A monumental gilt-bronze figure of Panjarnata Mahakala, Mark and Period of Xuande, overall Height: 29 1/8 in. (74 cm); Estimate US$4,000,000- US$6,000,000, Wrathful Deities: Masterworks from the Bodhimanda Foundation

During Asia Week New York, Sotheby’s will present extraordinary and diverse collections of Asian art spanning 4,000 years of history. Poised to lead the week-long sale series are two monumental early Ming Imperial bronze masterpieces from the Bodhimanda Foundation. The works will headline Sotheby’s March Asian Art sales on 19 March in a two-lot sale – “Wrathful Deities: Masterworks from the Bodhimanda Foundation” – together expected to achieve more than $7 million.

Additional annual March Asian Art auctions include the storied Virginia & Ravi Akhoury Collection, Chinese Art with works from the Newark Museum, and much more listed below.

Wrathful Deities: Masterworks from the Bodhimanda Foundation
Auction: Tuesday, March 19 at 9:00am EDT
Viewing: March 14-15, 17-18, 10am-5pm; March 16, 10am-6pm

This March, Sotheby’s is privileged to present two monumental early Ming Imperial bronze masterpieces from the Bodhimanda Foundation, being sold to raise funds to secure a permanent museum display for its Buddhist art collection. These spectacularly large gilt-bronze figures are not only of the highest quality but also exemplify the distinct Yuan-inspired style of the Imperial Ming workshop where they were produced. Already singular masterpieces at the time of their creation and the largest examples of their type ever to appear at auction, they embody one of the finest legacies of that golden era of early 15th-century China, their quality, sculptural beauty and spiritual power immediately eclipsing the greatest technological advances of the last six centuries.

The Panjarnata Mahakala is by far the largest early Ming reign-marked bronze in private hands, measuring 74 cm. high, outranked only by two Yongle bodhisattvas, one at Qinghai Provincial Museum, the other at the Cernuschi Museum in Paris. The sheer power and adamantine casting of the protector deity marks it out as one of the greatest Imperial Tibeto-Chinese bronzes of the early Ming dynasty. The Kapaladhara Hevajra is also of exceptional size, measuring 66 cm. high, and coupled with its extraordinary tour-de-force of quality is unparalleled in any museum or private collection.

The Virginia & Ravi Akhoury Collection
Auction: Monday, March 18 at 11:00am EDT
Viewing: March 14, 15 & 17, 10am-5pm; March 16, 10am-6pm

The storied Virginia & Ravi Akhoury Collection is a curated selection of high caliber works from across the region. From a 1958 masterpiece by Francis Newton Souza, to stellar early paintings by Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar and Jehangir Sabavala, to a selection of Indian contemporary artists, the Akhoury Collection tells important stories within the art history of South Asia. A wide range of themes and periods are explored, including colorful, vibrant works by Maqbool Fida Husain, Anjolie Ela Menon and Jagdish Swaminathan.

Sayed Haider Raza, Tout Houses, Gouache on paper, 19 ⅛ x 21 ⅝ in. (48.8 x 54.9 cm), painted in 1952; Estimate: US$250,000-US$350,000, Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art

Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art
Auction: Monday, March 18 at 11:30am EDT
Viewing: March 14, 15 & 17, 10am-5pm; March 16, 10am-6pm

Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary South Asian auction comprises exceptional works by the Subcontinent’s most celebrated creators. The auction is led by a monumental 1959 painting by the lauded artist Sayed Haider Raza titled Kallisté, Akbar Padamsee’s 1962 stylized portrait, Head, is the other leading lot in the sale, and from the Estate of Bhupen Khakhar hail two masterpieces by the artist, Hatha Yogi and Savita.

A rare imperial gilt-decorated iron-red and underglaze-blue ‘dragon’ seal paste box and cover, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing; Estimate: US$200,000-US$300,000, Chinese Art

Chinese Art
Auction: Tuesday, March 19 & Wednesday March 20 at 9:15am EDT
Viewing: March 14-15, 17-18, 10am-5pm; March 16, 10am-6pm

Indian & Himalayan Art
Auction: Thursday, March 21 at 10:00am EDT
Viewing: March 14-15, 17-20, 10am-5pm; March 16, 10am-6pm

SELLING EXHIBITION
Foundations of Abstraction: Paintings From the Estate of C. C. Wang
March 14-20, 2024
Viewing: Mon–Fri & Sun, 10am-5pm; Sat, 10am-6pm

SPECIAL EXHIBITION
Eminent People of the Qing Dynasty: An Exhibition of Imperial Portraits from the Collection of Dora Wong
March 14-20, 2024
Viewing: Mon–Fri & Sun, 10am-5pm; Sat, 10am-6pm

For full details, click here.