Artwork
旭日図|Rising Sun
旭日図|Rising Sun is an ink painting by the Impressionist artist Shibata Zeshin. It dates from 1870 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Rising Sun (旭日図) by Shibata Zeshin is a hanging scroll painted in 1870 with ink and color on silk, classified as a landscape work.
Rising Sun (旭日図) by Shibata Zeshin is a hanging scroll painted in 1870 with ink and color on silk, classified as a landscape work. Its subject is the sun, rendered as the central pictorial element of the composition. The narrow vertical format, measuring roughly 23.5 by 80 centimeters, suits the scroll's traditional hanging presentation and frames the solar image as a singular, focused motif.
The work draws on the long-standing East Asian iconographic tradition of depicting the rising or radiant sun, a motif associated with light, renewal, and cosmic order. By isolating the sun as the sole depicted element, Zeshin emphasizes its symbolic resonance, presenting the celestial body as an emblem of luminosity and natural power rather than as part of a broader narrative scene.
Technique & Style
The painting Rising Sun (旭日図) is executed as a hanging scroll using ink and polychrome pigments on silk, a support customary for Japanese works of the period. Shibata Zeshin created the piece in 1870 in Japan, where it measures roughly 80 cm in height by 23.5 cm in width. The composition belongs to the landscape genre and depicts a sun rising over the horizon, reflecting the artist’s focus on natural motifs.
The work’s formal qualities combine delicate brushwork with layered color washes, producing a balanced yet dynamic visual rhythm.
History & Provenance
Shibata Zeshin produced 旭日図|Rising Sun in 1870 in Japan, executing it as a hanging scroll in ink and color on silk. The painting portrays a sun motif and measures 80 cm in height by 23.5 cm in width. Following its creation, the work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued as part of the museum’s holdings.
Its provenance is documented through the museum’s acquisition records, which note the piece’s arrival in the collection without further intermediate owners.
The hanging scroll titled 旭日図 (Rising Sun) by Shibata Zeshin, created in 1870, is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum’s collection records list the work within its paintings division, but the entry does not provide an accession or inventory number. No exhibition history is documented in the sources examined; the work appears only in the museum’s collection description and in scholarly references to Shibata Zeshin’s output.
Context
Shibata Zeshin produced Rising Sun in 1870 as a hanging scroll using ink and color on silk. The piece belongs to the landscape genre and portrays the sun, a subject recorded in both the artwork’s catalogue entry and its museum documentation. Measuring 80 cm by 23.5 cm, the work was created in Japan during the Meiji era and entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on display.
Its composition reflects contemporary Japanese artistic practice that combined traditional brushwork with vivid coloring, situating it within the broader development of modern Japanese painting.
Overview
Rising Sun (旭日図) is a hanging scroll painted by Shibata Zeshin in 1870. Executed on silk with ink and mineral pigments, the work measures a modest size typical of Japanese scrolls and presents a minimalist landscape dominated by a luminous sun.
Legacy
Rising Sun exemplifies Zeshin’s experimentation with materiality and his capacity to convey atmospheric phenomena with minimal means. The piece continues to be cited in discussions of Japanese ink painting for its innovative use of the silk substrate as an active element of the composition.
Artist & collection
