Swann Auction Galleries’ upcoming African American Art sale, happening April 22, will feature a wide range of quality artwork spanning multiple mediums and movements. Among these are works by such noteworthy artists as Richmond Barthé, Ed Clark, Norman Lewis and Carrie Mae Weems, among others. 
Richmond Barthé (1901-1989), African Boy Dancing, 1937. Cast bronze with dark brown patina, 16 in. Estimate: $150/$250,000
“One of the top lots in our April 22 African American Art sale will certainly be African Boy Dancing, an important and strikingly beautiful bronze by Richmond Barthé,” says Nigel Freeman, director of African American Fine Art and vice president at Swann Auction Galleries. The 1937 bronze has a presale estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. “It represents the culmination of Richmond Barthé’s significant study of the male figure in sculpture, anatomy and African dance in the 1930s, and his pioneering realization of an ideal male nude,” Freeman says. This is only the second time one of Barthé’s original 1930s casts has come to auction, and the first time this particular bronze has been featured in a sale.
Ed Clark (1926-2019), Untitled, 1988. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 24 in. Estimate: $50/$75,000
“The spring auction also features some excellent examples of postwar abstraction in painting,” he continues, “[including] an untitled 1988 Ed Clark acrylic painting on canvas, with his characteristic sweeping brushstrokes, and a particularly vibrant and large Norman Lewis oil on paper, circa 1979, composition in blue and red.” The Clark piece is estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $75,000—the same goes for Lewis’ 1979 oil. 
Norman Lewis (1909-1979), Untitled (Red and Blue Abstraction), 1979. Oil on paper, 19 x 41 in. Estimate: $50/$75,000
“Contemporary art is well represented with a highlight of conceptual artist Carrie Mae Weems. Her High Yella Girl, a toned gelatin silver print with Prestype text, 1989, was made in an edition of only three. It comes from the artist’s sought-after Colored People series of photographs and text that focuses on the cultural emphasis that has been placed on African Americans’ skin color and the division that it causes,” says Freeman.
Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953), High Yella Girl, 1989. Toned gelatin silver print, with Prestype and frame, 305/8 x 30¾ in. Estimate: $50/$75,000
Limited previews by appointment only will be available through April 21. The complete catalog and bidding information is available through both the Swann website and app. —
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