View from The Podium: A Look Back At 2024
Swann has been called many things over the years: Swann Galleries; Swann Auction Galleries; Swann’s [sic], sometimes New York’s oldest specialty auction house.
But in the fall of 2024, writing for Artnet news, Kenny Schachter referred to Swann as “the unassuming, resolute auction house.” And frankly, these are adjectives that make me proud—validating the work we do, how we do it, and the approach we take to auctions.
Last year was yet another good year for us and, more importantly, for you, our clients. We continued to bring top historical, artistic and collectible items to market for our clientele who have come to rely on us for such material, proudly setting new sales records not only in the fields we pioneered, LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History; Printed & Manuscript African Americana; African American Art; and Focus on Women but also in our primary departments of Books, Autographs, Posters, Photographs, Maps and Illustration.
The biggest change in the last year has been reorganizing Swann’s visual art departments, and by doing so, we bucked the national trend, posting an overall rise in sales from the previous year. We continued bringing scintillating material to auction through our diverse range of departments, proudly setting new records in the fields we pioneered. (Take a look at some of our results here.)
We achieved these results in our historically unassuming, steadfast, tenacious, loyal, and friendly way. And we remain nimble and feisty, a house ready to handle big consignments and exceptional collections. Keep your eyes open for prominent single-owner sales coming up in 2025, including Abstract Beauty: The Collection of Patricia Scipio-Brim, and Art Deco at 100: Iconic Posters from the William W. Crouse Collection, along with all our core auctions in the first few months of the New Year.
Technology marches forward, administrations change, and nobody is quite sure what 2025 will hold. Allow us the honor of being your calm in the storm, the unassuming, resolute friend waiting to offer you scintillating items or have a collector’s conversation about something beautiful or fascinating.
With the best wishes from all of us at Swann for a happy, joyful, peaceful and healthy New Year!
Sincerely,
Nicholas D. Lowry
President & Principal Auctioneer