A rare copy of The Great Wave off Kanagawa by the Japanese artist sold at Christie’s for a record $2.76 million. Katsushika Hokusai.

The Great Wave was created in the early 1830s and depicts three fishing boats “fighting” in the wild Sea of ​​Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background. This particular copy is the result of woodcut, a technique for mass-producing copies on paper.

It is not yet known how many copies of The Big Wave existed, but those that remain today are hard to come by and are in high demand. British Museum researcher Capuchin Korenberg estimates that there may be up to 8,000 examples. In fact, in a 2020 post, she noted that copies were quite cheap in the mid-19th century.

Other copies sold in recent years have ranged in price from a few thousand dollars to over $1.5 million. However, the copy sold this week is described in the description as a “well-preserved” copy that is “undoubtedly among the 20 or so”. the best there is today.”

It is worth noting that before the auction, Christie’s estimated the work in the amount of 500,000 to 700,000 dollars.

Source: MoneyReview.gr