The Actor Iwai Kiyotaro II
c. 1790s
Medium
Color woodblock print; left sheet of hosoban diptych? (right: 1939.1807)
Dimensions
32.5 × 14.3 cm (12 13/16 × 5 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
35251
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of Edo-period Japan *The Actor Iwai Kiyot II*, a stunning color woodblock print byukawa Shun'ei, around the 1790s. This is the left sheet of hosoban diptych narrow, vertical format popular for its intimate scale (32.5 × 14.3 cm)—capturing the kabuki star Iwai Kiyotaro II a dramatic pose. Shun'ei, a master of the Katsukawa school, specialized in yakusha-e, or actor prints, that brought theater icons to life for everyday fans. Ukiyo-e, meaning "pictures of the floating world," celebrated fleeting pleasures like kabuki theater, and Shun'ei's dynamic compositions excell...
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shun'ei · 1762–1819
Katsukawa Shun'ei (1762–1819) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who succeeded his master Katsukawa Shunshō as head of the Katsukawa school around 1800, continuing and advancing the school's innovations in kabuki actor portraiture. Born on December 13, 1762, into a landlord family with the surname Isoda, Shun'ei trained under Shunshō from his youth and became one of the most accomplished designers of y...