Riverscape with moored boats

Wu Shantao

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The obscure painter Wu Shantao lived in the waning years of the Ming dynasty and through the transition to Qing rule. During this period, images of reclusion became particularly poignant, as people experienced the wrenching pain of dynastic collapse and reconstruction. Moored by the water’s edge, unseen except by passing birds, these fishing boats represented release from worldly troubles.

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