The Actor Nakamura Nakazo I as Nagasaki Kageyuzaemon Disguised as Gorohachi the Sake Seller, in the Play Hikitsurete Yagoe Taiheiki, Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1776
c. 1776
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
31.6 × 14.9 cm (12 7/16 × 5 7/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
31700
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century kabuki theater with this striking color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsho, a leading master of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"). Titled *The Actor Nakamura Nakazo I Nagasaki Kageyuza Disguised as Gorohachi the Sake Seller in the Play Hikitste Yagoe Taiheiki*, it captures the star performer in a dramatic role from a 1776 production at Tokyo's Morita Theater. Nakamura Nakazo I, disguised as a humble sake seller, embodies the intrigue and disguise central to the play's historical drama, his expressive face and flowing robes frozen in a mome...