Squirrel and Grapes

Sha Fu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Suzhou the Sha family owned a famous shop selling woodblock prints, which was destroyed by the Taiping occupation in 1860. Sha Fu found asylum in Shanghai and continued the family tradition of painting figures, particularly beautiful women, popularizing the genre in Shanghai. Artists like Sha Fu who made their living by selling paintings of popular subjects in the inexpensive fan format were no longer déclassé in Shanghai in the late 19th century. Fans were gifts often exchanged among friends, and a bourgeois clientele enjoyed the company of a favorite artist, regarding him as something of a celebrity.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art