Woman and Child

Woman and Child

Kitagawa Utamaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this playful picture, a young boy points at his mother’s open legs. The dark green lacquered obi attracts the eye and directs it to the oddly placed still life in the foreground. The green fruit, the child’s raised leg and suggestive gesture, and the mother’s sleepy gaze hint that the artist may have intended an erotic reading or perhaps a metaphor for childbirth.

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.