NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s celebrates Asian Art Week at Rockefeller Plaza with six sales, three live and three online, and an important non-selling exhibition. Live sales begin 17 September with Japanese and Korean Art, featuring important works by Hokusai, and an exciting Korean works of art section. Live sales continue 18 September with South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art, featuring extensive offerings of works by F.N. Souza and Ram Kumar. The week of live auctions culminates with a two-day sale of Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 19-20 September, which includes outstanding works from prominent collections of, ceramics, cloisonné, lacquer, jade, scholar’s objects, textiles, and classical Chinese furniture.

Three online sales complement the live auctions, all open for bidding on 11 September: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Works of Art, through 25 September; Arts of Asia Online, through 26 September; and for the first time, New Wave: Icons of Modern Japanese Prints Online, through 25 September.

ASIAN ART WEEK | LIVE AUCTION OVERVIEW

Japanese and Korean Art
17 September 2024 | 10:00 AM

This season’s Japanese and Korean Art sale is led by an important European collection of netsuke, as well as Katsushika Hokusai’s masterpiece of printmaking, the Great Wave, as well as a rare painting by Hokusai. Among the diverse selection of objects in the sale, are a fine group of Korean works of art and paintings including a painting by Park Sookeun, a superb Joseon Period blue-and-white jar, lacquer works, sculptures and ceramics.

South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art
18 September 2024 | 10:00 AM

This sale celebrates the artists who helped define modern South Asian art in the 20th century and the wide array of styles that followed in their wake. This year is the centenary of Francis Newton Souza and Ram Kumar, whom we have the honour of celebrating through a selection of masterpieces from private collections including, Souza’s Resurrected Christ and early Still Life with Relics, and a collection of dynamic early works by Ram Kumar that have never been seen before — shedding new light on the development of the artist’s oeuvre. In addition to this strong group of works by Souza and Kumar, we are pleased to present important paintings by Akbar Padamsee, Jehangir Sabavala, Sayed Haider Raza, Maqbool Fida Husain, Jagdish Swaminathan and Bikash Bhattacharjee, sculptures by Meera Mukherjee and K.G. Subramanyan, and works on paper by Tyeb Mehta, Manjit Bawa and Ganesh Haloi among others. Complementing these works by the modern masters is a group of lots by early pioneers of modernism in South Asia including Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, Nicholas Roerich, Jamini Roy, George Keyt and Mohammad Kibria.

Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
19-20 September 2024 | 9:00 AM

This sale features exceptional pieces from prominent private collections, encompassing archaic bronzes, ceramics, cloisonné enamel, lacquer, jade carvings, scholar’s objects, textiles, glass, and classical Chinese furniture. The sale is led by an exceptionally rare Xuande mark-and-period (1426-1435) blue and white reserve-decorated ‘peony’ dish. Other highlights include a curated selection of archaic bronzes from the collection of Mineo Hata, Chinese art from the collection of Fritz and Lucy Jewett, Chinese pottery and porcelains from the Stuart Collection as well as a group of Qing-dynasty monochrome porcelains from an important private American collection. The sale also presents a fine selection of classical Chinese furniture, including a very rare set of four dali-marble inset huanghuali side chairs.

ASIAN ART WEEK | ONLINE AUCTION OVERVIEW

Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Works of Art Online
11-25 September 2024

This season’s online sale features a wide selection of works from across India, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia. The so-called ‘Kodisena’ Buddha, a monumental and early inscribed grey schist figure from the ancient region of Gandhara, is the chief highlight of the auction, supplemented by other Gandharan works of art from American private collections. The Himalayan section of the sale includes a fine group of Tibetan paintings, Tibetan and Nepalese sculpture, and Buddhist ritual implements. Our auction concludes with a selection of Indian paintings from the Mughal, Rajput and Pahari courts, including an important scene of Maharao Ram Singh II of Kotah on an aquatic tiger hunt.

New Wave: Icons of Modern Japanese Prints Online
11-25 September 2024

New Wave: Icons of Modern Japanese Prints Online auction presents and introduces the essence of the 20th century Japanese woodblock print. This is led by a selection of Yoshida Hiroshi’s Sailing Boat, followed by Kawase Hasui’s Zojoji Temple and Konjikido. Other artists featured in this sale include Kobayashi Kiyoshi, Elizabeth Keith, Munakata Shiko, Ito Shinsui and more.

Arts of Asia Online
11-26 September 2024

This is a curated selection of works that span the Himalayas, China, Korea, and Japan and includes ceramics, jade carvings, furniture, lacquerwares, metalwork, sculptures, prints, paintings, and more. Highlights from the sale include a magnificent 18th-century Tibetan black ground painting of Chaturmukha Mahakala, a beautiful cat sculpture by Yabuuchi Satoshi, an exquisite ink landscape by Pu Ru, and Chinese works of art from the esteemed private collections of Alita Davis Walter Reed, the Stuart family, and Fritz and Lucy Jewett. With a wide range of estimates, Arts of Asia Online presents opportunities for both burgeoning and established collectors.

Exhibition: Francis Newton Souza: The London Years, Masterworks from the Collection of Navin Kumar
13-18 September 2024

This non-selling exhibition celebrates the birth centenary of the critically acclaimed Indian modern artist, Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002) and sheds new light on a seminal moment in the career of this most renowned of modern Indian masters. The show presents a group of major paintings alongside important works on paper, most of which have not been seen in public for more than half a century. The emphasis is on works created between 1949 and 1967, the almost two-decade period when the artist was based in London. This is the era that has come to define his career and cement his status as India’s most legendary modernist. Carefully assembled over more than 30 years by Navin Kumar, one of the first Indian gallerists in the United States, this collection illustrates Souza’s singular voice, immense talent and fascinating life, as well as his long-lasting relationship with the Kumar family in India, Europe and North America.