Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Fugaku sanjurokkei (Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji), a complete set of forty-six prints, c.1830–32; Estimate: US$3,000,000-US$5,000,000, Japanese and Korean Art

Christie’s New York celebrates Asian Art Week with eight sales, four live and four online, of the rare, the rarely seen and pieces of phenomenal provenance. Live sales begin on March 19th with the Japanese and Korean Art sale featuring the complete Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series from master of Japanese woodblock printing, Hokusai, while the Important Chinese Art sale boasts a number of rare, highly-sought-after ceramics from imperial era China. Other highlights of the week include massive jade vessels previously exhibited in San Francisco, Tibetan painting and impressive bronze and stone sculptures.

A full list of the auctions is below:

Japanese and Korean Art
Auction: Tuesday, March 19 at 10am EDT
Viewing: March 16–18, 10am-5pm

This season’s Japanese and Korean Art sale is led by a complete set of Fugaku sanjurokkei (Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji) by the master Katsushika Hokusai, followed by a modern and contemporary section. Among their diverse selection, this sale features a fine selection of Korean works of art and paintings, Japanese prints and paintings including rare scrolls by Jakuchu and Kunimasa, lacquer works, sculptures, ceramics and cloisonné.

A Painting of Ngor Abbots, Eastern Tibet, 18th century; Estimate: US$200,000-US$300,000, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art

Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art
Auction: Wednesday, March 20 at 9am EDT
Viewing: March 16–19, 10am-5pm

This season’s sale features a wide selection of works from across India, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia. The sale is led by a group fine Himalayan gilt bronzes, foremost among them a rare Zanabazar style gilt-bronze figure of Green Tara from the Nyingjei Lam Collection. Other important Himalayan sculptures include a large and rare Western Tibetan silver-inlaid figure of Vairochana, a large 16th century Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Amitabha and a 15th century Nepalese gilt-bronze figure of Chakrasamvara. The vast selection of Himalayan paintings highlights an important Eastern Tibetan painting of Ngor Abbots. The sale also includes a group of well-provenanced Gandharan works of art from a New York estate. The sale concludes with an impressive selection of Indian paintings, including a folio from the ‘large’ Guler-Basohli Bhagavata Purana series, several works from the workshop of the Kangra artist Purkhu, a portrait of Kashmir darners attributable to Bishan Singh, and an assortment of Company School and Early Bengal School works.

South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Works from the Collection of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur
Auction: Wednesday, March 20 at 11am EDT
Viewing: March 16–19, 10am-5pm

This group of important modern works comes from the renowned collection of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur, including significant works by Francis Newton Souza, Sudhir Patwardhan and Nalini Malani. The Gaurs have devoted more than three decades to the patronage and promotion of South Asian Art in North America, building one of the finest and deepest collections over this period, and spearheading several museum exhibitions of works from this category across the continent from the early 2000s onward. Complementing these works are significant paintings by Sayed Haider Raza, Jehangir Sabavala, Maqbool Fida Husain, Sadanand Bakre, Ganesh Pyne, Manjit Bawa and Gulammohammed Sheikh. The catalogue also features works by pioneers of South Asian modernism Jamini Roy, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Allah Bux and George Keyt, accompanied by important contemporary lots by Zarina, Nasreen Mohamedi, Sheila Makhijani and Salman Toor.

A Superb and Very Rare GE Foliate Dish, Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty (1127-1368), 5 ½ in. (14 cm) diam., fitted cloth box; Lot 912, Estimate: US$1,800,000-US$2,500,000, Important Chinese Art Including the Collection of Dorothy Tapper Goldman

Important Chinese Art Including the Collection of Dorothy Tapper Goldman
Auction: Thursday, March 21 at 9am EDT & Friday, March 22 at 9am EDT
Viewing: March 16–19, 10am-5pm; March 20, 10am-2pm

Important Chinese Art Including the Collection of Dorothy Tapper Goldman features outstanding works from prominent institutional and private collections. The sale encompasses ceramics, cloisonné enamel, lacquer, jade carvings, scholar’s objects, textiles, and classical Chinese furniture. Highlights include a very rare Ge foliate dish from the Linyushanren collection, a Kangxi-period very rare and finely-cast imperial gilt-bronze figure of seated Amitayus, a pair of imperial gilt-bronze ritual bells from the Kangxi period, a carved huanghuali canopy bed, a group of important and massive jade vessels from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and more than a hundred works from the renowned Chinese art collector and philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman. The sale also presents curated selections from noted private collections, such as archaic jades and ceramics from the Collection of Dr. Hiroshi Horiuchi, as well as Qing porcelains from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming.

Landscapes of Japan: Woodblock Prints from Edo to Post-War
Online: March 13–26, 10am EDT

Landscapes of Japan: Woodblock Prints from Edo to Post-War features a fine selection of iconic woodblock prints by master artists from the 18th to 20th century, including Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kawase Hasui and Yoshida Hiroshi. The selection tells a comprehensive story of the evolving history of landscapes depicted in Japanese woodblock prints.

