Landscape with Waterfall

Nakabayashi Chikutō

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chikutō painted this large landscape in the spirit of the Plum Blossom Daoist, the name given to the acclaimed Yuan-dynasty literati painter Wu Zhen (1280–1354). Chikutō’s diligent study of Chinese literati theory and technique, as expressed in printed treatises and manuals on painting, is evident here, particularly in his masterful rendering of the rocks using a combination of long, unaccented brushstrokes in pale, dry ink and staccato accents. Together with the darker horizontals of the distant pines and foliage, such brushwork derives from the visual vocabulary associated with Wu Zhen. Chikutō stated in a letter that this work would be his last large-scale landscape painting. Because of his advanced age (he was sixty-five at the time), the artist felt he could no longer continue to execute such large works, though he could still answer requests for plum and bamboo paintings, which required less complex details.

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