BROWSING EBAY, LOTS FEATURING Hale Woodruff, Alma Thomas, Jacob Lawrence and Kara Walker appear. Better known for selling collectibles, resale designer clothing and used books and magazines, eBay is launching a live bidding product with several New York auction galleries today. An offering of African American Fine Art at Swann Galleries is the debut sale. The New York Times reported on eBay’s second attempt at live bidding for fine art earlier this week.
In the art world, buyers attend live auctions and also participate from around the globe bidding by phone and increasingly offering bids online through Invaluable, for example. Now buyers can bid live via eBay, too, where participating galleries include Swann, Doyle New York and Freeman’s.
Swann’s sale spans early masters such as Henry O. Tanner and Edward M. Bannister to contemporary figures including Fred Wilson and Mickalene Thomas. Highlights among the 171 lots include 47 works from the collection of late scholar and curator Richard A. Long of Atlanta, a nude torso by Augusta Savage, a Hughie Lee-Smith shore scene, “Singing Head” by Elizabeth Catlett, and a carved wood panel by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. Estimates range from $1,000 to $180,000.
Two catalogs were produced for the sale. The catalog for Richard Long’s collection features a portrait of Long by Beauford Delaney. A 1925 oil on linen landscape by Allan Freelon covers the second catalog (top image).
The Swann auction also features Charles White, Aaron Douglas, James Lesesne Wells, Lenwood H. Morris, Beauford Delaney, James A. Porter, Alfred D. Loving Jr., Lois Mailou Jones, Sam Gilliam, an Eldzier Cortor etching, seven lots by Betye Saar and several works by Norman Lewis. Romare Bearden’s six-print Odysseus series and “Baptism,” which at 32×45 inches is described as his largest print, along with many other Bearden offerings, are also up for bid.
Swann’s African American Fine Art sale is today at 2:30 pm EST. CT
TOP IMAGE: Lot 57: ALLAN FREELON (1895 – 1960), “Untitled (Gloucester Coast),” 1925 (oil on linen canvas). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
READ Culture Talk interview with Amalia Amaki about collector Richard A. Long
All images courtesy of Swann Galleries
Lot 129: ALMA W. THOMAS (1891 – 1978), “Untitled (from the Atmospheric Effects Series),” 1971 (watercolor on thick wove paper). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 65: NANCY ELIZABETH PROPHET (1890 – 1960), “Walk Among the Lilies,” circa 1935 (carved and polychromed wood panel). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 86: NORMAN LEWIS (1909 – 1979), “Untitled,” 1953 (oil on heavy linen canvas). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 14: BEAUFORD DELANEY (1901 – 1979), “Portrait of Richard A. Long,” 1965 (color pastels on cream wove paper). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 33: ROMARE BEARDEN (1911 – 1988), “Odysseus Suite,” 1979 (6 color screenprints on wove paper) | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 58: JAMES A. PORTER, (1905 – 1970), “Dorothy (Profile Drawing),” circa 1929 (charcoal on cream wove paper). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 50: LENWOOD H. MORRIS, “Untitled (Male Nude Study),” circa 1900 (oil on masonite board). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 8: WILLIAM E. ARTIS (1914 – 1977) “Vernon,” circa 1946-50 (Terra cotta, mounted on a wood base). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 109: BETYE SAAR (1926 – ), “Mystic Flag,” circa 1967 (etching with hand coloring and embossing).
Lot 125: AARON DOUGLAS (1899 – 1979), “Creation,” 1969 (oil on canvas board). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 60: AUGUSTA SAVAGE (1892 – 1962), circa 1931-35 “Nude Torso, (painted plaster, mounted on a wood base). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 46: RADCLIFFE BAILEY (1968 – ), “Until I Die/Georgia Trees and the Upper Room,” 1997 (color aquatint with drypoint and burnishing, xerography and chine collé on cream wove paper). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 150: JAMES LITTLE (1952 – ), “Shabazz #1,” 1985 (oil and wax on four joined triangular-shaped canvases). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
Lot 122: CHARLES WHITE (1918 – 1979), “Love Letter #1 (Angela Davis),” 1971 (color lithograph on handmade cream wove paper). | Courtesy Swann Galleries
