Above: BARBARA JOHNSON ZUBER (1926 – 2019)
Jump Rope. Oil on cotton canvas, circa 1970. 762×1524 mm; 30×60 inches. Signed in oil, lower right
Sale total: $2,967,055 (Hammer: $2,394,500)
Estimates for sale as a whole: $800,300-$1,229,850
We offered 87 lots; 87 sold (100% sell-through rate by lot)
All prices include Buyer’s Premium.
Top lots Prices with buyer’s premium
1*Henry Ossawa Tanner, Moonrise by Kasbah (Morocco), oil on canvas, 1912. $365,000
85†Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled, seven panels of framed chromogenic prints & sandblasted text $305,000
on glass, 1996-97.
87†Richard Mayhew, Departure, oil on canvas, 2006.$233,000
83§Robin Harper, Jack Johnson, oil on canvas, 1970. $185,000
50§Dindga McCannon, The Last Farewell, oil on canvas, 1970. $161,000
77Elizabeth Catlett, Sister, cast bronze, with brushed patina & white inlaid eyes, mounted on $149,000
wood base, 1973.
33†Walter H. Williams, White Butterfly, oil on canvas, 1969.$125,000
13†Thomas Sills, Red Berries, oil on canvas, 1959.$106,250
51§Barbara Johnson Zuber, Jump Rope, oil on canvas, circa 1970.$87,500
55Kenneth Victor Young, Upper Egypt, acrylic on canvas, 1971.$87,500
9†Loïs Mailou Jones, Bazar Du Quai, Port Au Prince, Haiti, oil on canvas, 1961.$75,000
Key:† = Auction Record for the Artist; § = Auction Debut; * = Second Highest Price at Auction
Additional highlights can be found here.
Information about additional artist records available on request.
Comment from Nigel Freeman, Director of African-American Fine Art at Swann Galleries:
“The sale of the Johnson Publishing Company’s collection was the perfect storm of an auction—a prestigious name sale anchored with significant works by important artist, but with a wonderful new group of artists fresh to the secondary market, providing numerous opportunities for collectors. It was an honor and a thrill to close this chapter of the Johnson Publishing Company’sillustrious history with a perfect sale of their works. It was a simply amazing result!”
Comment from Nicholas D. Lowry, President of Swann Auction Galleries:
“An auctioneer can wait for an entire career to have a sale like today’s, but when it happens it is a transcendent feeling—a validation of all our strength together. From a technical point of view the fact that an 87-lot auction took 3.5 hours is an indication of interest, and bidding was electric, but from an artistic point of view it was a perfect confluence of events: material, auction house and the best clients.”
Captions:
Lot 1: Henry Ossawa Tanner, Moonrise by Kasbah (Morocco), oil on canvas, 1912. Sold for $365,00.
Lot 85: Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled, detail, seven panels of framed chromogenic prints & sandblasted text
on glass, 1996-97. Sold for 305,000, a record for the artist.
