Asia Week New York March 2026 Auction Results
Asian Art Week at Christie’s sold 900 lots across seven auctions and achieved the highest total for an Asian Art Week in five years : $77,624,774. That was 250 percent of the total low estimate for the week, and 89 percent sold by lot. This is the 12th time in a row since September 2020 that Christie’s has led the entire market for Asian Art Week in New York. Highlights included, the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art sale realizing $27M, the record for a sale in the category outside of India; Important Chinese Art leading the week in its category, totaling $34M and seeing strong results for a wide variety of objects; Christie’s first-ever auction focused on Japanese art forms which influenced anime, manga, and pop and sub culture, Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Reimagines Tradition, made a big statement soaring 407 percent times its low estimate.
Japanese and Korean Art : $9,160,113
Christie’s Japanese and Korean Art sale kicked off Asian Art Week by surging more than two times past the sale’s low estimate, totaling $9,160,113 on the strong results across the board for traditional and contemporary works, ceramics, prints, and more. The Korean section saw especially competitive bidding, especially for the spectacular Moon Jar, which fetched seven figures. Overall, the sale was 84 percent sold by lot, and 250 percent sold hammer and buyer’s premium above low estimate. In a sign of the continuing strength of the category, 22 percent of buyers were Millennials.
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art: $27,097,450
The South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art market continued to flex its muscles at Christie’s, which set the world record for an auction total for a sale held outside India. The auction was characterized by intense bidding, works selling far beyond their initial estimates, and eight artist records falling, two for the same artist within three lots of each other. The sale made more than three times its initial total low estimate, earning $27,097,450, and was 99 percent sold by lot. The top result of the sale came for the Tyeb Mehta masterwork, Gesture, which went almost two times its low estimate making $3,979,000. Christie’s set nine records during the sale. The world record for Ganesh Pyne was broken twice. First, for Crossing the Fountain, which made $2,271,000 (7.5x low estimate), and just two lots later breaking that record with Encounter in the Twilight Zone, which made $2,515,000 (10x low estimate).
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art: $1,848,485
This season’s Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art sale totaled $1,848,485. It was 105 percent sold hammer and buyers premium against low estimate and 85 precent sold by lot. The top lot of the sale was a beautifully rendered painting attributed to the artist Sajnu during his period of activity at the court of Mandi that exemplifies the refined stylistic synthesis that characterizes early nineteenth-century painting from this region. It sold above its high estimate, realizing $342,900.
Important Chinese Art: $34,213,936
The first Christie’s auction focused on the popular Japanese art forms of anime, manga, and movie posters made a big statement today, soaring 407 percent times its low estimate, with 90 percent of the lots sold. Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Reimagines Tradition offered an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary works that captured collectors’ imaginations, resulting in outstanding prices for objects traditional, contemporary, and those that drew parallels between the two. Christie’s broke a number of records, including for Shiomi Ryosuke’s 2019 take on samurai armor, Wolf and Armor, which went 35 times its low estimate to make $698.5000 as the top lot of the sale and set a world record for the artist.
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online: $2,024,761
Following the highly successful live sale in this category, South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online totaled $2,024,761, which was 225 percent sold hammer and buyers premium versus low estimate. The auction was 100 percent sold by lot. The auction set three world records: for a work by Angela Trindade; for prints by Velu Viswanadhan; for a print by Krishna Reddy. The top result came for Mohan Samant’s Untited (White Wall), which went five times its low estimate to bring $152,400.
Arts of Asia Online: $1,837,563
The popular Arts of Asia Online sale totaled $1,837,563, which was twice its total low estimate, and was 86 percent sold by lot. The sale spanned centuries, languages, and a wide range of geography, and offered collectors the opportunity to acquire at an equally wide variety of price level. The top lot of the sale was Liu Dan’s exquisite scroll dating from the year 2000, All Ready, which went 10 times its low estimate to bring $254,000.
RECENT ASIA WEEK NEW YORK MARCH 2026 AUCTIONS
Asian Art Week returns to New York this March, spotlighting masterworks from across the region’s most celebrated artistic traditions.
Leading the week is Gesture (1977) by Tyeb Mehta, a commanding highlight of the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction, presented alongside significant works by Sayed Haider Raza, Maqbool Fida Husain and Ganesh Pyne. Japanese and Korean Art is crowned by Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave and an exceptional Joseon Dynasty Moon Jar.
