Collected Haiku Poems (Hokku shū) 発句集

Genki 源琦 (Komai Ki 駒井琦

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A small book of a total of twenty-eight printed pages, this compact volume still manages to unite the hokku (starting verses of linked haikai poetry, today known as haiku) of more than a hundred-twenty different poets. The poems are complemented with woodblock-printed images of five artists, of whom Goshun, Genki and Watanabe Nangaku all belong to the Maruyama-Shijō school. While these three were well-established painters of their time, Mikuma Katen is known as the illustrator of Lives of Extraordinary People of Recent Times (Kinsei kijinden, 1790), the popular account of the lives of eccentric persons by the author Ban Kōkei (Mikuma would later write the book’s sequel, Zoku kinsei kijinden). The pictures are as follows: 1) Mikuma Katen: Veiled Lady and Courtiers; 2) Genki: Sparrow on a Vine of Morning Glories; 3) Watanabe Nangaku: Two Women; 4) Goshun: Chestnut and Mushrooms; 5) Fusetsu Yūjō: Lotus.

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