Portraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic Immortals

Portraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic Immortals

Sumiyoshi Gukei

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This album contains the imaginary portraits of thirty-six of revered masters of poetry from the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794–1185) periods, each accompanied by one of his or her verses on the facing page. Selections of the greatest poets were made by connoisseurs of the late Heian period, with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (active 686–705), long regarded as the pre-eminent poet of Japan, given first place. 　 The Sumiyoshi school of painting was founded by Jokei (1599–1670), a former member of the Tosa school who established his own atelier in Edo. It specialized in depictions of the “poetic immortals,” and used fine detail and elements drawn from yamato-e—native “Japanese style” painting. Jokei’s son Gukei (also known as Hirozumi) served the Tokugawa shogunate as a painter of both classical subjects and genre scenes.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic ImmortalsPortraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic ImmortalsPortraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic ImmortalsPortraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic ImmortalsPortraits and Poems of the Thirty-six Poetic Immortals

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.