Lake Biwa in Four Seasons

Nukina Kaioku

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lake Biwa, the largest inland body of water in Japan and a famous scenic locale, is captured in a panoramic view that spans the four seasons. Beginning on the right side of the right screen, grasses and budding flowers amid evergreen pine trees suggest spring, while lush willows on the shore convey a summer mood. The left screen—following Chinese landscape traditions rather than describing the actual appearance of the lake’s environs—shows a formation of geese and depicts an autumnal scene, which gives way to a stark mountainous winter landscape. Each screen is inscribed with Chinese seasonal poems brushed in Kaioku’s elegant hand. In the inscription on the right, the calligrapher-painter Kaioku recalls the late spring outing to the lake during which he composed the poem. Revered as one of the Bakumatsu no Sanpitsu, or “Three Great Calligraphers of the End of the Edo Period,” Kaioku was the son of a samurai in the service of the daimyo of Tokushima, Awa Province.

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