Onoe Matsusuke as Man Armed with a Sword, Standing in Snow before a Fence
1786
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H. 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm); W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
JP1344
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō captures the renowned kabuki actor Onoe Matsusuke in a dramatic winter scene from 1786. Created during Japan’s Edo period, the image belongs to the vibrant tradition of yakusha-e, actor portraits, which celebrated the stars of the kabuki stage. Shunkō, leading artist of the Katsukawa school, specialized in these dynamic likenesses, using bold lines and expressive poses to convey the intensity of live performance. The medium itself—a single-sheet woodblock print in ink and color on paper—highlights the technical brilliance of ukiyo-e. Artisans ...
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shunkō
Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who pioneered the ōkubi-e (large-head) portrait format in kabuki actor prints and served as possibly the first student of Katsukawa Shunshō, the founder of the influential Katsukawa school. Born in 1743, Shunkō spent his entire life in Edo (modern Tokyo), working as both a painter and ukiyo-e printmaker specializing in yakusha-e (actor p...