Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink painting. It dates from 1649 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Both figures are rendered in ink and color on paper, characteristic of Japanese album leaf works from the mid-17th century.
The painting, dated 1649, presents a man and a woman in an unidentified setting. Both figures are rendered in ink and color on paper, characteristic of Japanese album leaf works from the mid-17th century. The depiction does not include documented symbolic attributes or narrative elements beyond the presence of the two individuals, and no explicit iconographic program has been identified.
The work is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection and is attributed to an anonymous painter active in Japan.
Technique & Style
The work is an ink and pigment painting executed on a single album leaf, a paper support typical of Japanese Edo-period album paintings. Its medium is described as ink, color on paper, and it portrays a genre scene of a man and a woman. The piece was created in Japan in 1649 and now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is preserved as part of the museum's collection.
Stylistically, the composition follows the conventions of genre painting, emphasizing delicate line work and subtle color washes that define the figures within the flat support.
History & Provenance
Created in 1649 in Japan, this work is an album leaf executed in ink and color on paper. The artist remains unknown, and no specific commission or patron is recorded in available documentation. The painting depicts a genre scene featuring a man and a woman.
It is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, classified as a painting created by an anonymous artist. No specific exhibition history is documented in the available records.
Overview
This untitled painting, rendered in ink and color on paper, depicts an intimate domestic scene. A woman in a red robe is engrossed in reading a letter while seated on the floor, observed by a man in black holding a fan. The small format suggests it was intended for close, personal viewing rather than public display.
Context
This painting belongs to a category known as "album leaves," small-scale works designed to be bound into collections or exchanged individually. Unlike larger hanging scrolls, these pieces were meant to be held and examined up close. Their intimate size facilitated private appreciation and social sharing among a small circle of friends, much like personal correspondence.
Artist & collection
- Untitled
Untitled
勝川春好画 三代目澤村宗十郎 三代目佐野川市松 |Kabuki Actors Sawamura Sōjūrō III and Sanogawa Ichimatsu III in "A Courtesan’s Mirror for the Eastern Provinces" (Keisei Azuma kagami)
Beauties at the Seashore
Untitled
Women Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Asukayama
The Courtesan Kichijuro of Kage Manjiya with Two Kamuro (from the series Models for Fashions: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves)
Samurai
Untitled
The Poetess Ono no Komachi
Flowers of a Hundred Worlds (Momoyogusa): Dancing (Odori)
"Evening Faces" (Yūgao) chapter from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)
