Crows and Bare Trees in Winter

Crows and Bare Trees in Winter

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this small landscape, groves of straight trees stand in snow. A pale, thin river threads its way to the horizon. This painting and others of austere wintry scenes may reflect the traditional Chinese belief that the natural world responds to human affairs. The twelfth-century historian Liu Zheng commented. The feelings of mountains and streams, grasses and trees, are not far from those of humans, and it is wrong to think of them as non sentient. That a stream should dry up in times of disorder is an ordinary, natural reaction.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Crows and Bare Trees in WinterCrows and Bare Trees in WinterCrows and Bare Trees in WinterCrows and Bare Trees in WinterCrows and Bare Trees in Winter

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.