Rain of the Fifth Month (Samidare)

Utagawa Kunisada

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kunisada's vision of an early summer scene, luxuriant in the soft rain of the fifth month, reflects a new sensibility for landscape among late Edo artists. The unhurried pleasures of a warm summer day seem heightened by the soft rain, which hardly affects the activities of the travelers, fisherman, and groom. A bright light infuses the atmosphere and is enhanced by the unusual use of blue pigment for the evenly spaced, vertical lines of rain. Utagawa Kunisada, known as Toyokuni III, designed more prints for the mass market than any other artist of his time.

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