Swann Auction Galleries – The Subculture Sale
Feb 8
104 E 2 5th Street, NYC
www.swanngalleries.com

NEW YORK CITY —Swann Galleries presents the Subculture Sale. The auction will bring works from the fringe, the avant-garde and the indie for a look at the material culture of Punk, Rock, Psych, Hip Hop, Jazz and more. An interdisciplinary sale, this auction will include posters, records, photographs, fine art, autographs, books and ephemera. Fans of Swann’s similar auctions (LGBTQ+, Focus on Women and African Americana) will enjoy its contents, as will longtime New Yorkers, music aficionados and collectors of the contemporary. The sale is a timed online auction, which opened for bidding on January 23 and will begin closing on February 8 at noon Eastern. Bidding is available on the Swann Galleries App, and via desktop on live.swanngalleries.com. Exhibition hours are noon to 5 pm on Saturday, February 3, and Monday, February 5 through Wednesday, February 7.

Highlights include a group of 12 albums by the Velvet Underground & Nico ($7/10,000), and a signed early pressing and issue of their first album produced by Andy Warhol ($5/7,500). Issues of Cheap Date magazine ($400/600) are offered alongside posters for Dr Dre ($500/750), Sonic Youth ($600/900) and the Velvet Underground alike, while artwork from music videos by New Order ($4/6,000) and Nas ($3/4,000) brings new dimension to the MTV generation. A letter from Patti Smith features drawings and namedrops Robert Mapplethorpe ($1/1,500); Keith Haring roasts Ronald Reagan via little-known Xerox art from 1980 ($10/15,000); an early David Wojnarowicz stencil artwork from 1982 poses a powerful anti-war message ($10/15,000).

The sale also features works by Christopher Wool, Peter Saville, Robert Frank, Jamel Shabazz, Mary Obering, among others.

Nicholas D. Lowry, Swann president, noted of the sale, “Swann is excited to be able to bring this eclectic, unexpected and seldom-encountered selection of material to market. In many ways, we are offering a living history in this auction. Subcultural relics and societal items from within — or not so much longer ago than — our own lifetimes — a timeframe underserved by the auction community. Our thanks to Boo Hooray Gallery, who helped co-curate this collection of ephemeral fragments and inspirational steppingstones.”

For information, 212-254-4710 or www.swanngalleries.com.

Sun Ra in Space Is the Place, 1974. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000. At auction February’ 8.
Upcoming Auctions
FEB 8 The Subculture Sale
FEB 15 Fine Photographs
FEB 29 Vintage Posters
MAR 7 Fine Books & Autographs
MAR 14 19th & 20th Century Art
MAR 21 Printed & Manuscript African Americana
104 E 2 5th Street, NYC • 212 254 4 710 • SWANNGALLERIES.COM