On a November evening in Hong Kong, 125 works of art went under the hammer at Sotheby's. By the time the final gavel fell, every single piece had sold, bringing in HK$688 million (£66.9 million). The result affirmed strong demand for museum-grade Asian art.
The collection, titled ‘Masterpieces of Asian Art’, was built by the Okada Museum of Art in Japan over decades – ancient bronzes, imperial porcelain, and delicate woodblock prints capturing fleeting moments of 18th-century Japanese life. Now, billionaire founder Kazuo Okada was selling it all.
Bidding wars erupted from the start. An Edo-period handscroll ignited fierce competition, climbing more than six times its estimate. Other iconic works followed suit, with some tripling and others quadrupling their projections. Lot after lot exceeded estimates, which, in retrospect, were rather modest.
But behind these numbers lies a harder story. These artworks reached the auction block to settle legal debts, the aftermath of a bitter feud between Okada and casino magnate Steve Wynn. What began as a business partnership ended in courtrooms and a $50 million bill (£39 million).
This white-glove sale proves something essential: when art is exceptional and when provenance is unquestionable, collectors will always find a way to say yes.
Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia chairman and worldwide head of Asian art, commented, “The sale captivated collectors worldwide, from Japan and China to Europe and the US, igniting fierce competition and achieving auction records, culminating in a white-glove result. This vibrant finale to the Hong Kong Asian art sales series this season sends a strong signal for the Asian art market.”
Stars of the Sale
The undisputed highlight of the auction was Kitagawa Utamaro’s handscroll 'Fukagawa in Snow'. Estimated at HK$6–8 million (£490,000–£776,480), it ultimately sold for over six times its estimate, fetching HK$55.2 million (£5.3 million).
Measuring over three metres wide, the painting is among the Edo period’s grandest handscrolls. Believed to have been commissioned by a wealthy merchant in Tochigi, it is the only surviving work in Japan from Utamaro’s celebrated triptych 'Snow, Moon, and Flowers'.
The scroll stretches across a sweeping panorama, revealing the vibrant life of a Fukagawa teahouse in Edo. Through the fukinuki-yatai, or “blown-off roof” perspective, Utamaro captures geisha, attendants, and visitors engaged in music, games, and everyday routines, each gesture rendered with delicate precision. Snow-laden pines outside the openings provide a serene backdrop, while rich pigments and intricate detailing animate all twenty-seven figures, creating a composition of inimitable scale within the artist’s oeuvre.
A rapid, dramatic cascade of bids propelled Fukagawa in Snow from its HK$5 million (£486,000) opening to a hammer price of HK$45 million (£4.3 million). Over nine intense minutes, more than 35 offers flew between an online bidder and at least three on the phone until Tokyo-based Senior Advisor Yasuaki Ishizaka secured the lot for his client, paddle 6779.
Another notable highlight was Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura),' widely known as ‘The Great Wave’, which fetched HK$21.7 million (approximately £2.1 million), nearly triple its initial estimate. Created around 1830–1832 for the series ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’, the woodblock print uses ink and paper, showcasing Hokusai’s signature palette of indigo and imported Prussian blue.
The painting offers a dramatic study in the power of contrast and the sheer majesty of nature: a wave rises with immense force, curling into a moment of suspended motion as claw-like foam reaches for the small boats below. The theatre of the moment is heightened through scale: the wave commands the scene while distant Mount Fuji remains quiet and steady. Within this contrast, the print captures a brief pause amid turmoil, with the rowers appearing fragile against the surging sea and the mountain offering a calm, enduring counterpoint.
Three other celebrated prints from Hokusai’s 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' and his illustrious portraiture ‘A Summer Morning’ commanded fierce bidding, with all of them selling for well above their estimate. Of the 125 lots on offer, 19 fetched more than $1.2 million. Among the standout highlights were the 'Ya Yi fanglei', a rare vessel from one of the Shang dynasty’s most legendary clans, which sold for $4.9 million; a Qianlong-period doucai vase with gilt bajixiang motifs, securing $4.3 million; and a Yongzheng-period celadon bottle vase with a lotus-shaped mouth, which reached $3.9 million.
Final Thoughts
For discerning collectors across the region, the Okada sale offers a powerful thesis: museum-quality works from the East remain among the most resilient alternative investments. These aren't just cultural treasures; they're tangible stores of value with centuries of historical appreciation. While markets fluctuate and trends shift, pieces like Utamaro's handscroll demonstrate the enduring appetite for heritage marvels. Works that have survived wars, regime changes, and seismic cultural shifts hold an appeal no contemporary asset can match.
With the gavel falling, paddles lowered, and the legal bills settled, the sheer gravity of this event can be absorbed in full. While the dispersal of such a lovingly built collection carries its own sadness, there's poetry in the outcome: these celebrated pieces now command a global spotlight and have entered a new, promising chapter. In the end, the white-glove result proved what matters most: great art speaks for itself.
