Like the 14th edition of Asia Week in New York ended this week, sales figures suggest the robust buying of the pre-pandemic years is back.
At press time, 22 of the 26 galleries and five of the six auction houses participating in the nine-day event reported a total of $131.7 million in sales, organizers said. All five auction houses – Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Doyle and Heritage – have wrapped up their live and online sales, while iGavelAuctions has its final sale scheduled for April 18.
This year’s total, a welcome return to high spending, far exceeds 2022’s, with its relatively slim $98.6 million. It still hasn’t reached pre-pandemic numbers: 2019 saw a healthy collective total of $150.5 million, while 2017 eclipsed all other editions, raising a total of $423.7 million from 50 participating galleries and five auction houses.
Asia Week organizers attributed the success of 2023 to increased global travel. This was the first edition taking place as most of the Covid-19 related travel bans around the world have been lifted. Most notably, China has reopened its borders, allowing citizens to travel abroad without needing to quarantine, and the United States recently lifted testing requirements for travelers entering the country from China. .
Dessa Goddard, President of Asia Week New York, noted that “the increase in international travel by scholars and colleagues from around the world has once again demonstrated how New York City is a powerful magnet for us. all of whom care about celebrating our love for Asian art with our colleagues and friends.
Here are five of the best-selling items from Asia Week New York 2023.
Katsushika Hokusai
Beneath the Great Wave Pit off Kanagawa (early 1830s)
Christie’s
A rare Katsushika Hokusai The woodblock print set a new record for the artist, one of Japan’s most famous historical figures, when it sold for $2.8 million on March 23. Beneath the Great Wave Pit off Kanagawaattracted six bidders who drove the price up within 13 minutes. The sale of the work allowed Christie’s to collect nearly 67 million dollars (including premiums) on its three sales during Asia Week.
Hokusai’s “wave” series, which he began in the early 1800s, remains one of his most recognizable bodies of work. Introduced to the European market in the mid-19th century, these prints depict boaters braving stormy conditions in the waters off Tokyo, with Mount Fuji visible in the background.
Also known as Big wave, the print is Hokusai’s flagship piece and a symbol of Japanese artistic heritage. The exact number of prints produced remains a mystery, as does how many prints still exist. The most coveted prints are the older ones, with sharper lines and a subtle cloud against a pale pink sky, like those on display in this iconic print.
White Porcelain Moon Jar (18th Century)
Christie’s
White porcelain moon jar (Joseon dynasty, 18th century). Courtesy of Christies.
Additionally, an 18th-century moon pot sold at Christie’s for nearly $4.6 million, far exceeding its estimate of $1 million and setting a new record for the distinctive category of Korean pottery.
Moon pots are a style of round white porcelain pots made in the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), particularly in the 18th century. This particular vessel is nearly 18 inches (46 centimeters) tall, making it tall for a traditional moon jar. He’s formed of two parts joined in the center, or belly, and set with a short, slightly everted neck. It is applied with a glossy, translucent glaze.
“Beautiful 18th-century moon jars are exceedingly rare, and this soft white sphere is a superb example,” noted a statement from Christie’s New York. Previously, the pot belonged to a private owner in Japan.
A total of 19 pieces of Korean art, including porcelain pots and paintings, were listed in Christie’s Japanese and Korean Art auction, including a smaller white porcelain moon pot from a similar era which sold for $100,800.
Maqbool Fida Husain, Bulls (1961)
Sotheby’s
Maqbool Fida Husain, Bulls (1961). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
From its South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction on March 20, Sotheby’s sold Maqbool Fida HusainIt is Bulls (1961) for a record $2.7 million, well exceeding its estimate of $1–1.5 million. The auction, which featured 75 lots spanning India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, helped propel the house to a total of $32.5 million across five Asia Week sales .
The head of the auction was Bulls, one of the most important works of the Indian modernist, who died in 2011 at the age of 95. “He embodies the very essence of Husain, modernizing the mythology to deliver a secular message,” said Manjari Sihare-Sutin, Vice President, Specialist, and Head of Sales. The artwork depicts a bull with clean, bold brushstrokes, including a blue handprint on the animal’s body. Sotheby’s noted that the image evokes the Hand of Fatima and the Hamsa, symbols of luck and protection throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
The painting appeared on the cover of Husain (Abrams), a 1971 monograph on the artist that introduced him to a global audience and marked a turning point in his career. Three years later, Bulls was exhibited in the artist’s first solo exhibition in an American museum, the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts.
Jade ceremonial ax (Neolithic period)
Sotheby’s
Archaic (Yue) jade ceremonial ax (Zhou dynasty). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Another Sotheby’s auction, Important Chinese Art, which included extraordinary pieces of porcelain, antique ceramics, jade and furniture from private and museum collections, fetched more than $12.2 million in sales. Among the most notable objects was a Neolithic jade ceremonial ax from the Guennol Collection. Estimated between $400,000 and $600,000, it sold for over a million dollars.
The axe, with its simple yet powerful silhouette, is exceptional for the varied colors of the jade stone. The central stripe, intentionally incorporated into the design, runs through the middle. “It is an embodiment of the ingenuity and imagination of ancient Chinese sculptors,” Sotheby’s said, “who achieved perfection in working with this precious material using only primitive tools.”
“As the level of craftsmanship involved in the creation of jade objects was an indication of the importance of its owner,” the auction house added, it is likely that the ax “belonged to a powerful person who was in a position to order such an important piece.”
Cong Gray Jade (Neolithic Period)
Bonham
Neolithic Marbled Gray Jade Cong (ca. 3000–2500 BCE). Courtesy of Bonhams.
At Bonhams, a massive 13-tier gray jade cong from China’s Neolithic period sold for more than 50 times its estimate, for $1.5 million at a gallery auction New York-based JJ Lally & Co. In total, the auction house raked in $21 million from all of its sales – the biggest Asian week yet for the company, a spokesperson told ArtnetNews.
A cong is a cylindrical vessel enclosed in a square prism that tapers from top to bottom and is usually hollowed out by drilling. This cong features a jade stone with olive green tones and dates from 3000 to 2500 BC, placing it in the time of the Liangzhu culture. It was sold in the first of a two-part auction of the collection of Asian artifacts by dealer and connoisseur James J. Lally, who announced his retirement in 2021.
Other coveted items from the March 20 sale included a Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD) white glazed stoneware pot and lid, a jade figure of a recumbent beast (220-589 AD.D.), and a rare silver meiping – or plum blossom vase – from the 12th to 13th centuries.
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