In this video, join Sotheby's Michael Macauly in an exploration of Robert Ryman's Swift, to be offered as a highlight of The Macklowe Collection May 2022. Emitting a luminous aura of exquisite purity and absolute serenity, Swift from 2002 is an enduring and profound testament to the utterly radical brilliance of Robert Ryman’s painterly oeuvre. Executed during a critical period of production in the early 2000s, the present work is distinguished by its grand scale—measuring a staggering 84 by 84 inches—and by its uniquely poetic title. In a manner paradigmatic of the best examples from his output, Ryman accentuates the thoughtful exactitude of his method by ending each methodical brushstroke just before the edge of the picture support, framing the incandescent expanse of white pigment within a pristine border of raw canvas; initially transmitting a sublime stillness, the closer the viewer draws to the canvas, the more apparent the meditative motions of the artist’s hand across the canvas become, as Swift articulates the very means by which it was created.

Past Auction

The Macklowe Collection

16 May 2022 | 7:00 PM EDT | New York