At the Met: 150 Ways of Looking at Birds in the Art of Japan

Taking inspiration from variety of sources—court poetry, haiku, and notably Wallace Stevens’s Thirteen Ways of Looking a Blackbird, Birds in the Art of Japan at The Metropolitan Museum of Art highlights about 150 objects drawn predominantly from the Museum’s collection. The exhibition provides a broad survey of the literary, religious, and symbolic representations of birds throughout the history of Japanese art. Cranes, waterfowl, eagles, ravens, mynah birds and more are depicted in a variety of media and technique—from ink paintings to metalwork, porcelain to textiles, illustrated books to photography. The exhibition, organized by the Department of Asian Art, is on view through July 28.

From top: Kawanabe Kyôsai, Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons, second half of the 16th century; Ishida Yūtei, Flock of Cranes (detail), 1767-84; Ishida Yūtei, Mynah Birds, early 17th century. All images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.