Boating by a Willow Bank

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Evoking the scenery of Hangzhou's West Lake, this painting shows a gentleman being paddled across a placid inlet between a profusion of water lilies and a shore lined with willows. The composition recalls that of Li Jie's Fisherman's Lodge at Xisai of about 1170. As the boat glides through the silvery moonlight, stillness reigns on the cool, scented water. The simplicity of the painting recalls the spare imagery of a Tang-dynasty (618–907) quatrain: Willows still by a lotus bank, A boat drifts slowly by. Ahead, tall grass, blue distant hills, White moon in golden sky.

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