Who painted Untitled?

Untitled was painted by Miyagawa Chōshun in 18th century.

Where can I see Untitled?

Untitled is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is Untitled?

Untitled is associated with Baroque.

Artwork

Untitled

Miyagawa Chōshun , 1726

Untitled is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Miyagawa Chōshun. It dates from 1726 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Created by Miyagawa Chōshun in 1726, the painting presents the female figure as the sole subject of the composition.

The work depicts a single woman, executed as a portrait in the hanging scroll format. Created by Miyagawa Chōshun in 1726, the painting presents the female figure as the sole subject of the composition. As a portrait, the image focuses on the representation of this individual, though the sources do not provide specific details regarding her identity, symbolic attributes, or a deeper narrative meaning beyond her depiction.

Technique & Style

The work is executed as a hanging scroll in ink and color on silk, a traditional East Asian format suited to vertical display. Its slender proportions, measuring 63.2 cm in height and 27.1 cm in width, support an intimate portrait composition focused on a female figure. The combination of monochrome ink with applied color on a silk ground is characteristic of the ukiyo-e and related painting practices of early eighteenth-century Japan, allowing for both delicate linear definition and softly modulated tonal areas. The narrow width relative to the height emphasizes the figure's vertical orientation within the pictorial field.

History & Provenance

The hanging scroll titled Untitled was created by Miyagawa Chōshun in 1726. Executed in ink and color on silk, the work depicts a woman and originates from Japan. It is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Overview

Created in 1726, this hanging scroll by Miyagawa Chōshun depicts a solitary woman standing before a bamboo screen. Rendered in ink and color on silk, the composition centers on the figure clad in a red robe, holding a fan with a calm, expressionless countenance. The work exemplifies Chōshun's transition from the decorative Kanō style toward the emerging ukiyo-e aesthetic, characterized by a focus on contemporary subjects and refined, delicate brushwork.

Subtle details, such as the faint patterning on the garment, demonstrate the artist's meticulous attention to texture and form. This piece is historically significant as one of the few surviving works by Chōshun, a pioneer who bridged the gap between traditional painting and the woodblock print tradition. The majority of his oeuvre was destroyed in a fire, making extant paintings like this rare testaments to his early influence on the development of ukiyo-e portraiture in the 18th century.