Who painted Untitled?

Untitled was painted by Shibata Zeshin in 1837.

Where can I see Untitled?

Untitled is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is Untitled?

Untitled is associated with Nihonga.

Artwork

Untitled

Shibata Zeshin , 1837

Untitled is an unspecified painting by the Nihonga artist Shibata Zeshin. It dates from 1837 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's catalogue, the work was created in Japan and entered the museum's collection, where it remains on view.

Untitled (1837) by Shibata Zeshin is a lacquer-on-paper album leaf that belongs to the landscape genre. The composition features a bright sun alongside a solitary plant, arranged to suggest a moment of natural stillness. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's catalogue, the work was created in Japan and entered the museum's collection, where it remains on view.

The juxtaposition of celestial light and vegetative growth reflects traditional concerns with the transitory qualities of nature, though the precise symbolic reading remains open to interpretation.

Technique & Style

The work is an album leaf painted with lacquer on paper, created in 1837 in Japan and housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; its dimensions are 11.4 cm by 8.9 cm. Executed in the landscape genre, the piece portrays a plant alongside a sun, reflecting Shibata Zeshin's decorative technique that blends traditional lacquer material with fine paper support. The composition emphasizes subtle tonal variation and a balanced spatial arrangement typical of Japanese lacquer painting of the period.

History & Provenance

Untitled is an 1837 Japanese lacquer painting on paper, created as an album leaf by Shibata Zeshin in Japan. The work portrays a sun and plant motif and measures 11.4 by 8.9 cm. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is recorded within the Japanese painting holdings and remains on display. No record of a specific commission exists; the piece was produced independently and later acquired by the museum, which catalogued it under its Paintings department.

The dating of 1837 places it within the late Edo period. No accession number or exhibition history is published in the available entries.

Overview

This untitled landscape, created by Shibata Zeshin in 1837, is an album leaf distinguished by its unusual medium. Rather than conventional inks or paints, Zeshin employed lacquer on paper, a technique more commonly associated with decorative arts like coating wooden objects. The composition features a plant with dark branches and leaves, subtly illuminated by a golden sun, creating a scene that appears freshly dampened. This innovative application of lacquer lends the work a distinctive depth and a lustrous surface quality.

Artist & collection

Artist

Shibata Zeshin

Japanese, 1807–1891

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art

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