The Actor Nakayama Kojuro VI as Chinzei Hachiro Tametomo Disguised as Lady Hotoke (Hotoke Gozen) in the Play Yukimotsu Take Furisode Genji, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1785
c. 1785
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
32.4 × 14.8 cm (12 3/4 × 5 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
60250
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Edo-period, Katsukawa Shunkō's *The Actor Nakayama Kojuro as Chinzei Hach Tametomo Disgu as Lady Hotoke (oke Gozen)* captures the theatrical flair of Kabuki drama. Created around 1785 as a color woodblock print in the *hosoban* format (.4 × 14.8 cm), this intimate yakusha-e (actor portrait) advertises a performance of *Yukimotsu Take Furisode Genji* the Nakamura Theater. It portrays the celebrated onnagata (male actor specializing in female roles) Nakayama Kojuro VI in a dramatic cross-dressing guise: the fierce warrior Chinzei Hachiro Tametomo masquerading...
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...