Sketches of Birds and Animals

Sketches of Birds and Animals

Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

After training in the academic Kano school tradition, Kyōsai became an independent painter in Edo (today's Tokyo) during the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. A prolific painter and teacher, he became well known outside Japan through his prominence at the international expositions in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1883. These charming, quickly rendered sketches were probably done as models for his students. They reveal the animated brushwork and sure command of form through line that characterize his painting.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sketches of Birds and AnimalsSketches of Birds and AnimalsSketches of Birds and AnimalsSketches of Birds and AnimalsSketches of Birds and Animals

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.