Perspective Picture of a Kabuki Theater (Uki-e Kabuki shibai no zu)
c. 1776
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
25.6 × 38.6 cm (10 1/8 × 15 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
15804
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of 18th-century Edo (modern Tokyo) with Utagawa Toyoharu *Perspective Picture of a Kabuki TheaterUki-e Kabuki shibai no zu)*, created around 1776. This vibrant color woodblock print, in the generous oban format measuring 25.6 × 38.6 cm, captures the electric atmosphere of a Kabuki performance. Toyoharu, a pioneering of the Utagawa school masterfully renders the theater's interior, drawing viewers into the wooden galleries filled with rapt audiences and dramatic stage action. What makes this print revolutionary is its "uki-e" style—"floating pictures"—which introdu...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyoharu · 1735–1814
Utagawa Toyoharu (1735–1814) holds a foundational place in the history of Japanese printmaking as the founder of the prolific and long-lived Utagawa school, which would go on to produce some of the most celebrated names in ukiyo-e, including Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. Born in what is now Hyogo Prefecture, Toyoharu moved to Edo, where he studied under Toriyama Sekien and later explored the Kano schoo...