Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons

Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons

Kano Sanboku

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The right-hand screen features plum blossoms with other spring flowers growing nearby; farther to the left, the irises of summer are in bloom. Nightingales and cuckoos celebrate both seasons. The left-hand screen depicts autumn and winter, represented by hibiscus, snowy bamboo, a kingfisher, and pheasants. Each screen bears two seals of Kano Sanboku. Little is known about Sanboku except that he was a student of both Kano Sanraku (1559–1635) and Kano Sansetsu (1590–1651), the two great masters of the Kano school’s Kyoto branch. His subdued depiction of the four seasons recalls the art of Sansetsu and is almost devoid of color, shunning the exuberance that appealed to the taste of warrior clients of the early Edo period.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Birds and Flowers of the Four SeasonsBirds and Flowers of the Four SeasonsBirds and Flowers of the Four SeasonsBirds and Flowers of the Four SeasonsBirds and Flowers of the Four Seasons

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.