Auction Results: New Records Set for Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Henry Taylor, and Alma Thomas, Compelling Works by El Anatsui Among Many Others by Black Artists Sold Too
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES and in London, auctions of post-war, modern and contemporary art were held at the end of February and early March. Records were set in Los Angeles, where an Alma Thomas painting was offered, and London where Henry Taylor and Njideka Akunyili Crosby achieved new benchmarks. Auction values for Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based...
Njideka Akunyili Crosby Painting Sells for Record $3.1 Million at Christie’s, Nearly Three Times Her Previous High Mark
Lot 3: NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, “The Beautyful Ones,” 2012 (acrylic, pastel, colour pencil and Xerox transfer on paper). | Estimate $488,800-$733,200. Sold for $3,075,774 (including fees). RECORD ONLY THREE WORKS by Njideka Akunyili Crosby have come to auction and they have all been record breakers. In the span of six months, sales for the...
Auction Record: Alma Thomas’s 1969 Vision of ‘Spring Flowers’ Yields More Than $300K
PAINTED NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, Alma Thomas‘s ode to “Spring Flowers in Washington D.C.” set an artist record yesterday, topping more than $300,000 at Los Angeles Modern Auctions. Grounded in pink, the mesmerizing square canvas is a rhythmic composition of pattern and color. Nearly four hours after the Modern Art & Design Auction started...
Backstory: Half a Century Ago, a California College Student Visited Alma Thomas in Washington and Bought a Major Painting
ALMA THOMAS, “Spring Flowers in Washington D.C. (1969) is being offered at LA Modern Auctions on March 5. IN A HANDWRITTEN LETTER, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) thanked an aspiring young African American physician for sending his final payment to purchase one of her paintings. The California college student visited Thomas’s studio in 1969 and decided...
Body Prints by David Hammons Headline New York Auctions at Christie’s and Swann
A post shared by CHRISTIE'S (@christiesinc) on Feb 26, 2017 at 11:46am PST SITUATED BETWEEN “Love in the Night,” by Yayoi Kusama and John Baldessari’s “Exulting Figure (With Coins) and Witness,” a masterful body print by David Hammons is on display at Christie’s New York at Rockefeller Center. Depicting a lone figure executed...
For Netherlands-based Sam Middleton, Posthumous New York Exhibition is a Homecoming of Sorts
SAM MIDDLETON, “Jazz is Free As a Bird,” 1972 (mixed media oil and collage on board). | Courtesy GP Contemporary LAST FALL, LEAFING THROUGH the catalog for the Oct. 6, 2016, African-American Fine Art sale at Swann Auction Galleries, an abstract painting by Sam Middleton (1927-2015) stood out. Titled “Jazz Is Free As A...
How Much is That Painting? Top 25 Auction Lots by African American Artists, 2014-2016
Julie Mehretu, “Looking Back to a Bright New Future” (2003). EARLY NEXT MONTH, major auction houses in New York and London are holding post-war and contemporary art sales. In anticipation of the first significant offerings of the year, Culture Type is assessing the state of art by Black artists. In recent years, a cluster...
Market Interest: With Intimate Portrait, Njideka Akunyili Crosby Achieves Auction Record for Second Time in Two Months
“Drown” by Njideka Akunyili Crosby sold for more than $1 million at Sotheby’s New York on Nov. 17, 2016. | via Sotheby’s MANY ARTISTS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to make clear that the issues raised in their work serve to start a conversation rather than reflect their own opinion and the figures they...
At Swann African American Art Auction, Abstract Paintings by Norman Lewis, Sam Gilliam, and Wadsworth Jarrell Top Sales
WADSWORTH JARRELL’s 1973 “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage)” achieved an artist’s record at Swann’s Oct. 6 sale of African American art. WHEN THE HAMMER CAME DOWN, a brief round of applause followed the sale of Wadsworth Jarrell‘s “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage).” The vibrant mixed-media painting sold for $78,000 ($97,500 including fees), more than...
At Swann Auction, Records Set for 6 Black Artists Including Frank Bowling, Palmer Hayden, and Felrath Hines
SIX BLACK ARTISTS made news recently when their work set sales records at Swann Auction Galleries. Paintings by Frank Bowling, Allan Freelon, Palmer Hayden, Felrath Hines, Wadsworth Jerrell, and Robert Neal, sold for record prices at Swann’s April 7 sale of African American fine art. The artists, both modern and contemporary, have had notable and...
