Pictures after Nature (Hokusai shashin gafu) 北斎写真画譜

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These prints comprise two of the fifteen color illustrations in the large-scale Pictures after Nature, a deluxe folding album. All the pictures were carefully printed on heavy paper of excellent quality. Images on other pages of the album contain figures, landscapes, and animals. Here, close-up views of peonies (right) and irises (left) convey the magnificence of the natural world.

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