Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting by the Impressionist artist Suzuki Shōnen. It dates from 1890 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The hanging scroll, painted by Suzuki Shōnen in 1890, portrays a natural composition that includes an insect, a plant, and a river.
The hanging scroll, painted by Suzuki Shōnen in 1890, portrays a natural composition that includes an insect, a plant, and a river. These elements are rendered in ink, color, and gold on silk, characteristic of the Japanese landscape genre. The depicted insect, plant, and river function as the iconographic components of the piece, embodying a conventional representation of nature in Meiji-era Japanese art.
Technique & Style
Executed as a hanging scroll, this work is rendered in ink, color, and gold on silk, a refined combination of media characteristic of late nineteenth-century Japanese painting. The use of silk as a support allowed for delicate handling of pigment and gold leaf, while the scroll format situates the composition within the traditional mounting conventions of East Asian art. The landscape genre treatment incorporates natural motifs including insects, plants, and a river, suggesting a careful, descriptive approach to nature.
History & Provenance
The work is a hanging scroll executed in ink, color, and gold on silk by the Japanese artist Suzuki Shōnen (1849–1918). It was created in Japan in 1890 and portrays an insect, plant, and river within a landscape composition. The hanging scroll is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the accession number 1979.72. No exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Context
Suzuki Shōnen (1849–1918) was a Japanese painter active during the Meiji period, known for landscape subjects rendered in the hanging-scroll format. His work Untitled (1890) exemplifies this genre, employing ink, color, and gold on silk to depict an insect, plant, and river. The piece reflects the era's fascination with natural motifs within traditional formats and has been held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, positioning it as a representative example of Meiji-era landscape painting's synthesis of decorative and naturalistic conventions.
Overview
Suzuki Shōnen’s Untitled, created in 1890, is a hanging scroll rendered in ink, color, and gold on silk. This painting captures a natural scene, featuring a delicate insect amidst lush riverbank flora. The artwork exemplifies a period when Japanese artists integrated traditional aesthetics with emerging Western artistic concepts, particularly in its depiction of light and spatial depth.
Artist & collection
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