NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITIONS
Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew
March 16, 2026 – May 9, 2027
Most objects are displayed to show their “best” angle meant to impress, sometimes hiding intriguing details. Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew invites close looking and offers multiple views of the inside, reverse, or hard-to-see aspects of objects.
Bringing together approximately 50 objects from The Met collection, with more than half displayed for the first time, this exhibition, with a rotation, shows treasured Korean traditions. By presenting them in ways that give us a fuller picture into each object’s unique form, Flip Sides provides insight into the construction and function of works in metal, wood, ceramic, textiles, and lacquer. A Buddhist sculpture that held offerings inside, a porcelain jar of striking openwork that conceals an inner chamber, a bronze mirror with a delicately incised image, and a king’s lacquer letter box with linings featuring impressive calligraphy are among the featured objects in Flip Sides.
During the exhibition, a selection of artworks will come off view and be replaced by new works: Rotation 1: March 16–October 18, 2026 Rotation 2: October 31, 2026–May 9, 2027
To learn more, click here.
Celebrating the Year of the Horse
February 7 – January 26, 2027
Lunar New Year Festival: Saturday, February 7, 12-5pm
The traditional East Asian lunar calendar marks time through a twelve-year cycle, each year represented by the animals of the Chinese zodiac: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. First associated with the Chinese calendar in the third century BCE and firmly established by the first century CE, these symbolic creatures are believed to embody certain traits that are manifested in the personalities of people born in that animal’s year. February 17, 2026, marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse, a creature symbolizing power, strength, and vitality.
Celebrating the Year of the Horse brings together works from The Met collection to explore the horse’s enduring nature and vital place in Chinese civilization. Domesticated in prehistoric times, this animal has shaped nearly every facet of life—from agriculture and transportation to trade, warfare, sport, and entertainment. In ancient China, horse-drawn chariots transported military commanders and the social elite, while in the Tang dynasty (618–907), tall and robust horses came to embody the strength of the state and cosmopolitan spirit of the empire. In Chinese popular culture, horses are among the most celebrated animals, and in the spiritual realm they serve as noble mounts for divine guardians believed to bring joy, protection, and prosperity to the household. This presentation, featuring a range of expressive works in ceramics, glass, jade, and metal, and woodblock prints, illuminates these roles while celebrating the horse’s power, vitality, and spirit.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
To learn more, click here.
Dish with Three Jars. Edo period (1615–1868), 1680–90s. Porcelain with cobalt under and polychrome enamels over a transparent glaze (Hizen ware, Nabeshima type), H. 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm); Diam. 6 in. (15.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975 (1975.268.563)
The Infinite Artistry of Japanese Ceramics
Through August 8, 2027
From the earliest hand-built figurines rooted in spiritual beliefs to the vibrant works that define today’s contemporary ceramic art scene, Japanese pottery reflects exceptional creativity and a refined sense of beauty. Its distinctiveness arises from the ingenuity and mastery of the potters, as well as the wide range of wares that have long supported daily life. This exhibition explores Japan’s extensive and rich history of ceramic art through approximately 350 extraordinary works presented in themes that offer fresh perspectives on the diverse forms and functions, from everyday tableware to vessels created for tea masters and elite households to modern sculptural compositions.
Japan’s earliest pottery dates back more than 12,000 years, when makers shaped and fired clay vessels for cooking and storage—objects that bear the traces of these early potters’ hands. Expertise transmitted from China and Korea in medieval times facilitated the development of new Japanese techniques and wares. Over time, the reverence for prized ceramics led to finding beauty even through damage. Japanese artisans developed kintsugi, the art of repairing broken ceramics with gold lacquer, restoring the damaged object’s function while making it even more precious and valuable. Japanese cuisine and dining aesthetics inspired vessels designed to harmonize with the color and texture of food. Many porcelains from the Edo period (1615–1868) are embellished with motifs drawn from the natural world or symbols of happiness, longevity, and good fortune.
Featuring refined ceramics and other artworks from the Museum’s Harry G. C. Packard Collection, this exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of this landmark acquisition that established the foundation of The Met’s Japanese art holdings. By placing ceramics in dialogue with related art forms—including lacquers, textiles, paintings, and woodblock prints—the display inspires curiosity about the multiverse of Japanese ceramics and its broader cultural contexts.
During the exhibition, a selection of artworks will come off view and be replaced by new works:
Rotation 1: January 19–May 12, 2026
Rotation 2: May 14–August 16, 2026
Rotation 3: August 29–December 8, 2026
Rotation 4: December 10, 2026–March 28, 2027
Rotation 5: April 10–August 8, 2027
To learn more, click here.
Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930
Through June 27, 2027
In Hinduism, the act of darshan, or “seeing god,” is central to worship. This intimate exchange between deity and devotee traditionally takes place in the temple. But within each home is also a shrine, dedicated to that householder’s chosen deity. The need to display an image of the divine in the home was traditionally fulfilled by small icons made of clay or metal. In the mid-19th century, new technologies were introduced into India, first photography and then the chromolithographic press. The latter permitted the production of inexpensive prints of the Hindu gods for mass consumption. These proved immensely popular and for the first time in India, even the humblest home could afford a colorful icon of their chosen god to display in the household shrine.
Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930 presents the first encyclopedic exhibition of these chromolithographic prints from the pioneering studio presses of Calcutta (Kolkata), Poona (Pune), and Bombay (Mumbai). These mass-produced prints became a powerful means of expressing Indian religious identity at a time when the country was experiencing the first stirrings of the Independence movement.
Featuring approximately 120 works, shown in four rotations, from The Met’s collection of chromolithographic prints, along with paintings and portable triptych shrines, Household Gods provides a unique window on the vibrant tradition of Indian devotional imagery on the cusp of modernity.
During the exhibition, a selection of artworks will come off view and be replaced by new works:
Rotation 1: January 24–May 25, 2026
Rotation 2: May 30–October 11, 2026
Rotation 3: October 17, 2026–February 21, 2027
Rotation 4: February 27–June 27, 2027
To learn more, click here.
RECENT ASIA WEEK NEW YORK LECTURE
Subramaniyan with his consorts Valli and Devasena (detail), Ravi Varma Press, c. 1900–1915, Color lithograph, varnish. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art, 2021
Annual Distinguished Lecture on the Arts of South and Southeast Asia: Gods at the Gate of Modernity—Religious Arts in Colonial Calcutta
Friday, March 20, 2026, 6-7pm
Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
In Calcutta, the cosmopolitan colonial capital of 19th-century India, artists and artisans adapted new technologies of mechanical reproduction to render the Hindu gods more accessible and affordable. During this time, they pioneered the chromolithographic religious print, a form of popular devotional imagery that became ubiquitous in twentieth-century India. This lecture explores how this new genre emerged and proliferated into the pervasive visual language of modern India.
This lecture is made possible by the generous support of Jeff Soref and Paul Lombardi. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930.
Free with Museum admission, though advance registration is required. Please note: Space is limited; first come, first served. Registration does not guarantee admission once the lecture hall reaches capacity.
To learn more and register, click here.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Art of the Himalayas
The current installation of Tibetan and Nepalese art features several recent acquisitions and gifts, including two figurative oil lamps from seventeenth and eighteenth-century Nepal (2020.288.1, .2) gifted by the Zimmerman family; important Tibetan bronzes donated by Edith Kubicek in memory of her husband Peter (2024.441.1a–c, .2); and a rare portrait from around 1830 of Col. Randabir Singh Thapa (2021.100), a key figure in Nepalese political life of the period.
The exhibition is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions.
Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300-1900
Through June 28, 2026
Enamel decoration is a significant element of Chinese decorative arts that has long been overlooked. This exhibition reveals the aesthetic, technical, and cultural achievement of Chinese enamel wares by demonstrating the transformative role of enamel during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. The first transformational moment occurred in the late 14th to 15th century, when the introduction of cloisonné enamel from the West, along with the development of porcelain with overglaze enamels, led to a shift away from a monochromatic palette to colorful works. The second transformation occurred in the late 17th to 18th century, when European enameling materials and techniques were brought to the Qing court and more subtle and varied color tones were developed on enamels applied over porcelain, metal, glass, and other mediums. In both moments, Chinese artists did not simply adopt or copy foreign techniques; they actively created new colors and styles that reflected their own taste. The more than 100 objects on view are drawn mainly from The Met collection.
This exhibition is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions.
To learn more, click here.
A Passion for Jade: The Bishop Collection
Through June 28, 2026
More than 100 remarkable objects from the Heber R. Bishop collection, especially carvings of jade, the most esteemed stone in China, and many other hardstones, are on view in this focused presentation. These refined works represent the sophisticated art of Chinese gemstone carvers during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) as well as the highly accomplished skills of Mogul Indian (1526–1857) craftsmen, who provided an exotic inspiration to their counterparts. Also on view are a set of stone-working tools and illustrations of jade workshops, which introduce the traditional method of working jade.
The exhibition is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions.
To learn more, click here.
