Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting by the Nanga artist Mori Yūsen. It dates from 1816 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Mori Yūsen's Untitled is a landscape painting whose central subject is a monkey, rendered in ink and color on silk as a hanging scroll.
Mori Yūsen's Untitled is a landscape painting whose central subject is a monkey, rendered in ink and color on silk as a hanging scroll. The work situates the animal within a landscape setting, a pairing characteristic of East Asian pictorial traditions where monkeys are often used as symbolic figures. In such imagery, the monkey carries layered meanings, frequently associated with wit, liveliness, and a closeness to the human world, while also functioning as a play on words or a stand-in for themes of kinship and resemblance between humans and animals.
By placing the monkey within a broader landscape composition, Yūsen invites the viewer to read the animal not merely as a naturalistic study but as a vehicle for reflection on the natural world and humanity's place within it. The combination of a wild creature and an expansive scenic setting underscores the painting's contemplative dimension, allowing the monkey to serve as both subject and symbolic anchor for the work's meaning.
Technique & Style
The work is a hanging scroll painted in ink and color on silk, measuring approximately 100 cm in height and 30.8 cm in width. Created in 1816 in Japan, it belongs to the landscape genre and portrays a solitary monkey, a motif that appears in both the artist's catalogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's catalogue entry. The scroll's formal composition relies on delicate line work and subtle washes of color, typical of early-nineteenth-century Japanese scroll painting, while the silk support contributes a smooth, flowing surface that emphasizes the vertical format. The piece is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
Untitled (1816) by Mori Yūsen is a hanging scroll painted in ink and color on silk, classified as a landscape that depicts a monkey. The work is recorded in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is stored as part of the museum's Japanese painting holdings. Dimensions measure 100 cm in height by 30.8 cm in width, and the piece was created in Japan. No exhibition record is cited in the sources consulted.
Overview
Mori Yūsen’s hanging scroll, dated 1816, presents a brief landscape rendered in ink and subtle color on silk. The composition centers on two monkeys perched on a slender, leafless branch set against a muted gray sky, creating a concise yet evocative scene.
Artist & collection
