Thirty-Six Poets

Thirty-Six Poets

Chōbunsai Eishi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The thirty-six poets selected by critic Fujiwara Kintō (966–1041) for particular veneration were a popular subject in all genre in the Edo period. Eishi's version pairing the poems with vividly colored imaginary court scenes creates a correspondence between the Heian period (794–1185) taste for elegance and sophistication and the height of fin-de-siècle fashion.

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.