It is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots (or Stonewall Uprising) when members of the gay community protested against harassment from the police in Greenwich Village in June 1969.
Pride events take place in major cities and towns around the world and the movement now encompass the wider LGBTQ+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, questioning, intersex, non-binary, asexual, polysexual, genderqueer and gender variant people).
LGBTQ experience
Sotheby’s will hold Bent, an auction “bringing together an interdisciplinary array of works informed by the LGBTQ experience as reflected in the arts from antiquity to the present”. The sale takes place on June 27.
A portion of Sotheby’s buyer’s premium will be donated to The Center, providing programs for health, wellness and connection for New York’s LGBTQ community.
Bonhams’ exhibition Stonewall@50 accompanies an online sale that will offer works such as Annie Leibovitz (b.1949) image of Keith Haring, New York (1986) estimated at $8,000-12,000. The online auction runs from June 27-July 10. A portion of the proceeds from this sale will be donated to The Elton John Aids Foundation.
Annie Leibovitz (b.1949) image of Keith Haring, New York (1986) estimated at $8,000-12,000 at Bonhams.
On June 20 Swann’s will offer archives, literature, autographs, art and photography from the last two centuries, chronicling the “lives of LGBTQ+ heroes and the history of movements, parades and protests”.
At Swann Auction Galleries highlights include:
- An archive of personal effects of American actress, Warhol superstar and trans icon Candy Darling. The archive features letters, photographs, including a polaroid of Darling very likely taken by Warhol (estimate: $20,000 to $30,000).
- An archive of 134 photographs by Hank O’Neal taken at Pride parades in New York City throughout the 1970s (estimate: $70,000 to $100,000).
- An autograph letter signed by Harvey Milk as acting mayor of San Francisco, March 7, 1978 (estimate: $4000-6000).
A portion of the commission from the sale will benefit the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City.
An autograph letter signed by Harvey Milk as acting mayor of San Francisco, March 7, 1978,. It is estimated at $4000-6000 at Swann.
