Who painted Untitled?

Untitled was painted by Suzuki Harunobu in ca. 1766.

Where can I see Untitled?

Untitled is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is Untitled?

Untitled is associated with Romanticism.

Untitled by Suzuki Harunobu (ca. 1766) · Meaning & Museum

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Suzuki Harunobu's 1766 woodblock print depicts an intimate domestic scene set inside a parlour, where a woman is shown seated beside a hearth with its stove.

Suzuki Harunobu's 1766 woodblock print depicts an intimate domestic scene set inside a parlour, where a woman is shown seated beside a hearth with its stove. The composition centers on the quiet ritual of tea, with a teapot and teacup arranged as focal props that anchor the everyday interaction. A boy appears within the same interior, and a window opens the enclosed space to the outside, a common ukiyo-e device used to soften the mood of interior genre scenes.

Classified as a bijin-ga, the work belongs to Harunobu's celebrated output of nishiki-e "pictures of beautiful people," in which refined figures and domestic accessories were used to evoke the elegant, fleeting pleasures of urban Edo-period life. The pairing of the woman and child with the tea service suggests a gentle theme of hospitality and domestic grace, transforming a simple parlor moment into an idealized vignette of refined everyday living.

Technique & Style

Created in 1766, this work is a woodblock print executed as a first edition using ink and colors on paper. Classified as a medium-sized chuban format, the piece exemplifies the nishiki-e technique, a hallmark of the ukiyo-e genre. The artist employed the bijin-ga style to depict a portrait featuring a woman and a boy within an interior setting that includes a hearth, stove, and window.

The composition captures a domestic scene involving tea service elements such as a teapot and teacup, rendered through the precise layering of pigments characteristic of multi-block printing methods of the period.

History & Provenance

Created in 1766, this woodblock print was produced by the artist Suzuki Harunobu. The work is a first edition chuban-sized print executed in ink and colors on paper. It currently resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified as a portrait within the ukiyo-e genre.

The woodblock print Untitled by Suzuki Harunobu, created in 1766, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work is classified as a medium-sized chuban print depicting a scene with a woman, a boy, and various tea-related objects within a parlour setting. While the source records the inception date as January 1, 1766, it does not provide a specific inventory or accession number for the piece. The provided documentation does not list any exhibition history for this specific print.

Overview

Created around 1766, this medium‑sized chuban woodblock print by Suzuki Harunobu presents a domestic interior. The composition includes a hearth, a parlour space, and a stove, rendered with ink and color on paper. Though untitled, the image captures a quiet moment within a traditional Japanese home, characteristic of Harunobu’s early portraiture series.

Context

Harunobu’s output in the 1760s coincided with a growing interest in domestic genre subjects among urban audiences. By portraying intimate interior moments, the artist aligned with contemporary tastes for scenes that reflected the private lives of the emerging merchant class, while maintaining the aesthetic refinement associated with the ukiyo‑e tradition.