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Swann Galleries: Illustration Art

Auction Reports

Auction Name Illustration Art Total Sales (USD) 417,648.00
Auction Date December 04, 2025 - December 04, 2025 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 304,500.00
Sale Number #2723 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 448,950.00
Total Lots 337
Sold Lots 227.0 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 465,300.00
% of Lots Sold 67.36% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 675,250.00
Unsold Lots 110 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 61.85%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
189 Theophile Alexandre Steinlen

L'epouvantable sinistre du Quartier Latin / The terrible disaster in the Latin Quarter. 1884.

1884 USD 1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD 35,560.00
241 Norman Rockwell

Out of the blackness Wolf launched himself, straight for the trespasser's throat. 1918.

1918 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 33,020.00
281 Bernard Fuchs

Twenty Westerns by America's Contemporaries. 1977.

1977 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 17,780.00
116 Georges Barbier

Nijinski dancing the ballet The Afternoon of a Faun (L'Apres-midi d'un faune). 1917

1917 USD 1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD 15,240.00
51 Robert Crumb

R. Crumb Comix cube, stage prop. 1990.

1990 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 12,540.00
11 Edmund Dulac

Q was a quaint dainty queen. 1906.

1906 USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 11,430.00
31 Jerry Pinkney

The Great Minu, African folk tale complete book (group of 15 illustrations). 1974.

1974 USD 12,000.00 - 16,000.00 USD 10,160.00
134 Chas Addams

Study for "Movie Scream," 1947.

1947 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 9,525.00
121 Rene Gruau

Homme en blanc et noir. 1978.

1978 USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 7,920.00
108 Al Hirschfeld

Camelot. 1960.

1960 USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 6,604.00
290 James Montgomery Flagg

Dean Cornwell in his studio. 1920., Watercolor and pencil on board., 21 3/4 x 29 3/4 in. (55.2 x 75.6 cm.)

1920 USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 6,350.00
34 Maurice Sendak

Chicken Soup sketch. Circa 1962.

Circa 1962. USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,096.00
26 Arnold Lobel

I will tell you a story while we are waiting, 1976.

USD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD 5,016.00
69 Stephan Pastis after Charles Schulz

Pearls Before Swine, Peanuts The Great Pumpkin Sunday comic strip. 2007.

2007 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 4,826.00
45 Ludwig Bemelmans

Silly Willy: "Family album book." Circa 1935.

Circa 1935. USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 4,572.00
188 William Steig

Unused title page illustration for Gorky Rises. Circa 1980.

Circa 1980. USD 600.00 - 900.00 USD 4,572.00
323 Hannes Vajn Bok

Fantasy landscape with dinosaurs and totem. 1934.

1934 USD 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 4,318.00
103 Boris Aronson

A dressing room in a Boston Theatre. 1950.

1950 USD 2,000.00 - 2,500.00 USD 4,064.00
35 Maurice Sendak

Cat and Martin arguing in the cellar. 1957.

1957 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 3,810.00
130 Constantin Alajalov

The graduate's uncertain future. 1935.

1935 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 3,810.00
131 Julian DeMiskey

Equestrian riding across 5th Avenue. Circa 1930.

Circa 1930. USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 3,810.00
275 Kay Nielsen

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Circa 1955.

Circa 1955. USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 3,810.00
21 Trina Schart Hyman

They came upon a clearing... 1989.

1989 USD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD 3,556.00
65 Don Martin

Early One Morning in South America. 1977.

1977 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 3,556.00
262 Maxfield Parrish

The King and Queen might eat thereof and noblemen besides. 1921.

1921 USD 5,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 3,556.00
  • Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.