Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Katsukawa Shunshō. It dates from 1750 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The depiction reflects contemporary ukiyo‑e portraiture, emphasizing the sitter’s attire and the decorative fan as visual markers of status and gender.
The work, titled Untitled, is a 1750 hanging scroll painted in ink and color on silk by Katsukawa Shunshō. It portrays a woman dressed in a robe and holding a hand fan, a composition recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The depiction reflects contemporary ukiyo‑e portraiture, emphasizing the sitter’s attire and the decorative fan as visual markers of status and gender.
The piece measures 111.8 cm in height and 30.5 cm in width and is classified within the ukiyo‑e genre of painted images on silk.
Technique & Style
This ukiyo-e nikuhitsu-ga by Katsukawa Shunshō is executed in ink and color on silk, mounted as a hanging scroll. The vertical format measures 111.8 cm in height and 30.5 cm in width, consistent with handscroll formats adapted for hanging display. The artist renders a female figure holding a hand fan and wearing an elaborately patterned robe, emphasizing delicate linework and subtle gradations of mineral-based pigments to articulate textures and folds.
The silk support’s lustrous weave subtly modulates the saturated hues, while the controlled, flowing contours of the garment and the attenuated facial features reflect early Edo-period bijin-ga conventions in their restrained elegance.
History & Provenance
The hanging scroll titled Untitled, created by Katsukawa Shunshō in 1750, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The institution serves as the current location for this ink and color painting on silk, which depicts a woman holding a hand fan. While the work is identified within the museum's holdings and associated with the ukiyo-e and nikuhitsu-ga genres, the provided records do not specify a unique accession number or detail any past exhibition history for this specific piece.
Overview
This untitled hanging scroll, rendered in ink and color on silk, depicts a solitary woman. She is shown holding a red fan, her expression serene, clad in a vibrant blue robe. The artist employs soft ink washes in the background, creating an uncluttered space that emphasizes the figure and her quiet presence.
Artist & collection
Artist
Katsukawa Shunshō spent his life in Edo (now Tokyo), where the city’s teahouses and theaters buzzed with energy.
