Editor’s Note
Heritage Auctions is offering a rare opportunity to view masterpieces by Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Yamamura in Tokyo this September, ahead of their sale. This preview provides a close look at these significant ukiyo-e works.
Heritage Auctions, headquartered in Texas, USA, is hosting a preview exhibition at its Tokyo office from September 4-6 and 9-11, ahead of its scheduled Japanese woodblock print collection auction in late September. Visitors can view and examine the condition of works by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kōka Yamamura free of charge.
The works on display at the preview are to be auctioned in “Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Nelkin Collection Part II Signature Auction” in Dallas, Texas on September 25, and in “Part III” scheduled for March 2025. They come from the collection of the late American collector Ruth Sylvia Nelkin, who amassed a wide range of works including representative Japanese prints, antique jewelry, Fabergé and Russian art, French art glass, and American landscape paintings.
The works for auction were selected in collaboration with Japanese art expert and independent consultant Sachiko Hori, who has over 30 years of career experience. All proceeds from the auction are scheduled to be donated to charities supported by the Nelkin family, such as the American Red Cross and Greenpeace.
This preview offers a chance to see diverse works, including Hokusai’s representative piece “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” from the series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” which was also adopted on the reverse side of the new banknotes issued this July. Other works include Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Snowy Sumida River” (triptych), Gyokudo Kamisaka’s “Willow Bathhouse” from the series “Yanagiban-zoku,” and Kubo Shunman’s surimono “Tea Bowl and Plum Branch.”
Dates: September 4-6, 9-11, 10:00-17:00
Venue: Heritage Auctions Tokyo Office
Address: 6F, Toranomon Hills Mori Tower, 1-23-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Reservation: By phone (03-6257-1131) or email ([email protected]) in advance.