Geese and Reeds

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

It is near the end of autumn and three geese have alighted on a sandbank, indicated only by faint washy brushstrokes, with drier, darker strokes delineating withered reeds at the water’s edge. One goose is at rest while the others crane their necks to call at the sky, perhaps signaling others in their flock who have begun their journey south. The pictorial combination of geese and reeds, introduced to Japan from China in the thirteenth century, was a popular subject for early Japanese Zen artist-monks such as Tesshū Tokusai (d. 1366), with whom paintings of this type are often associated. Because of its refined quality and sophisticated use of the brush—unusual among the earliest examples of Japanese ink paintings—this work was once thought to be of Chinese origin. The paper, wax-imprinted with a floral design in one corner, is also a type that was popular in China.

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