Poppies

Suzuki Kiitsu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not all flowers could be found in the colorful gardens cultivated by Rinpa artists through the ages. Yet poppies (keshi) clearly must have been a favorite of their clients, for examples survive from every generation of the school. Earlier, artists of the Sōtatsu studio, such as Kitagawa Sōsetsu (active mid-17th century), as well as Ogata Kōrin and his followers, took inspiration from screen paintings of poppies by Tosa artists, and took the formalization of leaves and petals one step further toward abstraction. By the age of Suzuki Kiitsu, however, attention to detail and a tendency toward naturalistic depictions of flowers became more pronounced. As seen here, the ink-mottling technique (tarashikomi) was used more liberally by later Rinpa artists.

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