Lotuses on a summer evening

Lotuses on a summer evening

Yun Shouping

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lotuses, a tour de force of "boneless" (color washes with no ink outlines) painting on paper, shows Yun as the most brilliant and subtle colorist of his time. Although the depiction recalls the realism of Song Painting Academy flower paintings, the artist insists in his colophon that he "merely followed the inclination of [his] brushwork in making dots and washes, benefiting from exhilarating accidents and not searching for physical verisimilitude."

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lotuses on a summer eveningLotuses on a summer eveningLotuses on a summer eveningLotuses on a summer eveningLotuses on a summer evening

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.