At Christie’s Auction, Henry Taylor Painting of Historic Track Star Sets Record for Artist
CAPTURING HISTORIC TRACK STAR Alice Coachman in midair, Henry Taylor‘s painting of the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal sold for $149,000 (including fees) yesterday at Christie’s in New York. The price was twice the high estimate and a record at auction for a work by the Los Angeles-based artist, according...
‘Plunge’ by Kerry James Marshall Sells for $2.1 Million at Christie’s, a New Artist Record
KERRY JAMES MARSHALL, “Plunge,” 1992 (acrylic and paper collage on canvas). THE RECORD PRICE for paintings by Kerry James Marshall doubled last night at Christie’s New York. “Plunge” (1992), a large-scale painting by the Chicago artist sold for more than $2.1 million (including fees), a new auction record for the artist, according to Christie’s...
Yale’s Beinecke Library Buys $100,000 Map of Prohibition-Era Harlem
IN 1932, IF YOU WERE LOOKING for an uptown night club or speakeasy that was open all night, an illustrated map by E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) would have been a valuable resource. Today, it is a valuable treasure. The original artwork for the map sold for $100,000 (including fees) at the Printed and Manuscript African...
Sculptor Inge Hardison, Who Paid Tribute to African American Legends, Has Died
New York sculptor Inge Hardison died March 23, 2016, at age 102. | Video by D Scanlon Video A TRUE RENAISSANCE WOMAN, sculptor Inge Hardison (1914-2016) was also a photographer, poet and actress. The New York Daily News published an article announcing her death today, reporting that she died on March 23 “after a...
Weschler’s African American Art Sale Features 63 Elizabeth Catlett Prints From Private Collection
THERE IS A ROOM FULL of Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) prints on view at Weschler’s Auctioneers and Appraisers. The Washington, D.C., auction house is exhibiting the works in advance of its African American art sale on Feb. 26. The majority of the lots up for bid are from the collection of Rev. Douglas E. Moore...
How Much is that Painting? 10 Black Artists Whose Work Garners Top Dollar at Auction
THE 2016 AUCTION SEASON is gearing up in early February when the major houses are holding their first modern and contemporary art sales of the year in London. Although art by African American and African diasporic artists represents a nominal share of the lots offered by Sotheby’s, Phillips, and Christie’s (if they are included at...
Record Breaker: Norman Lewis Painting Sells for Nearly $1 Million at Swann Auction
Lot 49: NORMAN LEWIS (1909 – 1979), “Untitled,” circa 1958 (oil on linen canvas). | Estimate $250,000-$350,000. Sold on Dec. 15, 2015 for $965,000 fees included (Hammer Price $800,000) THE MOMENTUM SURROUNDING NORMAN LEWIS (1909-1979) continued earlier this week when a large-scale abstract painting by the artist (shown above) garnered nearly $1 million at Swann...
Dec. 15: Next Swann African American Art Auction Features Diverse Slate of Significant Modern and Contemporary Works
SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES has released the catalog for its fall African American Fine Art sale on Dec. 15 in New York. The selection, which it describes as including its “strongest offerings to date,” features a number of Norman Lewis paintings, several works by Hughie Lee-Smith, Lois Mailou Jones, Beauford Delaney, and Charles White, along with...
Overdue: Recognition of Sam Gilliam’s Work Continues to Gain Momentum with Auction Record at Christie’s
FEATURED AMONG HIS CONTEMPORARIES, Sam Gilliam experienced a career milestone on Nov. 11. When his work “Empty,” a riot of color painted in 1972 (shown above), came up for auction, it not only exceeded expectations, it sold for more than 10 times the high estimate. Lot No. 228 at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art...
Record Breakers: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Mark Bradford and Faith Ringgold Reach New Auction Highs
THE THREE MAJOR AUCTION HOUSES—Christie’s, Sothebys and Phillips—held contemporary art sales during Frieze London and the events yielded a number of artist records, including career high values for Mark Bradford and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Known for her deft portrayals of compelling figures, Yiadom-Boakye far exceeded pre-sale expectations at Christie’s London on Oct. 16. “Knave” (above),...
