Utamaro masterpiece sells for $7.1M, setting record

Kitagawa Utamaro’s handscroll Fukagawa in Snow sold for HK$55.3 million ($7.1 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on November 22, setting an auction record for the artist and becoming one of the most expensive ukiyo-e paintings ever sold after more than 35 bids.thevalue

The three-meter-wide painting was the top lot from the Okada Museum of Art sale that achieved a rare 100% sell-through rate across all 125 lots, totaling over HK$688 million ($88.4 million), with works consigned by court-appointed receivers to settle a $50 million legal debt owed by museum founder Kazuo Okada following his dispute with Wynn Resorts.thevalue

The winning bid was likely placed from Japan, easing concerns from Tochigi City officials who feared losing the cultural treasure overseas, while other highlights included Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave selling for HK$21.7 million and his A Summer Morning fetching HK$20.5 million.thevalue

Utamaro’s Monumental ‘Fukagawa in Snow’ Sets Record at $7.1 Million in Hong Kong

Kitagawa Utamaro’s monumental handscroll Fukagawa in Snow sold for HK$55.3 million ($7.1 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on November 22, setting a new auction record for the ukiyo-e master after more than 30 bids. The painting, measuring over three meters wide, was the top lot in a historic white-glove sale of 125 works from Japan’s Okada Museum of Art that generated HK$688 million ($88.4 million) and achieved a rare 100% sell-through rate.thevalue

The work went to a Japanese private collector after an eight-minute bidding battle, far exceeding its HK$8 million high estimate. Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia chairman and worldwide head of Asian art, described the collection as “the most significant collection of East Asian art to come to auction in recent memory”.observer

Record-Breaking Results Across the Collection

The sale saw 19 lots surpass the $1 million mark. Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic Under the Wave off Kanagawa, widely known as The Great Wave, fetched HK$21.7 million ($2.8 million)—nearly triple its high estimate—after fierce competition between bidders in the room, on the phone, and online. Hokusai’s A Summer Morning sold for HK$20.5 million ($2.6 million), nearly tripling its estimate after 22 bids.artnews

Chinese and Korean works also performed strongly. A Ya Yi fanglei vessel from the late Shang dynasty achieved HK$38.8 million ($4.9 million), nearly ten times its high estimate after 45 bids, while a Qianlong period doucai-decorated vase sold for HK$33.9 million ($4.4 million).observer

Museum Sale Tied to Legal Dispute

The works were consigned “by an agent of the court-appointed receivers over the shares of Okada Fine Art Limited,” according to a special notice from Sotheby’s, to settle a $50 million legal bill owed by museum founder Kazuo Okada. The 83-year-old billionaire, former chairman of Tokyo-based Universal Entertainment Corp., faced the debt following a protracted dispute with casino magnate Steve Wynn.thevalue

In 2018, Wynn Resorts agreed to pay Okada’s company $2.6 billion to settle litigation stemming from his forced ouster as vice-chairman in 2012. However, when Okada’s law firm, Bartlit Beck, presented him with a $50 million contingent fee, he refused to pay. The firm successfully pursued the amount through binding arbitration, with federal courts upholding the decision in 2022.nytimes

Utamaro’s previous auction record was set in 2016, when Deeply Hidden Love sold for €745,800 (approximately $841,000) at Beaussant Lefèvre in association with Christie’s. Fukagawa in Snow is one of only three surviving works from Utamaro’s famed Snow, Moon, and Flowers triptych; the other two panels are held in American museum collections at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.artsy