Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Ogawa Haritsu. It dates from 1740 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 36.100.58
About this work
Ogawa Haritsu painted this in 1740, using thin lines and soft colors to make the silk glow.
A woman in a long robe stands under a tree, holding a fan. Her face is calm, almost hidden by her hair.
Ogawa Haritsu painted this in 1740, using thin lines and soft colors to make the silk glow. The tree’s branches curve like calligraphy, blending nature with the woman’s quiet pose. No one knows who she is, maybe a poet or a noblewoman from a story.
Look up cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with tiny crisscrossed lines.
Subject & Meaning
The work is a portrait of an unidentified woman rendered as a hanging scroll in ink and color on silk, produced in Japan around 1740 by Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuō). Its subject belongs to the portrait genre, and the depiction follows Edo-period conventions for representing female likeness. The composition emphasizes a realistic yet idealized rendering, typical of the artist's portraiture, without additional iconographic attributes noted in the sources.
The painting's meaning is tied to its function as a formal portrait within the cultural context of 18th-century Japanese portraiture.
Technique & Style
The work is an untitled hanging scroll executed in ink and color on silk, produced around 1740 in Japan. It measures 94.6 cm in height by 31.1 cm in width and is categorized as a portrait depicting a woman. The piece belongs to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The available documentation does not elaborate on its condition or handling history, leaving those aspects unspecified. Stylistically, the composition follows traditional Japanese portrait conventions of the Edo period.
History & Provenance
Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuō) produced this hanging scroll around 1740, executing it in ink and color on silk in Japan. The work is a portrait depicting a woman.
It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains. No accession number, credit line, gallery location, or prior ownership history is documented in the available sources, and no exhibition history is recorded for the work.
Overview
Created in 1740 by the Japanese painter Ogawa Haritsu, this hanging scroll presents an unnamed female figure rendered in ink and color on silk. The composition balances a solitary woman in a flowing robe with a stylized tree, the whole scene unfolding within the delicate surface of the silk support.
Artist & collection
