(Black PR Wire) CHICAGO \u2014 For the first time, Black and African diaspora artists will be sold through an auction house built specifically for them. Swain\u2019s opens The Foundational Sale on Friday, April 10, 2026, at City Views Elevated Lounge in River North, Chicago, during EXPO CHICAGO; this will be the platform\u2019s inaugural live auction, and an industry first. Doors open at 4:00 PM Central. Live bidding begins at 5:00 PM Central. Online bidding at swainsauction.com. McCollum Heritage 91, the Oregon wine label founded by NBA All-Star CJ McCollum and his wife, Elise, is the official wine sponsor.<\/p>\n
The 19-lot sale closes with four marquee names. Guy Stanley Philoche\u2014whose work is held by Google, Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank\u2014opens the close with Selfie (2026), a new mixed-media canvas. He is followed by three museum-collected prints: Black Woman University (2020) by Genesis Tramaine, whose work is in the National Gallery of Art and the Rubell Museum; Down, Down Baby (2025), a Printer\u2019s Proof 1 of 1 by Bisa Butler of the Art Institute of Chicago collection; and Sandman (2025) by Danielle McKinney, represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery and collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the sale, GRAMMY Award\u2013winning Chicago-born artist Zeph Farmby, DC-based mixed-media painter Jabari Jefferson, and multidisciplinary artist Lex Marie anchor Act II. Act III features the first documented collaboration between Blu Murphy and Ashley Nora\u2014Keep Your Eyes on Me (2026)\u2014alongside two works by Howard University lecturer and U.S. State Department Art in Embassies artist Charles Philippe Jean Pierre. The sale opens with six West African bronze masterworks from the Bronze Kingdom Museum collection. Three works by N\u2019ia Morrison and Ashley Nora sold before the auction opened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built Swain\u2019s because this market deserves what every other market already has: real data, real infrastructure, and a real institution behind it. April 10 is the moment that the institution goes live.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014Akilah Ensley, Partner & Executive Director, Swain\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n All estimates reflect Swain\u2019s proprietary reparative pricing analytics, drawn from over 75,000 historical auction and fair records\u2014the largest structured dataset of African diaspora art-market activity. Buyer\u2019s premium: 15%. Auctioneer: Naomi T. Lewis.<\/p>\n ABOUT SWAIN\u2019S<\/strong><\/p>\n Swain’s is the first AI-powered fine art auction house built for Black and African diaspora artists. Founded by Ian Swain, Swain’s brings together live auction sales, AI-powered collector tools, and proprietary reparative pricing analytics to give collectors the institutional-grade intelligence this market has never had. Culture is Capital.\u00a0swainsauction.com<\/a><\/p>\n ABOUT MCCOLLUM HERITAGE 91<\/strong><\/p>\n McCollum Heritage 91 is the Oregon wine label founded by NBA All-Star CJ McCollum and his wife Elise on their 318-acre estate in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Willamette Valley. Producing Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays in collaboration with Adelsheim Vineyard, the winery is LIVE Certified and Salmon-Safe. Passion Rooted in Legacy. @heritage91wines\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0mccollumheritage91.com<\/a><\/p>\n