The Actor Ichikawa Danzo IV as Shutokuin in the Play Tokimekuya O-Edo no Hatsuyuki, Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1780

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese theater with Katsukawa Shunkō'sThe Actor Ichikawa Danzō as Shutokuin in Play Tokimekuya-Edo no Hatsuy*, created around 1780. This color woodblock print captures the kabuki actor in a dramatic pose from a performance at the Morita Theater in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) during the eleventh month. Shunkō, a leading figure in the Katsukawa school of ukiyo-e—literally "pictures of the floating world"—specialized in yakusha-e, or actor portraits, that brought the stage's energy to everyday viewers. Printed in the narrow hosoban format (32 × 14.7 cm), ...

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...