Important Chinese Art presents rare imperial ceramics, Shouyang Studio bronzes as well as pottery and porcelains from the Max N. Berry Collections, led by a Yongzheng mark-and-period doucai meiping. Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art features important Indian miniature paintings, including works from the Parson Family Collection.
For the first time, Christie’s introduces a new online sale Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Reimagines Tradition, exploring the visual dialogue between Japan’s classical artistic heritage and the subcultural movements that have shaped contemporary global culture. Explore these works and more at our Rockefeller Center galleries before the auctions begin March 20!
To learn more, click here.
KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849), Kanagawa oki nami ura (Under the well of the Great Wave off Kanagawa) [“Great Wave”] Lot 84, Estimate US$800,000-1,200,000, Japanese and Korean Art Sale
Japanese and Korean Art
Auction: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 10am EDT ( Lots 1-165)
Previews: March 20–21 & 23, 10am-5pm; March 22, 1-5pm
This season’s Japanese and Korean Art sale is led by a masterpiece Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai and a superb example of a Joseon Dynasty Moon Jar, one of the most coveted and culturally significant forms in Korean ceramics. Moon Jars — spherical, luminous white vessels dating from the 17th to 19th centuries — are considered among the highest achievements of Korean ceramic artistry and are prized for their rarity, with only handful examples surviving worldwide.
The auction also features a complete set of Utagawa Hiroshige’s One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, a fine collection of netsuke, an excellent section of modern paintings, and a curated selection of lacquer works, metalworks, sculptures, 20th‑century prints, Japanese and Korean ceramics, and much more.
Contact:
Takaaki Murakami (村上高明)
(212) 636 2160
[email protected]
GANESH PYNE (1937-2013), Crossing the Fountain, Lot 306, Estimate: US$300,000-500,000; South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Sale
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art
Auction: Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 10am EDT (Lots 301-395)
Previews: March 20–21 & 23–24, 10am-5pm; March 22, 1-5pm
This spring, Christie’s auction of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art will take place on March 25. This season’s catalogue brings to the market several important works that have not been seen in public for several decades, celebrating the rich diversity of artistic approaches that have emerged from South Asia and its global diaspora across the 20th and 21st centuries.
Led by Tyeb Mehta’s 1977 masterpiece Gesture, the auction brings together an exceptional group of modern works, including an impressive set of paintings from the 1950s by Sayed Haider Raza, an important early painting by Maqbool Fida Husain titled Puppet Dancers, and Jehangir Sabavala’s 1959 Butterflies over Pink Blossoms and 1970 Green Thoughts in a Green Shade. These works are complemented by an extremely rare, large-format canvas by K. Ramanujam, alongside a seminal collection of early works by Ganesh Pyne, including Crossing the Fountain (1974), and striking paintings by Francis Newton Souza, Ram Kumar, K. K. Hebbar, Jagdish Swaminathan, Prabhakar Barwe, Manjit Bawa and Avinash Chandra among others.
The catalogue also features works by significant forerunners of this group, including Edwin Lord Weeks, Pestonji Bomanji, J. P. Gangooly, Jamini Roy, George Keyt and Richard Gabriel, and is rounded out by notable contemporary works by Sheila Makhijani, Jitish Kallat and Senaka Senanayake.
The live auction will be accompanied by an online sale running from March 18–April 1, 2026.
Contact:
Nishad Avari
(212) 636 2190
[email protected]
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art
Auction: Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 2pm EDT (Lots 501-547)
Previews: March 20–21 & 23–24, 10am-5pm; March 22, 1-5pm
This season’s sale features several distinguished private American collections of Indian miniature paintings, including works from the Parson Family Collection. Highlights include a battle scene of Haldighati, signed by Choka, and a Sajnu painting of the Holy Family. Another exceptional collection of early Mughal Indian painting is led by a 16th‑century Mughal painting from the Razmnama.
The auction also includes an important 10th‑century Indian marble attendant figure, with notable provenance from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth.
