Faith Ringgold's Double Dutch on the Golden Gate Bridge (1988) was the star lot of a sale of African-American art on April 7.

It realised $209,000 at Swann Auction Galleries in New York.

Faith Ringgold began making quilts in the 1970s

Ringgold produced five quilts in her Woman on a Bridge series, each of which shows women floating above famous US bridges.

Swann explains: "Each quilt in the series is a powerful visual expression of uplifting women, with bright images of dancing, playing, music and being free.

"About the Woman on a Bridge series, Ringgold has said 'my women are actually flying; they are just free, totally. They take their liberation by confronting this huge masculine icon—the bridge...'"

This is only the second time a Ringgold quilt has sold at auction. The first, titled Quilt of Life, made $461,000 in Swann's sale of Maya Angelou's art collection last year.

An untitled painting by Norman Lewis (1909-1979) also sold well, realising $149,000 - up 65.5% on a $90,000 estimate.

The piece dates to 1947, a time when Lewis was moving from figurative painting into abstraction.

He was the sole black painter among the first wave of American abstract expressionists and his work has only recently begun to receive mainstream recognition.

His auction record was set at $965,000 at Swann last year for another untitled work painted circa 1958.

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