Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting. It dates from 1639 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is a 17th-century Chinese painting in ink and color on silk, forming one leaf of an album that originally contained eleven paintings.
The work is a 17th-century Chinese painting in ink and color on silk, forming one leaf of an album that originally contained eleven paintings. Its support is a rectangular silk panel measuring approximately 12.7 cm in height by 17.1 cm in width, a size typical of album leaves. The composition portrays a stand of bamboo alongside a small bird.
The painting is attributed to an anonymous artist and was created in China in 1639. No further details regarding its handling, conservation status, or formal stylistic analysis beyond the described subject matter are recorded in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Untitled is a 1639 Chinese painting on silk, measuring 12.7 × 17.1 cm, depicting bamboo and a bird. The work is attributed to an anonymous painter and was originally included in an album of eleven paintings. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued among the museum's Asian painting holdings.
While specific inventory or accession numbers are not documented in the available sources, its institutional holding and classification are established. No record of the work's exhibition history is provided.
Context
Untitled, dated 1639, is an anonymous Chinese painting executed in ink and color on silk, measuring 12.7 × 17.1 cm. It forms part of an album of eleven paintings and depicts bamboo alongside a bird, subjects within the bamboo-and-bird genre long favored in Chinese painting. The work is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is studied as an example of seventeenth-century album painting from the late Ming period.
Overview
This untitled miniature, rendered with ink and color on silk, depicts a tranquil scene of birds amidst bamboo. Part of a larger album of eleven paintings, its exact origins are unknown, reflecting a common characteristic of ancient artworks. The piece is notable for its age and the anonymity of its creator, offering a glimpse into early artistic practices.
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a straightforward composition featuring birds perched among bamboo stalks. This pairing often carries symbolic resonance in East Asian art, with bamboo representing resilience and integrity, and birds frequently signifying freedom or auspiciousness. The simplicity of the arrangement allows viewers to focus on these natural elements and their potential cultural meanings.
Artist & collection
- 宋？ 佚名 傳宋徽宗 白頭海棠圖 卷|Chinese Bulbuls on Flowering Cherry-Apple
Untitled
Flowers and Birds
Sparrows and Bamboo
Sparrows and Bamboo
Bird on Pomegranate
Strawberry Spinach and Nightingale
Yellow Bird on a Mulberry Branch
清 郭汝龍 指畫寒禽圖 冊頁|Mynah on Reed
The "Three Friends" and a Hundred Birds
Four Magpies
清 任頤 動物花鳥 冊頁八開|Animals, Flowers and Birds
