A Swallow in the Rain
ca. 1891–92
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
14 5/8 x 11 in. (37.1 x 27.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Accession Number
14.76.61.72
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling Meiji period (1868–1912), when Japan rapidly modernized under Western influences, artists like Okada Baison preserved cherished traditions of ink painting. Created around 1891–92, *A Swallow in the Rain* is a delicate album leaf in ink and on silk, measuring 14⅝ × 11 inches. This intimate format—small pages bound into albums for private contemplation—was a hallmark of literati painting (nanga or bunjinga), emphasizing poetic expression over rigid realism. Baison, a master of this Southern school style inspired by Chinese literati, captures a lone swallow enduring a downpour, ev...