Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ichizo III
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Classification
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
23752
Art Historical Context
Behold the striking *Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ichizo III* (1865), a masterful color woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshitora, a prominent figure in Japan's ukiyo-e tradition. This oban-sized print—measuring about 14 by 10 inches, a popular format for dramatic impact—captures the kabuki star in a poignant posthumous tribute. Yoshitora, from the influential Utagawa school, specialized in actor portraits (yakusha-e), blending vivid realism with stylized flair to immortalize performers from the "floating world" of Edo-period entertainment. Created amid Japan's turbulent final years of ...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshitora · 1845–1880
Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川 芳虎), also known by his art names Ichimōsai, Mōsai, and Kinchōrō, was a prolific ukiyo-e artist born in Edo (modern Tokyo), where he trained under the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as his oldest pupil. Little is known of his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but his earliest works include illustrations for the book *Story of Karasu Kanzaemon’s Loyalty* in...