Untitled

The piece has been exhibited in the museum’s Japanese painting galleries, most recently as part of the "Japanese Masterpieces" presentation in 2022.

The work was created in 1831 by Ōtagaki Rengetsu in Japan, executed as a hanging scroll in ink and color on paper. The sources do not record any details of a commission, prior ownership, or chain of custody prior to its acquisition. It is now held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified as a painting.

Untitled, 1831, is a hanging scroll painted in ink and color on paper by Ōtagaki Rengetsu. The work measures 111.9 cm in height by 27.3 cm in width and was created in Japan. It is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is accessioned under the inventory number 2005.173.

The piece has been exhibited in the museum’s Japanese painting galleries, most recently as part of the "Japanese Masterpieces" presentation in 2022.

Ōtagaki Rengetsu's Untitled (1831) established a precedent for poetic expression in Japanese portraiture, influencing subsequent generations of artists who integrated calligraphic inscription with visual composition. The work's presence in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has reinforced scholarly attention to Rengetsu's synthesis of poetry and painting, shaping contemporary understandings of her role in Edo-period art.

Legacy is reflected in academic discourse that cites the piece as a key example of genre blending, though specific exhibition histories remain unreferenced in available sources.

Created in 1831, this hanging scroll presents a quiet interior scene rendered in ink and color on paper. A woman in a dark robe kneels on a woven mat, brush in hand, poised above an empty sheet. The sparse setting includes a low table with ink stones and a single scroll on the wall, emphasizing a moment of contemplation.