Takinoya: Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Juro, from the series "Portraits of Actors on Stage (Yakusha butai no sugata-e)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
37.4 × 24.8 cm (14 11/16 × 9 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89472
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan *Takinoya: Ichikawanosuke II as S no Juro*, a color woodblock print by Utagawa Toyok I from 1794. This oban-sized masterpiece (37.4 × 24.8 cm) the famed Kabuki actor Ichikawa Monnosuke in the role of Soga no Juro, one of the legendary Soga brothers from a timeless revenge tale popularized on Tokyo's stages. Toyokuni I, a master of the Utagawa school and pioneer of yakusha-e (actor portraits immortalizes the performer's dramatic pose and expressive costume, blending realism with theatrical flair. Printed during the height of ukiyo-e's "floating w...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyokuni I · 1777–1835
Japanese, 1777–1835