The Actor Matsumoto Koshiro IV as An no Heibei in the Play Edo no Fuji Wakayagi Soga, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the First Month, 1789
c. 1789
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban; one sheet of pentaptych
Dimensions
32.3 × 14.5 cm (12 11/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
3548
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of 18th-century Edo theater with this vibrant woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō a leading artist of the Katsukawa school renowned for his yakusha-e—portraits of kabuki actors. Titled *The Actor Matsumoto Koshiro as An no Heibei in the Play Edo no Wakayagi Soga*, created around 1789, it depicts celebrated onnagata (female role specialist) Matsumoto Kōshirō IV in his dramatic role during a performance at the Nakamura Theater in the first month of the year. Shunkō's masterful lines capture the actor's expressive pose and costume, bringing the fleeting excitement of ...
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...