One Hundred Chinese Boys

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A sumptuous estate, including a bridge and pavilion over a lake, is set off by a shimmering gilded background and golden clouds and enlivened by cavorting children. The conventional motif of One Hundred Children has obvious auspicious connotations in the Chinese tradition. Here, the ancient subject is combined with the moralizing theme of the Four Gentlemanly Accomplishments (calligraphy, painting, music, and the game of go), which engage the children. One Hundred Children became one of the most popular themes among the Kano painters, the official artists who worked for the shoguns and their vassals during the Edo period. The anonymous painter of this screen seems to have based it on a readily available model. The dry, mannered execution of the landscape elements points to a date in the eighteenth century for this 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