This untitled oil on canvas by Norman Lewis, circa 1958, set a new auction record for the artist when it attained $965,000.

NEW YORK CITY — Swann Galleries’ African-American Fine Art auction on December 15 totaled $3.1 million for just 150 lots and saw several auction record prices.

Barkley L. Hendricks’ “Tuff Tony,” a 1978 oil and acrylic on canvas, tied the artist’s previous auction record at $365,000.

 
The top lot of the sale — and hitting a new auction record price for the artist— was an untitled oil on canvas by Norman Lewis, circa 1958, at $965,000. Tying his previous auction record price of $365,000 was Barkley L. Hendricks’ “Tuff Tony,” an oil and acrylic on canvas from 1978 while a 1944 tempera on paper by noted sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, “Friends,” set an auction record for a non-sculpture work by the artist at $81,250. This was reportedly the first Catlett painting to cross an auction block.

Nigel Freeman, Director of Swann Galleries’ African-American Fine-Art department, said, “This sale was our department’s best auction to date ­ –with our highest level of sales and a new record price at auction for Norman Lewis with the sale of his 1958 Untitled oil on canvas for $965,000. It smashed our previous record and demonstrates the rising stature and value of this important American artist.”

For more information, www.swanngalleries.com.