Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction in Hong Kong on 28 September achieved HK$335 million (US$43.1 million), with a 95% sell-through rate across 40 lots. The top lot was Yoshitomo Nara's 2012 painting *Can't Wait 'til the Night Comes*, which sold for HK$79.9 million (US$10.3 million) to a private Asian collector. A group of five works by Roy Lichtenstein from the artist's personal collection also debuted at auction, collectively bringing HK$46.4 million (US$5.9 million).
The sale underscores sustained demand for Nara's emotionally charged portraits of young girls in the Asian market, where several of his works have surpassed HK$100 million. The painting's creation after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake—and Nara's subsequent shift toward softer, meditative compositions—adds biographical and historical weight to its market performance. The inclusion of Lichtenstein works, rare in Asian auctions, signals growing cross-regional appetite for Western Pop art.