Yosa Buson (Japanese, 1716–1783), Hanshan and Shide (detail), Edo period, early 1770s, pair of hanging scrolls, ink and color on paper, 55 × 23 3/16 in (139.7 × 58.9 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2022 (2022.432.16a, b)

The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection
August 10, 2024 – August 3, 2025
The Met Fifth Avenue, Galleries 223–232

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is pleased to open a new exhibition drawn from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection of more than 250 Japanese paintings and calligraphy works donated or promised to the Museum. This collection is considered one of the finest and most comprehensive assemblages of Japanese art outside Japan.

In East Asian cultures, the arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting are traditionally referred to as the “Three Perfections.” The exhibit presents over 160 rare and precious works—all created in Japan over the course of nearly a millennium—that showcase the power and complexity of the three forms of art.

Examples include folding screens with poems brushed on sumptuous decorated papers, dynamic calligraphy by Zen monks of medieval Kyoto, hanging scrolls with paintings and inscriptions alluding to Chinese and Japanese literary classics, ceramics used for tea gatherings, and much more.

To learn more, click here.