THREE WAYS TO LOOK ACROSS WORKS

Compare with a question.

Choose one difference to investigate. These pairings turn a seven-work sample into a short looking exercise; they are not a survey of Japanese art.

Similar height, different direction

Two Hokusai prints make a controlled comparison: the recorded heights are close, while one composition extends across five sheets and the other climbs a narrow page.

Images fit their panels; they are not shown at the same physical scale.

A room too wide for one glance

Attribution

Katsushika Hokusai

Date label

ca. 1804

Materials

Pentaptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Dimensions

Oban, pentaptych: 14 15/32 x 48 1/2 in. (36.8 x 123.2 cm)

Accession number

JP29a–e

Museum record ↗

A waterfall that sets the pace

Attribution

Katsushika Hokusai

Date label

ca. 1827

Materials

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Dimensions

14 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (37.5 x 26 cm)

Accession number

JP2

Museum record ↗

Try the comparison

1. Before reading the titles, draw an imaginary path through each picture with your eyes. Identify the line or shape that starts it.
2. Compare a small group of figures in each. Ask how the architecture or landscape changes their prominence.
3. Read the dimensions after looking. A same-width web thumbnail hides the physical difference; these pictures are shown to fit, not at a shared scale.

You can compare the effect of format here without claiming that all wide pictures feel the same, or that these two works summarize Hokusai’s career.

Back to comparison choices ↑

Surface and openwork: two sword guards

A shared object name makes the differences easier to investigate. The earlier record lists iron and 56.7 g; the later one lists several metals and alloys and 153.1 g.

Images fit their panels; they are not shown at the same physical scale.

Flowers made visible by empty space

Attribution

Attributed to the Hagi school

Date label

16th century

Materials

Iron

Dimensions

Diam. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); thickness 1/8 in. (0.3 cm); Wt. 2 oz. (56.7 g)

Accession number

36.120.162

Museum record ↗

Bamboo around an opening

Attribution

Inscribed by Ishiguro Masayoshi

Date label

19th century

Materials

Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), copper

Dimensions

H. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm); W. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); thickness 5/16 in. (0.8 cm); Wt. 5.4 oz. (153.1 g)

Accession number

36.120.79

Museum record ↗

Try the comparison

1. Locate the central opening in each, then examine how the ornament relates to it.
2. Compare the open floral structure with the larger continuous dark field around the bamboo. Describe what you can see before explaining why it was made.
3. Check the attributions: “Attributed to the Hagi school” and “Inscribed by Ishiguro Masayoshi” make different claims. Neither should be silently shortened to “made by.”

Weight is a useful catalogue difference, not a verdict on quality or usability. One measurement is a diameter; the other gives height and width, so no diameter-to-height size ratio is implied.

Back to comparison choices ↑

Crowding, contour and breathing room

A hanging scroll with several overlapping figures and a watercolor with one bird offer two different outline-reading exercises.

Images fit their panels; they are not shown at the same physical scale.

Four figures, one crowded field

Attribution

Unidentified

Date label

Not recorded

Materials

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Dimensions

28 1/2 x 22 31/32 in. (72.4 x 58.4 cm)

Accession number

29.100.460

Museum record ↗

The rhythm inside one bird

Attribution

In the Style of Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuō)

Date label

18th century

Materials

Watercolor on paper

Dimensions

7 1/32 x 10 7/32 in. (17.9 x 26 cm)

Accession number

29.100.945

Museum record ↗

Try the comparison

1. Spend 20 seconds following a single silhouette in each image. Note where you have to stop or change direction.
2. Compare repeated shapes inside a figure with the open area outside it. Which does more to hold your attention?
3. Keep the evidence separate: the scroll’s supplied photograph is monochrome, its medium includes color, and its date label is missing. The bird has a qualified stylistic attribution.

This pairing is about what these images let us see. It does not establish a relationship between the makers, a shared purpose, or a chronology for the undated scroll.

Back to comparison choices ↑

Original questions and image observations by GIZUMO. Catalogue facts and unchanged images: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, linked beside each work. Editorial review: 6 October 2026. No assertion about current exhibition status.