Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a paint painting. It dates from 1777 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 46.63.2
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Carlo Foa, 1946
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a landscape, it situates these figures within a natural setting, emphasizing the relationship between human presence and the surrounding environment.
The work is a landscape painting that presents a scene containing a man, a woman, and an animal. As a landscape, it situates these figures within a natural setting, emphasizing the relationship between human presence and the surrounding environment. The inclusion of both human and animal forms within the vista suggests a narrative or quotidian moment, though the specific iconography and symbolic meaning are not elaborated in the available sources.
Technique & Style
Created in 1777 in China, this anonymous landscape painting is executed as an album leaf. The artist applied color directly onto a silk support, a medium characteristic of East Asian traditions. The work measures approximately 11.7 by 37.5 units.
Stylistically, the composition integrates human and animal figures within a natural setting, depicting men, women, and animals amidst the landscape. The piece is classified as a painting and is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
Untitled is an anonymous Chinese album leaf painted in color on silk, dated to 1777. The work depicts a landscape with animals and a man and woman, and was made in China. It is classified as a landscape painting.
It is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, accession number MET 46.63.2. The sources do not record any specific commission or earlier owners, so the known provenance begins with its entry into the Met.
The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It carries the accession number 46.63.2. While specific past exhibitions are not detailed in the available records, the piece is cataloged within the museum's paintings department as an album leaf created in China in 1777.
The institution currently lists the object's location as its primary facility, where it is classified as a landscape painting depicting figures and animals.
Overview
This untitled painting is rendered with color on a silk album leaf. It depicts a vibrant natural scene, featuring a green hillside populated by colorful birds and various flowers. Underneath a tree, a man and a woman are shown seated, engaged in drinking from distinctive blue-and-white china cups. This artwork exemplifies a unique artistic tradition that emerged in Mexico.
Context
These silk album leaves originated in Mexico during the period following Spanish colonization. Artists during this era engaged in a cultural synthesis, integrating local botanical forms with stylistic elements derived from Asian art. This artistic fusion occurred without the artists having direct visual access to the Asian designs, instead relying on circulating imagery and objects, highlighting the complex cross-cultural exchanges of the time.
Artist & collection
