May 24, 2024
In an industry not particularly known for big changes, Swann Galleries is about to undergo the kind of change that only happens once in a generation. After almost 30 years at the helm of Swann’s Works on Paper department, Todd Weyman will be retiring in early June, shortly after his final sale of Contemporary Art.
Todd began working at Swann Galleries shortly before I did, in the late 1990s. He came to us from the Johnson Art Museum in Ithaca, New York. When he began, the art department occupied what is basically a closet space, an area now used to house our computer systems, and at the time it consisted of one or two auctions a year. When we expanded into a second floor in 2000, the art department really took off and Todd—with his affinity for German auctions—began organizing enormous sales of 600 to 700 prints, several times per year. As the department grew, we began to branch out, focusing on Old Master, 19th and 20th Century Art, Contemporary Art and American Art, as well as staging auctions from a host of private collections - with material ranging from Rembrandt to Whistler, Pissarro and Hopper.
A man of many talents, Todd became known to a wider audience through his decades of work as an expert on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. And his expertise was also seen as one of Swann’s auctioneers.
Todd’s legacy is more than the almost 250 auctions he has organized over his career- he has also left in position an impressive team of experienced specialists who will take over and continue leading Swann into even greater achievements in the fine art field. Nigel Freeman will be stepping in as Head of Fine Art at Swann, with Lisa Crecenzo as Managing Director, and our current team of experts, Sarah McMillan and Meagan Gandolfo, will both be part of the new department. We’ll be sharing information on their exciting role changes in the coming weeks.
Please join us in wishing him all the best for the next chapter of his life as he has the opportunity to travel more and enjoy time with his family.
Sincerely,
Nicho
Nicholas D. Lowry
President & Principal Auctioneer