South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online
Online: March 13–27, 10am EDT

This online auction of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art complements the live auction of works from this category, to be held in New York on March 20th. The catalogue presents a wide variety of works across diverse genres and media by well-known artists from South Asia and its diaspora for new and seasoned collectors alike, including property from the renowned collections of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur and Mahinder and Sharad Tak. Works by modernists Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza, Francis Newton Souza, Bal Chhabda and Manjit Bawa are offered alongside significant lots by Atul Dodiya, Paresh Maity and Jangarh Singh Shyam, to name only a few artists. Art for Baby, a group of fifteen lots by prominent modern and contemporary Indian artists, will be offered to benefit Outset. For the first three months of their lives, babies only perceive the world around them in black, white and shades of gray. Inspired by Outset’s 2008 international publication Art for Baby, these gray scale works were commissioned by Rudritara Shroff from artists including Jyoti Bhatt, Jogen Chowdhury, Atul Dodiya, Dhruvi Acharya, Anju Dodiya, Shilpa Gupta and Bijoy Jain for a new Indian version of the book, which will serve not only as an early introduction to contemporary Indian art, but also a tool for honing visual skills which are so important in early childhood development. 

Arts of Asia Online
Online: March 13–28, 10am EDT
Viewing: March 16–19, 10am-5pm; March 20, 10am-2pm

This Asian Art Week, Christie’s is pleased to present Arts of Asia Online, a carefully curated selection spanning across India, the Himalayas, China, Korea, and Japan. The sale presents a wide selection of works across various media, including ceramics, jade carvings, lacquerware, metalwork, furniture, textiles, bronze sculpture, stone sculpture, prints, and paintings. Highlights from the sale include a selection of Chinese porcelain from the collection of Dr. Hiroshi Horiuchi, a fine selection of Japanese inro, and curated groupings of Himalayan bronze sculpture and Indian court paintings from prestigious private collections. With a wide range of estimates, Arts of Asia Online presents opportunities for both burgeoning and established collectors of Asian art.

Chinese Works of Art from the Collection of Dorothy Tapper Goldman
Online: March 13–29, 10am EDT
Viewing: March 16–19, 10am-5pm; March 20, 10am-2pm

Christie’s is pleased to present the online sale of Chinese works of art from the beloved collector, professor, connoisseur and philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman. Offered in conjunction with a selection of works in the Important Chinese Art sale, this online auction presents collectors an additional opportunity to acquire objects that are representative of the collector’s refined taste and discerning eye. Mrs. Goldman’s home featured porcelains grouped by color, with those exhibited in the living room ranging from lemon-yellow to emerald-green and lavender-blue, beautifully interspersed with delicate works of art in gilt-bronze and wood. In the dining room, her impressive collection of luminous white Dehua porcelains was featured opposite rich works in tixi lacquer, creating an elegant display to please the eye. The sale comprises 120 lots including contemporary Chinese paintings, Dehua wares and monochrome porcelains, works of art and scholar’s objects.

SPECIAL EXHIBITION

From Protégé to Master: The Chinese Painting Collection of Harold Wong

March 16 – 20, 2024
Viewing: Sat-Tue, 10am-5pm; Wed, 10am-2pm 
Lecture: Sunday, March 17th at 6:30pm (registration required)

Christie’s is honored to present this special highlight exhibition in New York during Asian Art Week. From Protégé to Master: The Chinese Painting Collection of Harold Wong is a non-selling exhibition that will open in Hong Kong this spring to commemorate the legacy of Harold Wong, a celebrated connoisseur, collector, gallerist, artist, and leading figure in the international Chinese art scene. Born in 1943, Harold Wong developed a keen interest in traditional Chinese art, culture, and literature at a young age under the guidance of his father, Wong Pao Hsie. Tutored by the venerable master Madam Koo Tsin-yaw, Wong became an accomplished painter who exhibited his work as early as 1962. His extensive Chinese paintings and calligraphy collection continued his family heritage and forged new paths. It exemplified his passion for classical paintings and calligraphy by Ming and Qing dynasty masters with a focus on calligraphic couplets, late Qing dynasty Shanghai painters, and representative 20th-century artists, many of whom were family friends who enriched his journey as an artist and collector. The upcoming exhibition will showcase Harold Wong’s unwavering pursuit of beauty and knowledge and celebrate his life as a contemporary Chinese scholar-gentleman.

There will also be a short lecture by Catherine Maudsley, art advisor, curator, and art historian, on Sunday, March 17th at 6:30pm during our reception. Please contact Sophia Zhou at (212) 636-2552 or [email protected] for more information.

Guided Tours

Saturday, 16 March at 11am
Monday, 18 March at 11am
Meet at the front reception desk

Also join their guided tours of Asian Art Week galleries with Robert D. Mowry, the senior consultant, who will share his insights on the history and provenance behind this season’s collection of fascinating works.

For full details, click here.