The Actor Nakamura Juzo II as Kajiwara Genta Kagetoki in the Play Izu-goyomi Shibai no Ganjitsu, Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1772
c. 1772
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban; left sheet of a multisheet composition (?)
Dimensions
31.2 × 14.4 cm (12 1/4 × 5 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
32003
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese kabuki theater with this stunning color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsho, a leading figure in the ukiyo-e tradition—literally "pictures of the floating world." Created around 1772, it depicts actor Nakamura Juzo II in the role of the fierce samurai Kajiwara Genta Kagetoki from the play *Izu-goyomi Shibai no Ganjitsu*, performed at Tokyo's prestigious Morita Theater in the eleventh lunar month. As the left sheet of what may be a multisheet composition in the narrow hosoban format (31.2 × 14.4 cm), it captures the actor mid-performance, em...