A Complete Set Of Mount Fuji Karya Hokusai Prints To Be Auctioned In New York In March

The Great Wafe off Kanagawa by Hokusai (Wikimedia Commons/Metropolitan Museum of Art)

JAKARTA - A complete set consisting of 46 ukiyo-e wood block prints by Katsushika Hokusai, featuring Mount Fuji in Japan will be auctioned at the Christie's New York Auction Hall, United States in March.

The auction house said it estimated the print in the series titled "Thirtens and Six Views of Mount Fuji," which was created between 1830 and 1833, would sell for millions of US dollars in total.

"The last complete set appeared in the market more than 20 years ago, in 2002," Takaaki Murakami, head of Japan's and Korea's department of art Christie's in New York, said.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is an expert in making Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Edo, now named Tokyo.

The series Mount Fuji, which is one of his most famous works, depicts Japan's highest mountain peak, in southwest Tokyo, from a different point of view in different seasons, according to information on Christie's website.

"Some of the prints in this set are previous prints, while others are newer prints. This series is not published as a set, but published in several stages," said Murakami.

Previously, the artwork "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" of the same series sold for $2.76 million at Christie's. Murakami said the previous auction was not "comparable" to the upcoming auction for a complete set.

According to the auction house, the seller is a citizen of Uncle Sam's country, without explaining further.