Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as a Mendicant Monk in “Courtesan: Kerria Roses at Ide” (“Keisei Ide no yamabuki”)

Art Historical Context

This color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō, created around 1787, portrays the actor Onoe Matsusuke I in the role of a mendicant monk from the kabuki play “Courtesan: Kerria Roses at Ide.” Produced in the hosoban format, which measures just 31.5 × 13.9 cm, the work exemplifies the ukiyo-e tradition of capturing fleeting moments from the theater. Shunkō, a leading figure in the Katsukawa school, specialized in actor portraits that conveyed the energy and emotion of live performance through bold lines and expressive poses. In late eighteenth-century Edo Japan, such prints served as both souv...

About the Artist

Katsukawa Shunkо̄ · 1743–1812

Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812), born Denjiro Kiyokawa in Edo (modern Tokyo), emerged as a pivotal figure in ukiyo-e woodblock printing. His early life remains sparsely documented, but by the late 1760s, he had begun illustrating books such as *Talks about Debut Plays* (*Kaomise shibai banashi*, 1766). Shunkō studied under the master Katsukawa Shunshō, founder and leader of the Katsukawa school, an...