The Actor Nakamura Kojuro VI in a Daisho no Mai (Sword Dance), in the Play Gion Nyogo, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Tenth Month, 1786
c. 1786
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
31.8 × 13.7 cm (12 1/2 × 5 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
31641
Art Historical Context
Behold the dynamic *The Actor Nakamura Koj VI in a Daisho no Mai (Sword Dance), in Play Gion Nyogo a vibrant color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsho, created around 1786. This narrow hosoban-format piece (31.8 × 13.7 cm) the celebrated kabuki actor Nakamura Koj VI mid-performance at the Nakamura Theater in Edo (modern Tokyo) during the tenth month. Shunsho, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition—"pictures of the floating world"—excelled in yakusha-e, or actor portraits, vividly portraying the stars of Japan's thriving theater scene. In the late Edo period, kabuki was a cultural phenomenon, blen...