The Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor Sutoku in the Play Kitekaeru Nishiki no Wakayaka, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1780
c. 1780
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
32 × 14.8 cm (12 5/8 × 5 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
31984
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Edo theater with Katsukawa Shunsho's *The Actor Onoe Matsus I as Retired Emperor Sutoku in the Play Kitekaeru Nishiki no Wakayaka*, created around 1780. This color woodblock print captures the kabuki performer in a dramatic role from a performance at the prestigious Nakamura Theater during the eleventh month. Shunsho a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), specialized in yakusha-e—intimate portraits of actors that the stage's energy to everyday collectors. Printed in the narrow hosoban format (32 × 14.8 cm), this work exemplifies...