Last week, when all eyes were on the $2. 2 billion marquee sales in New York, Sotheby’s achieved another historic result in Hong Kong with the white-glove sale of masterpieces from Japan’s Okada Museum of Art, which generated HK$688 million becoming renowned for his bijin-ga, or portraits of beautiful women-especially in the okubi-e style, characterized by large-headed bust portraits. Female figures sit at the very center of this monumental print, whose vibrant storytelling encapsulates all the elements that made Utamaro one of the most celebrated ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period. Today, the work stands as an extraordinary testament to his virtuosity and the cultural world of the licensed pleasure quarters. The other top lot of the session was Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), widely known as The Great Wave, which fetched HK$21, 725, 000-far exceeding its HK$8,000,000 high estimate. Approximately 8, 000 impressions were produced of the work, though only about 130 prints survive. Comparable examples can be found in the collections of the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There was also heated competition for three other iconic prints from Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, each of which surpassed its high estimate. Another masterpiece of Hokusai’s beauty portraiture, A Summer Morning (Natsu no asa), soared to HK$20, 505, 000 ($2, 634, 277), pushed by 22 bids to nearly triple its HK$7,000,000 high estimate. Similarly intense bidding-with 42 bids-ratcheted up the price of Ito Jakuchu’s (1716-1800) poetic Cockerel among Flowers to six times its estimate, with the work ultimately selling for HK$9,525,000 ($1,223,677). Advisory Gurr Johns managed the museum liquidation Global art advisory and appraisal firm Gurr Johns managed the entire deaccessioning process-from appraisal to sale, and all legal and tax requirements-over more than two years. The Okada Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan (founded in 2013 by billionaire collector Kazuo Okada), was compelled to sell this trove of masterworks to settle a roughly $50 million legal bill owed by Okada. “After meeting a litigator in Miami who asked me if we could appraise and help sell an Asian art museum collection, Gurr Johns was engaged to appraise the Okada Museum Collection on behalf of the corporate receivers in a Hong Kong bankruptcy case,” president Charlie Horne told Observer. “The collection, comprising masterworks of Asian art, required a comprehensive valuation to establish a foundation for both legal and commercial decision-making.” Following completion of the appraisal, Gurr Johns was awarded the highly competitive consignment mandate over leading international auction houses. “Our independence as an advisory firm, combined with our ability to tailor solutions across jurisdictions, proved decisive in moving this complex matter forward,” Horne added, explaining how, in close collaboration with New York and Hong Kong counsel, they developed a bespoke consignment structure. “Particular care was taken to address the legal requirements of a receivership sale while simultaneously preserving the value and integrity of the collection.” Stellar results for Chinese and Korean Art The Ya Yi fanglei vessel, dated to the late Shang dynasty, sold for HK$38,805,000 ($4,985,278), after more than 45 bids for nearly ten times its high estimate. A fine doucai gilt-decorated “bajixiang” tianqiuping vase from the Qianlong period squarely met expectations, achieving HK$33,925,000 ($4,358,345) after a HK$60,000,000 high estimate. A superb celadon-glazed lotus-mouth bottle vase of the Yongzheng period soared to HK$30,875,000 (US$3,966,511), nearly doubling its high estimate after 23 bids. Strong demand also propelled an extremely rare Tang dynasty sancai-glazed hawk-form ewer to HK$22, 945, 000 (approximately US$2, 947, 744)-eight times its high estimate, with 31 bids placed.
https://observer.com/2025/11/auction-results-sothebys-hong-kong-okada-museum-masterpieces-sale-688-million/
Utamaro’s ‘Fukagawa in Snow’ Led Sotheby’s HK$688M Sale of Works from the Okada Museum of Art
