Palaces among Autumn Mountains

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the Yuan dynasty, the archaic blue-and-green landscape style was revived by scholar-artists in the south, who sought new modes of self-expression through a conscious return to models of the past. The rich mineral pigments that characterize this style also made it a favorite of professional and court painters, who never entirely stopped producing decorative works in this manner. This fan painting and its mate, Village and Temples in Jiangnan, typify late fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century interpretations of this decorative style. The prominent use of “hemp-fiber wrinkles” to texture rock surfaces reflects the late Yuan preference for the brush idiom of Dong Yuan (active 930s–960s) and Juran (active 960–95); the complex composition and confident rendering of three-dimensional forms in space closely parallel the landscape murals (dated 1358) at the Yonglegong temple.

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