Contact:
Allison Rabinowitz
(212) 636 2583
[email protected]
A VERY RARE AND MAGNIFICENT ‘FLORAL BOUQUET’ DOUCAI VASE, MEIPING, YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735); Lot 646; Estimate US$1,000,000–1,500,000; Important Chinese Art Sale
Important Chinese Art
Two-Day Auction:
Thursday March 26, 2026 at 9am EDT (Lots 601-732)
Friday, March 27, 2026 at 9am EDT (Lots 801-893)
Previews: March 20–21 & 23–25, 10am-5pm; March 22, 1-5pm
This season, Important Chinese Art features exceptional works from distinguished American private collections, including early bronzes from the Shouyang Studio; Tang pottery and monochrome porcelains from the Max N. Berry Collections; magnificent Ming and Qing ceramics from the Stuart Collection; and three Qianlong treasures preserved by the descendants of Charles Soong.
The sale is led by a very rare and magnificent Yongzheng mark‑and‑period ‘floral bouquet’ doucai meiping, together with a Qianlong mark‑and‑period turquoise‑ground famille rose double gourd‑form triple‑necked vase. The offering also includes a superb selection of classical Chinese furniture, jades and snuff bottles, as well as exemplary Buddhist sculpture, notably a rare painted wood figure of a standing bodhisattva from the Jin dynasty (1115–1234).
Additional highlights include a magnificent Qianlong mark‑and‑period doucai ‘dragon’ moon flask, an exceptionally rare and important large copper‑red reverse‑decorated bowl from the Hongwu period (1368–1398), and a very rare 17th‑century huanghuali trestle‑leg table.
Contact:
Rufus Chen
(212) 636 2180
[email protected]
Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Reimagines Tradition
Online Auction: Wednesday, March 18 – Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 10am EDT
This season, during Asian Art Week, Christie’s presents Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Reimagines Tradition, a new online auction exploring the visual dialogue between Japan’s classical artistic heritage and the subcultural movements that have shaped contemporary global culture.
The sale brings together original manga drawings by Osamu Tezuka, anime cels from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Doraemon, and vintage film posters of Godzilla, shown alongside traditional and contemporary works by artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Yoshitomo Nara. Together, these works trace the enduring resonance of motifs, techniques, and narratives rooted in Japan’s past—sources that continue to inspire some of its most influential modern expressions.
Rather than positioning subculture as a departure from tradition, this carefully curated auction presents it as a dynamic evolution—one that bridges craftsmanship, storytelling, and visual innovation across generations.
Contact:
Takaaki Murakami (村上高明)
(212) 636 2160
[email protected]
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online
Online Auction: Wednesday, March 18 – Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 10am EDT
Christie’s annual South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online auction will take place from March 18 to 1 April 1, complementing our live sale in New York on March 25. The catalogue brings together varied artistic traditions and innovative styles developed in South Asia and its diaspora, and includes several works by emerging and established artists, with accessible estimates for both new and seasoned collectors.
This spring, our catalogue features a strong selection of works by three founders of the Progressive Artists’ Group – Maqbool Fida Husain, Francis Newton Souza and Sayed Haider Raza. Other highlights include paintings by Mohan Samant, Avinash Chandra, Sohan Qadri, Homi Patel, B. Prabha and Shanti Dave, as well as notable works on paper and prints by Zainul Abedin, Ivan Peries, Ganesh Haloi and Jogen Chowdhury, among others. These works are complemented by a selection of lots by significant contemporary artists including Jitish Kallat, Nataraj Sharma, Sheila Makhijani, Paresh Maity and Reena Saini Kallat.
Contact:
Nishad Avari
(212) 636 2190
[email protected]
Arts of Asia Online
Online Auction: March 18 – April 2, 2026 at 10am EDT
Arts of Asia Online presents a curated selection of artworks representing centuries of history and culture across Asia. The diverse offering includes ceramics, jade carvings, lacquerwares, metalwork, sculptures, prints, paintings and more. With a wide range of estimates, Arts of Asia Online offers opportunities for both burgeoning and established collectors of Asian art.
Highlights include two contemporary paintings by the acclaimed Chinese artist Liu Dan, an extensive selection of Tang-dynasty pottery and monochrome porcelains from the Max N. Berry Collections, and a varied group of prints by some of Japan’s most celebrated artists, including Katsushika Hokusai and Kawase Hasui. The sale also features exquisite Indian miniature paintings from the Parson Family Collection and the William J. Rutter Collection.
Contact:
Kathleen Coyne
(212) 636 2180
[email protected]
