Hollyhocks and Prince’s-Feather Flowers

Sakai Ōho

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many paintings by Sakai Ōho, including this one, are based on or directly inspired by the work of Sakai Hōitsu, his adoptive father and teacher. Hōitsu no doubt had great aspirations for Ōho, but he died in his early thirties and left a comparatively small body of work. Hollyhocks (tachiaoi)—with their stately appearance, tall stems, and symmetrical arrays of leaves and blossoms—were a common subject of Rinpa artists from the seventeenth century onward, but prince’s-feather flowers (katade) rarely received such attention. The addition of a little butterfly, flat and decorative in its effect, is a reminder that the artist was capturing a poetic moment, a haiku-like snapshot of an imaginary garden. This work was probably created as the right-hand scroll flanking the god of good fortune, Jurōjin, in a triptych.

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