The Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Tsunewaka-maru in the Play Iro Moyo Aoyagi Soga, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Second Month, 1775
c. 1775
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
32.8 × 15 cm (13 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
77280
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Edo (modern Tokyo), Ippitsusai Buncho captured the theatrical glamour of kabuki with this striking color woodblock print from around 1775. Titled *The Actor Ichikawa Monnos II as Tsunewaka-maru in the Playro Moyo Aoyagi Soga*, it depicts the celebrated onnagata (female role specialist) in a dramatic pose from a performance at the Nakamura Theater during the second lunar month. Buncho, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, rivaled contemporaries like Suzuki Harunobu with his elegant yakusha-e (actor prints), blending realism a...