Peony and Bamboo

Peony and Bamboo

Ike (Tokuyama) Gyokuran

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tokuyama Gyokuran was introduced to the world of the literati early in life. Her mother and adopted mother were both noted poets in Kyoto and were close to the early nanga artist Yanagisawa Kien (1704–1758), a painting teacher to Ike Taiga, whom Gyokuran later married in the early 1750s. Although she began painting well before her marriage, Taiga’s influence is apparent here in the technique used to create the broad, trailing contour line of the rock and the pointed bamboo leaves. Based on what is known of her stylistic development, this work is dated to around 1768.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.