Red and White Peach Blossoms

Tsubaki Chinzan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This pair of scrolls (with 1975.268.116) provides a unique insight into the studio process of a painter working in the later phase of the Nanga tradition. The scroll on the right is a shita-e, or preparatory sketch, for the completed work on the left. Tsubaki Chinzan constructed the composition using a collage method: the branches on the upper left, for example, appear to have been painted on a separate sheet, which the artist then pasted into the preliminary version. Chinzan then copied this composition onto the final scroll, using lighter brushstrokes and deleting all pentimenti. Unfortunately, Chinzan lost some of the verve of the study’s spiky draftsmanship when he made the transfer to the final work.

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