Fisherman

Wu Zhen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wu Zhen lived the life of a recluse. He was never very famous or successful during his lifetime, but in the Ming period he came to be designated one of the Four Great Masters of the late Yuan dynasty and his style was favored by many Ming painters, most notably Shen Zhou (1427–1509). Wu was fond of doing "ink-plays," and his drawing shows a cartoonlike simplicity and directness. Accompanying the hermit-fisherman, a symbol of the late Yuan unemployed scholar, Wu Zhen's poetic colophon reads: Red leaves west of the village reflect evening rays, Yellow reeds on a sandy bank cast early moon shadows. Lightly stirring his oar, Thinking of returning home, He puts aside his fishing pole, and will catch no more.

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