Letter Enclosing Flowers

Letter Enclosing Flowers

Okada Hankō

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Okada Hankō devoted himself to Confucian studies and painting in the style of Chinese Ming and Qing masters, as had his father, Okada Beisanjin (1744–1820). This letter to a friend, written when the artist was forty-nine, offers a gift of flowers arranged in a Chinese style, a practice cultivated by Japanese literati. The amusing twist: the gift was not actual flowers but flower sketches, executed in a charmingly free manner that reflects the spontaneous, personal quality espoused by Nanga (literati) painters in emulation of Chinese scholar-artists.

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.