Landscapes of the Four Seasons

Yamamoto Baiitsu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These sensitively rendered ink paintings transcend conventional literati imagery of Chinese‑style seasonal landscapes to create an expression of a more individual, moody statement of the artist in nature. One may read the lone figure in each scroll as a representation of the artist himself presented in the mode of a Chinese sage; the artist did actually play the traverse flute, the instrument of the boatman in the autumn scene. All four of the scrolls in this set are integrated not only by connecting seasonal moods but also by a unifying elevated point of view. Baiitsu is best known for his meticulous and unfailingly elegant polychrome bird-and-flower paintings, perhaps learned while studying as a youth under the Shijō-school painter Chō Gesshō (1770–1832). This set of paintings reveals a relatively unstudied dimension of Baiitsu’s work.

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