Landscape in the manner of Dong Yuan

Lu Kezheng

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This evocative vignette is signed by a certain Lu Kezheng, an obscure artist who has gone unrecorded in histories of Chinese painting. Centering the composition on the lower half of the fan, Lu left the top shrouded in mist, creating a feeling of suspense by withholding a view into the far distance. The painting is dated according to the sixty-year cycle of the premodern Chinese calendar, so it is not possible to know whether it was made in 1591 or sixty years later in 1651, although the latter seems more likely based on its style.

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