by Paul Fraser
An important painting in the history of African-American visual art featured alongside this very unique Sargent Claude Johnson sculpture at Swann Auction Galleries’ African Americana Printed & Manuscript auction, last Tuesday (February 23).
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is not only artist Malvin Gray Johnson’s (1896-1934) best-known work, it was also one of the first modern paintings to be recorded in the canon of African-American art and culture.
Due to Johnson’s sudden death, aged just 38, his works are very scarce. This was the artist’s first painting to come to auction.
The 1928-29 painting launched Johnson’s career and placed him alongside Aaron Douglas and Henry Ossawa Tanner in the pantheon of greatest African-American artists of their time.
It also made him a star at Swann, surpassing its lower $200,000 estimate with a final hammer price of $228,000.
Elsewhere, Sargent Claude Johnson’s sculpture Untitled (Standing Woman), an innovative and important depiction of an African-American woman, sold for $44,000.
Meanwhile, a large and important collection archived by a Howard University academic was the leading lot at Swann Galleries’ sale of African Americana on Thursday (February 25).
Assembled by James Amos Porter (1905-1970), one of America’s pioneering art historians as well as an artist and author in his own right, the materials were the source for his book, Modern Negro Art, published in 1943.
The product of five years’ research, the collection was also the basis of Porter’s courses, lectures and literally hundreds of articles in various publications over the course of his long career.
The archive includes correspondence from virtually every major African-American artist from the 1920s forward: Romare Bearden, Lois Mailou Jones, Meta Warwick Fuller and scores of others, with many of Porter’s replies or queries retained.
These sold with hundreds of contemporary photographs of work by virtually all of the major black artists of the 20th century.
Porter’s collection also included numerous exhibit catalogues – many of which are virtually unobtainable today.
This unique, singular and irreplaceable document of African-American art history surpassed its $30,000-40,000 pre-sale estimate, eventually realising $42,000.
About the Author
Paul Fraser has been involved in high-end collectibles for over 35 years, selling more than $300m of rare items, including John Lennon’s childhood stamp album to the Smithsonian. Paul Fraser Collectibles offers a free high-end collectibles newsletter service with expert opinion and advice