Last week, two prints of Hokusai’s The Great Wave fetched over $800,000 each at auction in New York. Both Christie’s and Bonhams sold a print of the iconic ukiyo-e seascape in sales that coincided with Asia Week New York.
Christie’s and Bonhams Sell Six-Figure Great Wave Prints
On September 17, Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave headlined Christie’s New York sale of Japanese and Korean art, where it fetched $858,800 against an estimate of $500,000-$700,000. The next day, Bonhams presented its version of the Edo Period woodblock print in a sale of Japanese prints and watercolors from a private collection. Bonhams’ version of The Great Wave notably depicts a smaller version of Mount Fuji than many other prints in the series. It sold for $889,500—higher than the Christie’s version but within the pre-sale estimate of $700,000-$900,000.
The Great Wave at Auction
While last week’s sales of The Great Wave exceeded or achieved their high estimates, the winning bids did not beat the top five highest prices for prints sold since 2019. The all-time auction record for a print of The Great Wave was set earlier this year when Christie’s sold one to an anonymous telephone bidder for $2.8 million, shattering the pre-auction estimate of $500,000-700,000.
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterPrints of Hokusai’s The Great Wave were not always as sought-after as they are today. Capucine Korenberg, a researcher at the British Museum, speculated in a 2020 article that 19th-century Japanese printmakers could have produced up to 8,000 prints of The Great Wave before the woodblocks wore out. At the time, original prints would have been relatively inexpensive. Today, however, only a fraction of the prints survive, and the image has become one of art history’s most ubiquitous.
Other Asia Week New York Auction Results
Several notable Asian art auctions coincided with the September 2024 edition of Asia Week New York. Hokusai generated a lot of interest during these sales—even beyond the two six-figure Great Wave sales. Christie’s sold an original Hokusai ink painting, Swimming Carp, for $655,200 after a competitive bidding war. Its pre-sale estimate was $250,000-300,000. Bonhams also sold a complete set of Hokusai’s ōban tate-e prints—titled Shokoku taki meguri (A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces)—for $508,500 against an estimate of $450,000-550,000.
Christie’s September 18 auction of South Asian Modern and Contemporary art generated a total of $9.4 million with a 98% sell-through rate. A key highlight of the sale was an abstract painting by Indian artist Jehangir Sabavala. The Radiant Spheres (1963) sold for $730,800, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate of $250,000-350,000. On the same date, Sotheby’s sale of Chinese art brought in $15.3 million, with many items exceeding their pre-sale estimates.
