Insects and Grasses

Insects and Grasses

Yamamoto Baiitsu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This consummate summer subject, painted by Nagoya literatus Yamamoto Baiitsu in his mature period, shows his mastery of the "boneless" brushwork technique and his deft powers of observation. Each of the more than fifty insects on this scroll, many lifted lightheartedly from the pages of the Chinese Mustard Seed Garden Manual, are given life and movement through the most economical of painted means. The composition, too, is particularly effective, launching the flying and crawling insects across the horizontal space in an extended arabesque. At the end of the scroll, on the left, the artist's signature and date are given.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.