Lot 87

Fred Mitchell, Swimmer, Near Amsterdam. 1989.

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Fred Mitchell, Swimmer, Near Amsterdam. 1989.

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $600

(0 Bids)

by Swann Auction Galleries
August 13, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
Live Auction
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY, US 10010

Fred Mitchell
1923-2013
Swimmer, Near Amsterdam.
Watercolor on paper, 1989.
Signed with artist's monogram and dated in pencil, lower right. Inscribed as titled in pencil, lower left.

  • Provenance:
    Estate of the artist.

  • Dimensions: 20 x 14 in. (50.8 x 35.6 cm.), Frame: 25 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. (65.4 x 50.2 cm.)
  • Medium: Watercolor on paper, 1989.
  • Notes:
    When Fred Mitchell returned to the United States after serving in the Army during World War Two, he enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Many returning veterans benefitted from the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, (the G.I. Bill), using the funds for education as well as receiving guaranteed government loans for home purchases and funding for starting new businesses.
    After graduation Mitchell moved to New York City, eventually finding loft space at Coenties Slip. This once thriving part of Manhattan during the era of tall ships was largely abandoned in the post5-war era. Mitchell shared his discovery with other artists, Jack Youngerman and Ellsworth Kelly, who were returning from sojourns in Europe studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They would soon be joined by Robert Indiana, Lenore Tawney, and Agnes Martin.
    Though rents were inexpensive and the G.I. bill was a tremendous hand-up for these artists, devotion to one's artistic calling was a challenge for Mitchell. In 1951 he joined with other artists and was a co-founder of New York's first cooperative art exhibition space, Tanager Gallery, thus assuring a space to show and hopefully sell his creations. Fred Mitchell also founded the Coenties Slip School of art where, for a modest fee, he offered art classes in his studio from 1952 until 1957. He left Coenties Slip in 1957, passing his lease on to Robert Indiana.
    Eventually all of the artists who benefitted from studio space at The Slip would move on as developers used their influence to see these buildings condemned and demolished to make way for the lower Manhattan skyline to come.
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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $149 $10
$150 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $5,999 $200
$6,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,000
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 $499,999 $20,000
$500,000 + $50,000