DALLAS, TX.- On Thursday, June 27, Heritage continued its successful run of auctions featuring works from the collection of Ruth Nelkin – in this case nearly 250 remarkable Japanese woodblock prints by such masters as Katsushika Hokusai, Takahashi Hiroaki, Yoshida Hiroshi and more. The event brought in $2.212 million, almost $500,000 above the auction's high estimate, with only two lots unsold. Some of Hokusai's most iconic works led the charge that day, with works by Hiroshi, Torii Kotondo and Kawase Hasui also landing in top-selling spots.

Ruth Nelkin of Stamford, Connecticut and New York City was a collector known for her killer eye and exquisite taste in iconic Japanese prints, fine and antique jewelry, remarkable Fabergé and Russian works of art, virtuoso pieces of French art glass and a trove of classic American paintings. This year Heritage has introduced the various parts of her gracious collection to the public in a handful of significant auctions, including Heritage's June 27 Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Nelkin Collection Part I Signature® Auction. Most of the items in The Nelkin Collection have not seen the market in more than 30 years, and all proceeds from their sale go to charities that were close to the Nelkin family's hearts.

"The success of this auction is a clear endorsement of exceptional quality within the Nelkin Collection and Heritage's ability to handle what was a relatively new category with the utmost level of professional auctioneering," says Nick Dawes, Heritage's Senior Vice President of Special Collections. "Our international team cataloged, presented, marketed, and sold the collection superbly. Professional buyers present at the event commented on how well we did and how ‘nothing was left on the table.'"

The top three sellers in the auction were woodblock prints by perhaps the most recognizable Japanese printmaker in modern history: Katsushika Hokusai. His complete series Eight Views of the Ryukyu Islands (Ryukyu Hakkei), circa 1832 – which he created to commemorate the Ryukyu tribute mission's arrival in Edo – sold for $156,250; and his Lilies, from the series known as Large Flowers, circa 1833, sold for $109,375. A work from his series A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku taki meguri), circa 1832, brought $75,000. Another work by Hokusai that landed within the top ten performers in the event is Ashi Clam with Cranes Near the Waves, from his series Genroku Shell-Matching Game (Genroku Kasen Kai-awase), circa 1821, which brought $37,500.

Yoshida Hiroshi is one of the legendary artists whose works inspired not only countless Japanese artists but also artists, designers, collectors, and institutions from near and far after Japan's ports opened to the West in the 1850s. Sometimes the exchange of aesthetic vernaculars went both ways, as Hiroshi was influenced by artists J.M.W. Turner and Claude Monet. On Thursday, the six works from his 1926 series The Inland Sea (Seto Naikai shu) (six works), depicting Japan's serene coastal landscapes with tranquil waters, quaint fishing villages, and majestic seascapes and infused with dynamic light and shadow, sold for $62,500. Torii Kotondo's circa 1930 print Morning Hair (Asa negami), stunning portrait with intricate details, sold for $50,000.

An auction of iconic Japanese prints would not be complete without the presence of Kawase Hasui, and his 1922 work Snow at Zojo Temple (Yuki no Zojoji), which depicts a winter scene with falling snow indicative of the shin-hanga movement, brought $45,000. Ryuryukyo Shinsai's circa-1820 A Leaping Carp with Poems sold for $37,500, as did Ito Shinsui's After the Bath (Yuagari), from 1917. "The Nelkins' varied possessions had one common denominator: Quality," says Dawes. "Ruth Nelkin sought and found items of the highest caliber in every category. Above all, however, was her passion for ukiyo-e, the Japanese art of woodblock printmaking. Ruth Nelkin safeguarded these treasures during her lifetime, and now other collectors have benefited from her connoisseurship and exquisite taste."

Complete results for Heritage's June 27 Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Nelkin Collection Part I Signature® Auction can be found at HA.com/8151.

And please stay tuned: On September 25, Heritage will present Japanese Woodblock Prints From the Nelkin Collection, Part II. Highlights will preview at Heritage locations in New York, Dallas and Tokyo. A third event coincides with New York Spring Asia Week in 2025.