Artwork
Autumn Flowers
Autumn Flowers is an unspecified painting by the Nanga artist Yamamoto Baiitsu. It dates from 1843 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
By focusing on flowers alone, the artist invites contemplation of the cycle of bloom and decay, a concept long central to Japanese aesthetic thought.
Autumn Flowers by Yamamoto Baiitsu is a painting that depicts flowers as its central subject. Created in 1843 in Japan, the work belongs to a tradition of seasonal floral imagery in East Asian art, where the depiction of blossoms and plants serves as more than decorative arrangement. The title Autumn Flowers signals an engagement with the autumn season, a recurring theme in Japanese painting associated with impermanence, the passage of time, and the quiet beauty of nature at the close of the year.
The painting translates this seasonal motif into a visual meditation on the transience of natural life. By focusing on flowers alone, the artist invites contemplation of the cycle of bloom and decay, a concept long central to Japanese aesthetic thought. Held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the work stands as a representative example of nineteenth-century Japanese floral painting, in which the choice of subject carries symbolic weight beyond mere representation.
History & Provenance
Autumn Flowers is a painting by Yamamoto Baiitsu dated to 1843. According to the Wikidata record for the work, it was produced in Japan and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains located. The sources do not provide further details about a commission, prior owners, or the chain of custody leading to the museum's acquisition.
The painting Autumn Flowers by Yamamoto Baiitsu is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work, created in 1843, depicts floral subjects and originates from Japan. While the source confirms the museum's ownership and the artwork's creation date, it does not provide a specific inventory or accession number, nor does it list any exhibition history for the piece.
Overview
Created in 1843 by the Japanese painter Yamamoto Baiitsu, Autumn Flowers is a narrow, vertical composition that presents a quiet botanical scene. The work is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is displayed as an example of mid‑nineteenth‑century Japanese painting.
Technique & Style
Baiitsu employs a restrained palette of soft, muted tones that convey a calm, natural atmosphere. Brushwork is smooth and blended, allowing the plants to merge gently with the background rather than standing out with sharp outlines. The delicate handling of color and line reflects the aesthetic principles of the Edo‑period school to which the artist belonged.
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