Bamboo and Rocks by a Stream

Takaku Aigai

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bending without breaking, bamboo embodies the Confucian value of righteousness. Its slender, supple stems were appreciated as calligraphic forms and were of perennial interest to Chinese and Japanese painters of the literati tradition. Aigai was a protégé of Tani Bunchō (1763–1840), a leading Nanga artist in Edo (now Tokyo). He became especially famous as a painter of bamboo.

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