen canvas, measuring 21¼ by 25½ inches, was among a trove of artworks recently discovered in a large steamer trunk. Bid to $87,500, it was inscribed “Sketched in Meuse-Argonne near Clermont, Nov. 4, 1918,” and depicted Smith’s World War I bunk.
The time-polished adage “Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil” was revived in Timothy Washington’s (b 1946-1970) “Silent Majority,” an engraving on aluminum, mounted on a wood panel, measuring 36 by 48 inches, which was bid to $81,250. An artist record was set for the work that exemplifies Washington’s ground-breaking technique in aluminum. Catalog notes recounted how, at the age of 20, Washington, as a BFA student in the latter part of 1967 at the Chounard Art Institute in Los Angeles, pioneered his innovative technique. He first spray painted the aluminum plates with black enamel paint, and then incised the imagery with an engraving tool.
Additional notable lots included the equally groundbreaking figurative Nelson Stevens 1978 portrait of the singer and activist Nina Simone, which brought an artist record. Acquired directly from the artist, “Uhuru–Nina” showcased Stevens’ bold new style and the radical visual language fostered by his association with the AfriCOBRA collective. The 1978 painting, acrylic on linen canvas and measuring 40 by 40 inches, came from a private Springfield, Mass., collection, which had acquired it directly from the artist, thence by descent to a private New Jersey collection. It sold for $62,500.
An artist record was set for Don McIlvaine’s dynamic evocation of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Estimated just $3/5,000, the 1970 oil on canvas mounted to board, measuring 37 by 48 inches and signed and dated “1/20/70,” jumped to $40,000.
John Biggers’ (1924-2001) “King Sarah,” took $47,500, and a run of works by Carrie Mae Weems’ (b 1953) included a print of her 1989, toned-silver-print “High Yella Girl,” which reached $45,000.”
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For additional information, 212-254-4710 or www.swanngalleries.com.
