Wintry Landscape, in the Style of Guo Zhongshu

Ike Taiga

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A small boat carrying the scholarly passenger, who might be on his way to visit a friend in one of the houses in the distance, is described by wavy, sharp, hard, and needle-thin lines. A cluster of smaller houses is seen in the distance at the right. The gray palette of the painting is highlighted by coal-black ink lines that delineate bare twigs of trees and rounded contours of hills and mountains. Ike Taiga’s inscription at the top right reads “After the brush of Guo Zhongshu, Ike Mumei” (Hō Kaku Chūjo hitsu Ike Mumei). Guo Zhongshu, a tenth-century Chinese painter, was known for his eccentric behavior. Taiga must have become acquainted with Guo’s name and work through painting manuals such as the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, introduced in Japan after its first publication in China in 1679.

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