What's On View
The Florence and Herbert Irving Asian Wing, occupying 64,500 square feet, is devoted to Asian art, featuring paintings, calligraphy, prints, sculptures, metalwork, ceramics, lacquers, works of decorative art, and textiles from East Asia, South Asia, the Himalayan kingdoms, and Southeast Asia. As distinctive as the cultures of Asia are from one another, many pieces in the collection reveal similarities in form and iconography occasioned by the sharing of religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, or themes and techniques, such as those found in blue-and-white ceramics or ink painting. Thus, even though the galleries are arranged geographically and chronologically, an exploration of the works on view yields both an appreciation of the art of Asia's many cultures and an understanding of the ties between these traditions. Certain gallery installations, such as those of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Tibetan paintings, rotate every six months, and displays of more fragile textiles, lacquers, and woodblock prints change approximately every four months. These rotations enable the department to create focused installations and thematic exhibitions that highlight different aspects of the permanent collection.
Arts of China
The Met collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy ranks among the finest outside China, with masterpieces dating from the eighth to the 21st centuries. Another great strength is the collection of Chinese Buddhist sculpture from the 5th through the 19th century. The collections of antiquities and works of art range from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the 18th century, including jades, bronzes, lacquer, textiles, ceramics, and works in other media. An often visited area of the Museum is the Astor Court, modeled after a courtyard in a 17th-century domestic residence in Suzhou, a city famous for its gardens. Opening onto the courtyard is a room displaying hardwood furniture of the same period.
Arts of Japan
The full range of Japanese art—from Neolithic ceramics (ca. 1500–300 B.C.) to Edo-period (1615–1868) woodblock prints and textiles to contemporary ceramics and works of art—is presented chronologically in eleven rooms. Traditional details, such as an altar platform (based on a 12th-century example) for the display of Buddhist sculptures and a small shoin-style reception room typical of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, are at the heart of the Arts of Japan galleries. Highlights include 13th- and 14th-century narrative paintings (handscrolls) known as emaki, a collection of folding screens dating from the 15th through the 18th century, and Edo-period porcelains for domestic use and export.
Arts of South and Southeast Asia
The visual traditions of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, from the earliest civilizations to the 16th century, are represented in the collection. Areas of particular strength include Buddhist stone and bronze sculptures from the Kushan dynasty (1st to 3rd century, approximately); Kashmiri- and Pala-period sculptures (6th to 13th century); Hindu bronzes from the Chola period (9th to 13th century); an unparalleled collection of early Southeast Asian metalwork; and monumental sculptures from the Khmer empire in Cambodia and Thailand (about 9th to 14th century). On the third floor are galleries for the arts of Nepal and Tibet, including religious images in painting and sculpture, mainly from the 11th to the 18th century, and ritual implements. Also on the 3rd floor is a gallery for temporary exhibitions on special topics relating to Himalayan or later Indian Art.
Arts of Korea
Buddhist paintings and ceramics of the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1910) dynasties, together with thematic exhibitions featuring loans from collections in the United States and abroad, provide a comprehensive overview of Korea's artistic and cultural heritage.
East Asian Conservation Studio
For the conservation of its collections, the Department includes an East Asian Conservation Studio, with a highly trained staff that specializes in the restoration and remounting of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean works on paper and silk including handscrolls, hanging scrolls, albums, and folding screens.
History of the Department
The Met has been collecting Asian art since the late 19th century. Many of its earliest benefactors—Benjamin Altman, the Havemeyers, the Rockefellers, and others—included objects from Asia in their large bequests to the Museum in the first half of the 20th century, and in 1915, the Department of Far Eastern Art was established. The real impetus for creating a comprehensive collection of Asian art came from Douglas Dillon, who was elected president of the Museum's Board of Trustees in 1970. In 1986 the department's name was changed to the Department of Asian Art.
