Asia Week comes twice a year, in March and September, anchored by weeklong auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. March is usually the much larger affair, as international dealers descend to present their wares at the Asian Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory and galleries around town. For collectors, it’s mandatory. Next week the other, more modest Asia Week begins.

This time around, the auction houses decided to ramp up the fall offerings. Their optimism is clearly justified after the success of the spring sales in New York (and later on in the season, in Hong Kong), which shattered records. “People are not just looking to shop once a year,” said Indian and Southeast Asian dealer Carlton Rochell, who decided to organize a special fall exhibition, “Icons of Devotion” (September 20-October 15), to tap into the current collecting frenzy. “The economy has been stable and Asian art, in particular, is a robust market. Judging from the number of phone calls I’ve received, and the number of people coming to town, the momentum from March is carrying over.”

The auction houses are clearly attuned to this global demand. With the rapidly expanding Chinese and Indian economies, more people are hot to acquire and willing to spend. They have sent several market sectors soaring – especially Imperial Chinese artifacts, contemporary Indian painting, and Tibetan bronzes.

Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s are holding a total of six sales next week, and there is more at stake than the gamble that Asian collectors will be in the mood to buy, because the houses haven’t equally enjoyed this boom. Last March, Christie’s put Sotheby’s to shame, grossing a record $20 million versus Sotheby’s $8.6 million total. Christie’s held three sales, while Sotheby’s fielded just two.

This season, Sotheby’s seems to be aiming to get its numbers up. It is trying out a new formula, holding its regular “Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art” sale and “Southeast Asian and India” sales, while adding “The Arts of Buddha,” a sale that crosses many countries and periods. With the third sale, they are projecting a total take of $14.5 million to $19.5 million – getting up towards Christie’s projected $23 million to $31.6 million total.

“The Arts of Buddha” is filled with just what you’d think: images of Buddha, in wood, bronze, ceramic, limestone, and many other media. There is a noticeable abundance of Gandharan Buddhas, gray shist figures from the second and third centuries, from the region that is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. These elegant figures are unmistakably Buddhas: the topknot, the elongated ear lobes. Yet they usually wear a classical robe, reflecting the melting pot that characterized the Gandharan region. In March, Sotheby’s sold a dreamy Gandharan sculpture for $730,000 – a world auction record. Hence, Gandharans are the flavor of the week. The cover lot for the Sotheby’s sale is also primed to pique the interest of a Chinese collector: an important bronze Buddha positioned in front of a famous calligraphy scroll. The gilt Chinese statue, [lot 15] a sinuous feminine Buddha that dates from the seventh or eighth century, is estimated at $300,000-$400,000. The 13th-century calligraphy scroll, by the famed Zhao Mengfu, is a short version of a Buddhist text from the “Heart Sutra.” [Lot 33] According to Mee-Seen Loong, head of Sotheby’s Asian art department, Mengfu received tea in exchange for his handiwork. Now the five very rare scrolls are expected to bring $400,000-$500,000 at auction.

That’s a lot of oolong.

Like Sotheby’s, Christie’s has a full slate of paintings by blue-chip contemporary Indian artists. This is a market driven by Indian buyers, and Christie’s has given over its entire afternoon session on September 23 to painting.

It begins with lush 18th- and 19th century Indian miniatures before sweeping into the 20th century. Names to watch in this field are Maqbool Fida Husain (prices hover in the $20,000-$40,000 range for oils) and Francis Newton Souza. A painting by Mr. Souza went for $150,000 in March – so expect to see some shocking numbers for pictures that were trading much more cheaply even two years ago.

Christie’s also has a strong sale of Japanese and Korean artworks – not the strongest area of the market, with both of those countries’ economies in the dumps. But there is indeed crossover buying for the rare and beautiful. Expect to see fierce bidding for a 17th-century pair of six-paneled screens representing the first encounter between Portuguese traders and the Japanese ashore in Nagasaki, estimated at $300,000-$400,000.

But the Chinese market is the strongest, and the important pieces in the Chinese sale encompass furniture, bronzes, and ceramics. In March, a bronze ritual vessel sold at Christie’s for $1.4 million. Christie’s has now landed a slew of bronzes, including several owned by Doris Duke. A rare 11th-century bronze, in the form of two owls, cost Duke $10,000 in 1937. The estimate is now $600,000-$800,000. The most expensive wine vessel in the sale is a 10thcentury work, from the same Shang dynasty period, decorated with dragons covered with abstract designs. It is estimated at $1 million to $1.3 million.

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While the auction houses are feting the Asian elite next week, Sotheby’s is also hosting a weeklong celebration of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Clearly the auction houses are looking into their crystal balls at the future of art collecting and evidently the action will be taking place far away in distant lands. Watch this space next week for updates on what the Russians are up to.