Autumn Ivy

Ogata Kenzan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Born into Kyoto’s cultured merchant class, Kenzan was best known for his ceramic wares but was also a highly regarded calligrapher. Kenzan’s individualistic, expressive inscription of a poem referring to future winds scattering crimson leaves of ivy, recalls a famous scene from the tenth-century Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari), in which a courtier, exiled from the capital, encounters an itinerant monk on an ivy- strewn path on Mount Utsu. Kakaru shimo waga aki naranu matsukaze y chiru o urami no tsuta no momijiba Though not yet winds through the pines blow all around and I dread they’ll scatter the crimson leaves of ivy. –Trans. John T. Carpenter

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