Onmayagashi in Edo

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print is a magnificent depiction of heavy rain. Three men huddled beneath an umbrella are about to pass another who, oblivious to the torrential rain, munches on the eels he carries for sale. Behind him is a comic counterpart to the trio—a single figure burdened with three umbrellas in addition to the one that obscures him from sight. Pouring rain falls straight down and splashes up from the muddy ground. The artist was a contemporary of Kunisada; they were the two principal students of Toyokuni, the most influential artist of the Utagawa school. Genre prints with humorous insights into everyday life were his forte.

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