Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting by the Nihonga artist Shibata Zeshin. It dates from 1849 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
2 cm in width, an elongated proportion characteristic of the tanzaku support.
Executed in 1849, this work is a painting in ink and color on paper, mounted as a tanzaku, a slender, vertically oriented card format traditionally used for poetry. The Metropolitan Museum of Art records its dimensions as 37.1 cm in height by 6.2 cm in width, an elongated proportion characteristic of the tanzaku support. Classified within the museum's paintings holdings and identified as a still life, the piece reflects Shibata Zeshin's distinctive handling of lacquered-like effects in ink on paper, a signature approach in which pigment and ink are layered to imitate the glossy, built-up surface of urushi lacquer painting within a two-dimensional medium.
History & Provenance
The work is dated 1849, aligning with Zeshin’s late Edo-period production of small-format still-life paintings on narrow paper strips called tanzaku. It entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of its holdings, where it is catalogued with dimensions of 37.1 cm in height and 6.2 cm in width. No archival records indicate a formal commission or named early owner; its provenance within Japan prior to the museum’s acquisition remains undocumented in the cited sources.
The painting Untitled by Shibata Zeshin, created in 1849, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While the specific inventory or accession number is not provided in the available records, the work is classified as a painting on paper and is part of the museum's holdings of Japanese art. The piece has been identified in the museum's digital records as a tanzaku-format work measuring 37.1 cm in height and 6.2 cm in width. There is no documented exhibition history for this specific work in the provided sources.
Legacy
Untitled (1849) by Shibata Zeshin is an ink and color on paper painting that entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, securing its place in the scholarly record of Japanese art. Its presence in a major institutional collection has reinforced Zeshin's reputation as a leading figure of the Meiji period, and the work is regularly referenced in discussions of Meiji‑era still‑life painting. The painting's inclusion underscores the continuity of traditional techniques within modern museum narratives.
Overview
Created in 1849, this untitled work by Shibata Zeshin is a small-scale still‑life executed on a tanzaku, a narrow strip of paper traditionally used for poetry. The composition is rendered with ink and modest washes of color, presenting a restrained visual statement that reflects the artist’s measured approach to the genre.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts ordinary objects arranged in a simple configuration, inviting contemplation of everyday materiality. The sparse arrangement, coupled with the absence of narrative detail, emphasizes the intrinsic qualities of the items themselves, a common concern in Japanese still‑life traditions that value quiet observation over dramatization.
Artist & collection
