The history of printmaking, from Albrecht Dürer to Edward Hopper, embodied in an exceptional collection

What makes a great collection? Contrary to popular belief, the eminence of the objects it contains is only half the story. The other is the narrative thread which weaves together a series of discrete works into a cohesive whole. In the case of Alan and Marianne Schwartz, the narrative might have been about antiquities, for this is where their collecting journey began, in 1950.

However, the scarcity of ‘exceptional material’ as they described it in Master Prints of Five Centuries, the catalogue of their landmark 1990 exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), led them in a different direction — that of graphic art of the western world. Over half a century, beginning in 1963 with the purchase of American artist John Sloan’s Night Windows (1910-11), their collection grew to be one of the most important and diverse in private hands.

On 23 October in New York, Christie’s will present Exceptional Impressions: The Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection, ahead of the Prints and Multiples auction on 24-25 October. More than 230 prints spanning five centuries comprise the late philanthropists and artistic patrons’ extraordinary trove.

Amongst the Schwartzes’ coveted works, which proudly hung salon style in their Bloomfield Hills home — never stashed away in boxes — are many artists’ most highly prized images. These range from Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia I (1514) and Rembrandt’s Three Crosses (1653) to Edward Hopper’s Night on the El Train (circa 1918) and Max Beckmann’s Self-Portrait in Bowler Hat (1921).

Alan and Marianne’s story dates to the late 1940s when they met as students. After marrying in 1950, the two settled in their native Detroit, where they became deeply involved in the city’s cultural life and development. While Alan, a founding partner in a highly successful law firm, was not raised in an artistic household, Marianne’s parents immersed their daughter in Detroit’s cultural community. During her lifetime she’d work her way up from being a DIA docent to Chair of its collections committee, overseeing acquisitions across all disciplines.

In 1980, the couple made a transformational gift, resulting in the Schwartz Family Gallery of Graphic Arts. Providing galleries, a study room and dedicated storage facilities, their goal was to increase public access to one of America’s finest print collections. This benevolent spirit extended to their personal collection, which was loaned to no less than 16 important exhibitions around the globe.

Throughout their marriage, the Schwartzes were a true partnership when it came to growing the collection. With her background in art history, Marianne would identify prints she thought worthy of inclusion, whether from a scholarly point of view, or simply because they captivated her. She attended the International Fine Print Dealers fair in New York every year and counted many respected curators and dealers amongst her close friends. She was also an avid reader of auction catalogues.

‘It was always something of a special occasion when Marianne and Alan appeared in our auction preview’, recalls Deputy Chairman emeritus Jonathan Rendell of the Schwartzes’ numerous visits to Christie’s. ‘Longtime collectors and connoisseurs of prints, they were well known for their great taste and their insistence that the quality of the impression should be exceptional.’

After identifying prospective purchases, Marianne would have an in-depth discussion with Alan. Given his keen legal mind, making a convincing case was paramount in maintaining their collection’s high standard. Held often at the family dining table, debates introduced the Schwartzes’ three children, Ruthanne, Kurt and Marc, to the world of art. Today the children have inherited their parents’ passions for social justice and collecting.

Marianne and Alan’s collection is as remarkable for its quality as its breadth. It begins at the dawn of printmaking in Europe, with Dürer, Martin Schongauer, Jean Duvet and Hendrick Goltzius, before moving into 17th-century Dutch masters, such as Rembrandt, Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens. There follows a fascinating exploration of 19th-century lithography with Francisco Goya, Honoré Daumier and Edouard Manet.

Late 19th-century France is particularly well represented, with masterpieces by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard and Edgar Degas. The focus then moves to Germany in the early 1900s with Beckmann, Käthe Kollwitz, Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner before returning to France with Georges Braque, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, whose majestic Weeping Woman I (1937) is amongst the 20th century’s most important prints.

American printmaking is represented by one of the richest and most important surveys in private hands, including works by Winslow Homer, George Bellows, John Marin and Howard Cook. Other highlights include five major works by Hopper, as well as five prints that comprise American Modernist Charles Sheeler’s complete lithographic work.

Numerous prints in the Schwartz collection feature exceptional provenance with names as illustrious as Dr Otto Schäfer, Philip Hofer, Samuel Courtauld, and Charles C Cunningham. Given the Schwartzes’ contribution to Detroit’s renowned institutions, as well as the breadth and stature of their collection, their name will, too, undoubtedly add to the works’ long lineage of printmaking excellence.

Main image, clockwise from top left: Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Mlle Bécat aux Ambassadeurs, 1877-1878. Lithograph on wove paper. Image: 8¼ x 7⅝ in (208 x 195 mm). Sheet: 13⅜ x 10¾ in (340 x 274 mm). Estimate: $25,000-35,000; George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925), A Stag at Sharkey's, 1917. Lithograph on tissue-thin Japan paper. Image: 18⅝ x 23⅞ in (473 x 606 mm). Sheet: 21¾ x 27¾ in (553 x 705 mm). Estimate: $60,000-80,000; Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), Christ crucified between the two Thieves: ‘The Three Crosses’, 1653. Drypoint on laid paper. Plate: 15⅛ x 17¾ in (385 x 452 mm). Sheet: 15¼ x 17⅞ in (387 x 454 mm). Estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000; Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Night on the El Train, 1918. Etching on wove paper. Image: 7½ x 7⅞ in (190 x 202 mm). Sheet: 13⅝ x 14⅜ in (345 x 364 mm). Estimate: $150,000-200,000; Edvard Munch (1863-1944), The Brooch. Eva Mudocci, 1903. Lithograph on tissue-thin Japan paper. Image: 23½ x 18¼ in (597 x 464 mm). Sheet: 27¼ x 21½ in (690 x 546 mm). Estimate: $100,000-150,000; Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Melencolia I, 1514. Engraving on laid paper. Plate: 9½ x 7½ in (240 x 189 mm). Sheet: 11³⁄₁₆ x 8¹¹⁄₁₆ in (282 x 218 mm). Estimate: $300,000-500,000; Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), La femme qui pleure I (Weeping Woman I), 1937. Etching, drypoint, aquatint and scraper on Montval paper. Image: 27¼ x 19½ in (690 x 496 mm). Sheet: 30¼ x 22¼ in (770 x 556 mm). Estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000. All works offered in Exceptional Impressions: The Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection on 23 October 2024 at Christie’s in New York