Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Shiba Kōkan. It dates from 1783 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Untitled is a woodblock print from 1783, executed in ink and color on paper by Japanese artist Suzuki Harushige. The work is part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts an intimate scene of two women in a serene interior with open sliding doors, contrasting with a tranquil outdoor landscape of a bridge, trees, and a river. One woman, dressed in a light green kimono, holds a fan, while the other, in a red-and-brown robe, stands barefoot. The inclusion of Japanese text above the figures adds a poetic element.
Technique & Style
Characterized by delicate brushstrokes and soft color palette, the print exemplifies the prevalent aesthetic in Japanese woodblock printing of its time.
History & Provenance
Created in 1783 by Suzuki Harushige, the print is now held in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Context
Suzuki Harushige's work, including this piece, reflects the artistic tendencies of late 18th-century Japan, particularly in the ukiyo-e genre, which often captured scenes of everyday life and nature.
Artist & collection
Artist
Shiba Kōkan , born Andō Kichirō (安藤吉次郎) or Katsusaburō (勝三郎), was a Japanese painter and printmaker of the Edo period, famous both for his Western-style yōga paintings, in imitation of Dutch oil painting styles,…
Untitled
忠臣蔵二段目|A Young Man at the Side of a House
鈴木春信画 坐鋪八景 とけひの晩鐘|Evening Chime of the Clock (Tokei no banshō), from the series “Eight Parlor Views” (Zashiki hakkei)
Love at the Brothel Gate
鈴木春信画 見立三夕 「西行法師」|A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)
Three Women (from the series A Brief Collection of Japanese Beauties)
Untitled
鈴木春信画 若水を汲む男女|Drawing the First Water of the New Year
鈴木春信画 虚無僧・「風俗四季歌仙 卯月」|A Flute-Playing Monk (Komusō); The Fourth Month (Uzuki), from the series Fashionable Poetic Immortals of the Four Seasons (Fūzoku shiki kasen)
Going to the Kabuki Theater in the Hour of the Hare (From the Series The Twelve Hours with Daily Events)
鳥文斎栄之画 「風流やつし源氏 須磨」|Genji in Exile at Suma, from the series Genji in Fashionable Modern Guise (Fūryū yatsushi Genji: Suma)
Gompachi Komurasaki no Toko no Tsuki|逢身八契 権八小紫の床の通気|Shared Feelings in the Bedchamber of Komurasaki and Gompachi