Bamboo and Rock in Snow

Sakaki Hyakusen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stems of bamboo, bending under the weight of snow fallen on their slender leaves, emerge from behind a moss-pocked boulder. Sakaki Hyakusen has left areas of the paper unpainted to represent snow, while an uneven gray wash signals a dark, wintry evening. An assiduous student of Chinese painting, Hyakusen is now considered a pioneer of nanga, or “southern school painting,” in Japan, and his influence on later nanga artists like Yosa Buson (1716–1784) is widely recognized.

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